Ardennes Classics 2026 Form Guide: Who's Hot and Who's Not After the Cobbled Campaign
The cobbles may still be ringing from Tadej Pogačar's devastating Tour of Flanders solo, but the peloton's climbers are already casting their eyes southward. With the Brabantse Pijl on April 17, the Amstel Gold Race on April 19, Flèche Wallonne on April 22 and Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 26, the Ardennes triple crown — plus its curtain raiser — represents the most concentrated week of one-day racing in the calendar. Here is how every major contender shapes up after the cobbled spring.
Tadej Pogačar — Form rating: 10/10. There is no other rating possible. The Slovenian has won Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders from three starts — a perfect spring that has no historical equivalent. His 690-watt Kwaremont attack and 34-second winning margin at Flanders suggest a rider operating at a level that simply cannot be replicated by anyone else in the current peloton. Whether he races the full Ardennes programme or selects specific targets, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will enter every start with the overwhelming favourite. The Mur de Huy at Flèche Wallonne and the Côte de la Redoute at Liège both suit his explosive climbing profile, and after last year's victories at both races, the only question is whether fatigue from six weeks of relentless racing finally catches up.
Remco Evenepoel — Form rating: 8/10. The Belgian's third place at the Tour of Flanders on debut was arguably the most impressive single result of his spring. Evenepoel has now confirmed his Ardennes campaign will include all three major targets, and these are the races that suit his profile most naturally. His explosive power on steep gradients is perfectly calibrated for the Mur de Huy and the final hills around Liège, and his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team have shown throughout the spring that their tactical organisation is a clear step up from his previous squads. If there is a rider who can challenge Pogačar in the Ardennes, it is Evenepoel.
Isaac del Toro — Form rating: 8/10. The Mexican sensation has been the breakout GC rider of 2026 with stage-race wins at Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice already on the board. Del Toro is now at the Itzulia Basque Country, sharpening his climbing form ahead of what could be a maiden Ardennes campaign. At 21, his ability to produce violent accelerations on short, steep climbs is still largely untested at the highest level — but his ceiling appears limitless. A dark horse for Flèche Wallonne and Liège in particular.
Jonas Vingegaard — Form rating: 7/10. Vingegaard's spring form has been strong — back-to-back overall wins at Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya underline his sustained climbing power — but his programme is focused squarely on the Tour of the Alps (April 20-24) as a Giro d'Italia dress rehearsal. Visma-Lease a Bike have confirmed his participation at Flèche Wallonne, but Vingegaard is unlikely to empty the tank at the Ardennes when the Giro looms. Still, the Dane on 90% effort is a podium threat anywhere there is a finishing climb.
Lotte Kopecky — Form rating: 9/10. Kopecky's spring has been extraordinary. A record fourth Tour of Flanders Women title and her Milan-San Remo crown earlier in the spring make her the dominant force in women's racing. The Belgian's Ardennes pedigree — second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2025 and a perennial Flèche Wallonne contender — means she arrives as a heavy favourite for the women's editions of every Ardennes race. The question is whether the cumulative fatigue of a relentless spring, including a Paris-Roubaix campaign on April 12, will blunt her edge by April 22 and 26.
Demi Vollering — Form rating: 6/10. Vollering's transition to FDJ-SUEZ has produced results that are respectable rather than dominant, and her Flanders Femmes performance off the podium suggested that the seamless integration she hoped for has not yet materialised. But the Ardennes are different. Vollering's pure climbing ability on the Cauberg, the Mur de Huy and the hills around Liège is among the very best in the women's peloton, and these races may offer her the best opportunity to break through for a signature victory in her new colours. Her Amstel Gold Race Ladies entry is confirmed and could be the moment the former Amstel champion reasserts herself.
Wout van Aert — Form rating: 7/10. Van Aert's spring has been one of agonising near-misses — fourth at Flanders, beaten in the final metres at Dwars door Vlaanderen by Ganna, competitive everywhere but victorious nowhere. His focus is now on Paris-Roubaix before the Ardennes, and it remains to be seen whether Visma-Lease a Bike ask him to support Vingegaard or ride his own race in the hills. Van Aert's ability to survive on the Mur de Huy or the Côte de Saint-Nicolas makes him a permanent top-ten threat, but the podium may depend on tactical freedom.
The Ardennes week promises to be the most fiercely contested in years. Pogačar's supremacy looms over every startlist, but the sheer depth of talent — from Evenepoel's Ardennes homecoming to del Toro's potential breakthrough and Kopecky's women's domination — ensures that the three weeks ahead will deliver drama, heartbreak and perhaps history in equal measure. The cobbles are behind us. The hills are calling.