Preview: Nokere Koerse 2026 – will Jasper Philipsen claim his first win of the season?
Anyone who still thinks of Danilith Nokere Koerse as a mass sprint with 150 riders is nowadays out of luck. The semi-classic has incorporated about 25 kilometers of cobblestones into the route and, for the second consecutive time, deviates from the traditional finish on Nokereberg. WielerFlits looks ahead.
History
Last edition
Route
Nokere Koerse in 2026 covers 186.4 kilometers. The start remains at the Markt in cycling city Deinze. Since last year, the finish is entirely new and located on a different side of Nokereberg; via the also slightly uphill Waregemsestraat. The organizers chose this because the previous finish was sometimes tricky with the descent towards Nokereberg and the sprint on the cobbles of the climb.
First, there is an approach of about 85 km taking the riders past familiar race villages like Nazareth, Gavere, Zwalm, Oudenaarde, Horebeke, Maarkedal, Anzegem, and Wortegem-Petegem towards Nokere. After 21 kilometers, the Paddestraat is the first cobbled section of the day; 16 kilometers later, the Kerkgate and Karel Martelstraat are the next challenges.
After a passage by Brouwerij Roman, the route heads via the Eikenberg to Oudenaarde and from there to Anzegem with the cobbles of the Varent, the short climbs Hellestraat, Holstraat, Pareelstraat, and in Wortegem-Petegem the lesser-known Petegemberg (500 meters at 7.6%), from the top of which there is a beautiful view over the Flemish Ardennes.
It goes without saying that these obstacles will only serve as warm-up. After the riders tackle Nokereberg for the first time (350 meters at 5.7%, maximum 7%), two local laps of 31.3 km follow plus a longer final lap of 37.8 km.
The local laps are spiced with numerous cobbled sections: the Herlegemstraat, the Lange Aststraat, Kloosterstraat, Doorn, Lededorp, and the Huisepontweg, which follow each other very closely. This is where the differences must be made. Otherwise, we are headed for a tricky sprint on the Waregemsestraat, a final kilometer with an average gradient of 4%.
Favorites
Over recent years, Danilith Nokere Koerse has established itself with exciting races and focuses on a safe racing environment. This is now rewarded with the participation of thirteen WorldTeams, supplemented by eight ProTeams and one continental team.
Despite the tougher route, past editions have often seen a peloton of around thirty riders sprinting for victory. Therefore, we focus this favorites section on strong guys with a sprint in their legs.
It goes without saying that Jasper Philipsen is assigned the favorite role. The fast rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck (Alpecin-Premier Tech) has not yet won this season, but it is clear that in these first months of 2026 he is specializing more in cobbles and short climbs rather than pure sprints. In Tirreno-Adriatico, he was increasingly strong, but he kept missing the sprint. In the final stage, Philipsen even crashed painfully. At the other sprint opportunity, he finished third behind Tobias Lund Andresen and Arnaud De Lie.
Philipsen is perhaps looking for some confidence and his first win of the season. He already proved two years ago that Nokere Koerse can be an ideal preparation for Milan-San Remo when he won La Primavera three days after the cobbled race. Last year, Philipsen crashed before the sprint in Nokere, which also highlights the risks. Nevertheless, he returns as team leader for Alpecin-Premier Tech.
Three-time winner Tim Merlier doesn’t have to fear Philipsen in this home race, as the former European champion is still nursing a knee injury. That is obviously a huge disappointment for Merlier in his home race. Italian Alberto Dainese is expected to fill that gap for Jurgen Foré’s team, but in his first races for Soudal Quick-Step, he has yet to stand out.
So who should be Philipsen’s biggest challengers? First of all, Jordi Meeus, who won a similar race earlier this spring with the Ename Samyn Classic. The Limburger from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe knows how to survive a cobbled classic and will have some energy left for the finish. Moreover, he has home rider Arne Marit as the perfect pilot.
A few strong riders coming from Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico are also in the mix. Think of Max Kanter, the fast XDS Astana man who even won a stage in the French stage race. Pascal Ackermann (Jayco AlUla) and Luca Mozzato (Tudor) have been more reserved but that doesn’t mean they won’t be contenders here. Mozzato impressed recently with second place in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Never underestimate Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Emirates XRG) in a chaotic sprint, and if it’s a tough race, Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) and Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) can be dangerous. Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek), Mathieu Kockelmann (Lotto-Intermarché), and Hugo Hofstetter (NSN Cycling) can—just as often happens at Nokere—surprise.
We are less inclined to expect an aggressive scenario from riders like Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step), Antonio Morgado (UAE Emirates XRG), or Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), but it can’t be ruled out either. At Picnic PostNL, it’s mainly a matter of seeing if Fabio Jakobsen and Casper van Uden can regain their best form.
Weather
Riders can expect better conditions on Wednesday than in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico: the sun will shine all day, and temperatures will rise to 15 degrees Celsius, quite decent for this time of year. The wind will be fairly moderate, blowing at force 3 Beaufort from the east.
