Wout Van Aert leads Visma at the 2026 Tour of Flanders - Hagenes, Laporte and Brennan on Dutch team's '7'

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.