The organisers of the two races that make up the opening of the Belgian classics (Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne) have announced the invited teams. 25 teams will be present at the start of these events, which take place on February 27 and 28. Dimension Data i s not amongst the teams named and Mark Cavendish will no be able to defence his title in Kuurne.

There will be 13 WorldTour teams onthe start line - AG2R La Mondiale, BMC Racing Team, Etixx-Quick Step, IAM Cycling, Lotto-Soudal, Orica-GreenEdge, Giant-Alpecin, Katusha,  LottoNL-Jumbo, Tinkoff, and Trek-Segafredo - and 12 Continental Pro teams - Bora-Argon 18, CCC Sprandi Polkowice, Direct Energie, Roompot Oranje Peloton, Southeast Venezuela, Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise, Wanty-Groupe Gobert, Fortuneo-Vital Concept, ONE Pro Cycling, Stölting Service Group, Cofidis and Nippo-Vini Fantini.