Wout Van Aert leads Visma at the 2026 Tour of Flanders - Hagenes, Laporte and Brennan on Dutch team's '7'
Cycling
Team Visma | Lease a Bike has announced their lineup for the 2026 Tour of Flanders. Dealing with peak form challengers such as Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel; the Dutch team had to select its best. Wout Van Aert is having a strong yet very young team backing him up at 'De Ronde'.
"We have a very strong team at the starting line. Wout has shown in recent races that he is among the strongest riders in the peloton, but Christophe Laporte and Per Strand Hagenes have also already posted impressive results," team DS Grischa Niermann said in a press release.
Matthew Brennan's presence comes as a slight surprise taking into consideration his recent illness and struggles with form; whilst Tim Rex and Timo Kielich are both absent from the lineup after having shown great form during the month of March. It is a lineup with perhaps slightly less firepower than initially expected.
Brennan's role is uncertain, whilst Owain Doull and Edoardo Affini should mostly have a role with positioning into the key sections of the race. Axel Zingle, a puncheur, will be part of the team's card to play in the tactical section of the race.
"In the ideal scenario, we’ll have several cards to play in the final, but that will depend on how the last fifty kilometers unfold. I expect the strongest riders to be the ones left standing." A lot of that will also depend on Per Strand Hagenes, second at the E3 Saxo Classic; and Christophe Laporte who has a lot of experience in this race but would have to attack inbetween the climbs or in the calm moments of the races.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike for Tour of Flanders 2026
| Rider |
| Wout Van Aert |
| Matthew Brennan |
| Edoardo Affini |
| Christophe Laporte |
| Per Strand Hagenes |
| Owain Doull |
| Axel Zingle |
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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