2021 Dwars door Vlaanderen – Highlights, Report, Results
Highlights
Men’s Race
Report
Women’s Race:
It was an unforgettable day in the history of the Movistar Team. The Telefónica-backed squad’s first ever win in a cobbled classic in Belgium came from one of the team’s biggest hopes for their new era, where women’s cycling has full participation and a center stage in the sport. It was their leader, Annemiek van Vleuten, who stepped onto the highest step of the podium for the Blues at Dwars door Vlaanderen, held on Wednesday over 122km around Waregem, with its last third dominated by the European champion’s impressive performance.
Van Vleuten tore the peloton into pieces with 36km to go as she attacked at the Côte de Trieu / Knokteberg, a move only matched by Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma (CSR). Together, they started a breathtaking escape, which was never allowed more than 30″ over the peloton as Trek-Segafredo and BikeExchange, amongst other teams, tried to bring back. At that point, Leah Thomas’ work shone as she went after nearly every single move trying to catch Van Vleuten.
Her work, together with the efforts from the whole squad directed by Pablo Lastras, allowed Van Vleuten, who launched a long sprint of more than 300 meters, raising her arms victorious and bringing the Spanish outfit their first success of 2021. One where the emotions were notably visible for all as they remembered the late Gary Baños.
Annemiek van Vleuten: “I’m so happy with this first victory and being able to pay the team back after the great job they’ve been doing since the start of the season. The whole team has followed the plan 100% and did their fullest. It’s true that such a long-range attack, more than 30km from the finish, was a risky gamble, but it was on climbs like the Knokteberg where I felt I could make the difference. When I attacked and saw that only Kasia could follow me, I knew it was the time to keep pushing.”
Men’s Race:
Dylan van Baarle secured one of the biggest victories of his career with a rousing solo victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
The Dutchman launched a move early heading on to the Berg-ten-Houte climb, opening up a gap ahead of the final 50 kilometres.
With a chase group behind unable to get organised, the Grenadier stabilised the gap at around half a minute and time trialled to the finish in Waregem, with an eventual winning margin of 26 seconds.
The result continued Van Baarle’s strong Classics campaign thus far, and showed a great indicator of form heading into Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. It also marked the first time the team has taken victory in the semi-classic.
The front-foot racing approach was also embodied on the day by Ethan Hayter. The young Brit launched an early attack off the front of the race before the climbs arrived, and used his positioning well to ride into the finish in a chase group before eventually finishing 11th.
Results
Women’s Race
| 1 | Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Movistar Team Women | 3:04:04 |
| 2 | Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing | |
| 3 | Alexis Ryan (USA) Canyon-SRAM Racing | 0:00:19 |
| 4 | Vittoria Guazzini (Ita) Valcar-Travel & Service | |
| 5 | Alison Jackson (Can) Liv Racing | |
| 6 | Grace Brown (Aus) Team BikeExchange | |
| 7 | Floortje Mackaij (Ned) Team DSM | |
| 8 | Eugenia Bujak (Slo) Ale’ BTC Ljubljana | |
| 9 | Ellen van Dijk (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
| 10 | Stine Borgli (Nor) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope |
Men’s Race
| 1 | Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers | 3:58:59 |
| 2 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis | 0:00:26 |
| 3 | Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix | |
| 4 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
| 5 | Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
| 6 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
| 7 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team | |
| 8 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
| 9 | Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
| 10 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo |