2021 Dwars door Vlaanderen Preview
After a year of absence, Dwars door Vlaanderen returns on the last day of March. As the startlist has fallen into place with many top tier riders making the start in Roeselare, it promises to be a great 75th edition of the race.
The next time we see Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, and Julian Alaphilippe race together will be… not here. It’ll be at Flanders on the weekend. The Belgian is skipping this year’s Dwars door Vlaanderen in order to focus on Flanders, and has saved us all from a ‘test run for the real event’ narrative. Yet the riders who will be in attendance are very much worthy of attention.
Van der Poel won last year, but his Alpecin-Fenix team faces stiff rivalry from the Belgian Deceuninck – Quick-Step team, which has Yves Lampaert (two-time winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen), world champion Julian Alaphilippe, Zdenek Stybar, and Kasper Asgreen. Alpecin-Fenix brings led by Belgian champion De Bondt, Philipsen and Merlier, as well as Mathieu van der Poel.
Some teams are banking on their sprinters, but a bunch sprint isn’t terribly common. Expect instead a war of attrition. Sounds lovely.
Where to Watch
UK, Europe: Eurosport, GCN+
USA: FloBikes, Fubo.tv, GCN+ (Highlights)
Belgium: Sporza & RTBF
Route
It’s going to be good.
Startlist
2021 Dwars door Vlaanderen startlist (external site)
Ones to Watch
*2019 winner* Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) – With no race in 2020 due to Covid postponement and resurgence, 2019’s winner held his title for an extra year. Fortunately for everybody involved, it was one of the biggest names in cycling. He might well win it again this year and tie the record for–. Wait, the all-time record for victories in this race is only two? Is there a curse of something?
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) – There hasn’t been a French winner of this race since Sylvain Chavanel in 2008. And he’s the only French winner in 74 editions. Fortunately for Alaphilippe, he’s racing against his rival cyclists, and not the record books. He’ll enter as a favorite, but we’re still tempted to pick a random Belgian’s name out of a hat and say he’s more likely to win than Julian Alaphilippe.
Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) – The Dane has conclusively added his name to the Ones to Watch list for this year’s Spring Classics, with fantastic form and a victory at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic. Deceuninck-QuickStep are, as usual, dominating this point in the season, and Asgreen has what it takes to put in a ride that adds yet more Danish memes to the cycling social mix.
Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) – Now it gets difficult. Deceuninck-QuickStep are dominating as usual, and apart from Wout van Aert Mathieu van der Poel, the only other team to get a look in has been Trek Segafredo… who are not incredibly likely to make the race due to a Covid scare. Tim Wellens, then. Good rider, good team. And, crucially, a Belgian.