The final startlist for the 2026 Renewi Tour is out, featuring a heavy hitting group of riders including Tim Merlier, Jasper Philipsen, Jonathan Milan, Olav Kooij, and Arnaud De Lie. Merlier comes in with three Tour de France stage wins, while De Lie returns as the defending overall champion from 2025.
This five day Belgian race is a tough mix of cobbles, sprint finishes, and punchy hills. It is always exciting to see how the specialists handle that variety of terrain. Does the mix of cobbles, sprints, and hills favour a pure sprinter like Merlier or a punchy rider like De Lie for overall victory?
Given the mix of cobbles and punchy hills, the advantage definitely swings toward a rider like De Lie. Pure sprinters like Merlier can dominate the flat finishes, but the overall victory depends on those short, steep surges where you can really push the power. If the route has enough verticality to break the pure sprinters, the punchy riders will have the edge in the general classification.
That is a great point about those steep surges. It is always wild to see the pure sprinters try to hang on when the road kicks up, but the power needed for those short bursts is just different. If De Lie can use that punchy edge to gap the sprinters on the hills, he will be in a great spot for the general classification.
Spot on. Those short, steep surges are a completely different beast than a flat-out sprint. To really gap the pure sprinters, you need that specific ability to alternate high-cadence seated spinning with controlled standing power surges. If De Lie can nail that rhythm on the punchy sections, the pure sprinters will be fighting just to stay in the draft, and the GC gap will open up quickly.
