Looking for the successors of Remco Evenepoel and Elisa Longo Borghini
De Brabantse Pijl is the traditional bridge between the Flemish cobbles and the Ardennes climbs. In the men’s race on Friday, April 17, attention will be on Tibor del Grosso, Romain Grégoire, and Benoît Cosnefroy. In the women’s race, according to the provisional start list, the lineup includes world champion Magdeleine Vallieres Mill, Belgian champion Justine Ghekiere, as well as Lotte Kopecky, Mischa Bredewold, Franziska Koch, and Silvia Persico.
Participants men
The starting gun for the men’s race will sound for the second time from the Provincial Domain of Huizingen in Beersel on Friday. On the provisional start list, the name of former winner Benoît Cosnefroy stands out. The French rider from UAE Team Emirates XRG won De Brabantse Pijl in 2024.
His biggest challenger may come from the Alpecin-Premier Tech camp with Tibor del Grosso, who finished tenth on his debut last year. Frenchman Romain Grégoire is riding De Brabantse Pijl for the first time and will have Valentin Madouas alongside him at Groupama-FDJ United.
From a Belgian perspective, attention goes to the Lotto–Intermarché duo Jenno Berckmoes and Toon Aerts. Quinten Hermans joins forces with Xandro Meurisse at Pinarello–Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, while Cofidis is counting on the experience of Dylan Teuns, second in 2024. He will start together with Bryan Coquard.
Further down the provisional start list we also find, among others, Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla), Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious), Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step), Joseph Blackmore (NSN Cycling Team), Alex Baudin (EF Education–EasyPost) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility).
Participants women
The Markt of Lennik once again serves as the starting venue for the women’s race. Race number 1 goes to world champion Magdeleine Vallieres Mill, who will line up for EF Education–Oatly alongside Kristen Faulkner. They take on a strong block from Team SD Worx - Protime, led by Lotte Kopecky. The Belgian lines up at De Brabantse Pijl for the first time since 2020 and will be joined by Anna van der Breggen and Mischa Bredewold.
AG Insurance–Soudal Team also relies on a trio of Belgian champion Justine Ghekiere, experienced Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, and fast finisher Alexandra Manly, who placed third in 2024. Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner Franziska Koch is the team leader at FDJ United–Suez. Silvia Persico, winner in 2023, is the spearhead of UAE Team ADQ. Lidl–Trek will count on Fleur Moors, while Letizia Paternoster will be the designated leader for Liv–AlUla–Jayco.
