Dwars Door Vlaanderen 2017 [FULL RACE + Ceremony Awards]

March 22, 2017
Dwars Door Vlaanderen 2017 – Roeselare – Waregem – 203,4 km

The 2017 Dwars door Vlaanderen is a road cycling one-day race that took place on 22 March. It was the 72nd edition of the Dwars door Vlaanderen, and the first since it was promoted to World Tour level – as the tenth event of the 2017 UCI World Tour.

Local boy Yves Lampaert capitalised on some top tactical work by Quick-Step Floors to take a solo victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Philippe Gilbert made it a double day of glory for the Belgian team, sprinting to second place from the three-man chasing group. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) rounded off the podium, beating Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott) into third place.

“For me it’s a dream that came true. It’s not that far from my home and I did a lot of recons to do this race,” Lampaert said. “To win, for me it’s a fantastic gift that I can give to the team and thanks to everybody.”

Quick-Step had two cards to play in the finale and found themselves with a royal flush when it came down to the crunch. Lampaert laid the heavy groundwork on the final climbs before an attack from Gilbert on the Paterberg forced the race-winning split. Lampaert was one of the only riders who had the legs to follow Gilbert, along with Lutsenko and Durbridge.

The quartet worked well together, pulling out a gap of over a minute, which was helped by a lack of co-operation behind. Even with 10 kilometres remaining, it became clear that the winner of the race would come from the four out front. They worked well together until Gilbert finally broke ranks on the final stretch of cobbles.

No sooner was Gilbert brought back than Lampaert made his own move. Lampaert, who missed most of the Classics last season after injuring his Achilles when his girlfriend accidentally ran into him with a shopping trolley, had to fight hard to build the gap but he knew the roads and eventually won by 37 seconds over his teammate.

“For me it’s a dream that came true. It’s not that far from my home and I did a lot of recons to do this race. To win, for me it’s a fantastic gift that I can give to the team and thanks to everybody,” Lampaert said after his win.

How it happened

There was a somber start to the day as the riders and public honoured the victims of last year’s terror attack in Brussels with a minute’s silence. The attacks happened on the eve of last year’s race and provided the lingering concern would mark the entire Classics programme in Belgium. This year, the general atmosphere, while reflective, was more buoyant than that of 12 months ago.

The racing got underway with clear skies above and the riders were ready to get down to business quickly. Right from the get-go, riders were trying to break free of the peloton as a barrage of moves came off the front. After more than 30 kilometres of racing, a solid break formed with Kenneth Van Bilsen (Cofidis, Solutions Credits), Ivan Savitsky (Gazprom – Rusvelo), Lawrence Naesen (WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect), Benjamin Perry (Israel Cycling Academy), Michael Goolaerts (Veranda’s Willems Crelan), Jon Ander Insausti (Bahrain-Merida).

With Quick-Step Floors happy to control things on the front, they allowed the six men a healthy advantage of almost six minutes at one stage, before bringing it down to much closer to five minutes. That didn’t last long though and Quick-Step upped the pace as they approached the first of 12 climbs the Nieuwe Kwaremont. By that point, only three minutes separated the escapees from the charging peloton.

While the leaders did their best to hold off the inevitable, the battle for Belgian supremacy began behind. Lotto Soudal’s former winner Jelle Wallays, or Speedy Wally as he’s affectionately known by his fans, punched a hole in the air by charging up the second climb of the day, the Kattenberg. He never got too far ahead of the peloton but the pressure brought the gap down to 1:33, having been at just over two minutes only moments before.

Sensing the catch was not too far away, Van Bilsen tried a number of fruitless moves but he could do nothing to halt the tide of the peloton washing over them. After Wallays did some damage, Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors). Gilbert’s move killed two birds with one stone by splitting the peloton and all but ending the day of the escapees.

Joining Gilbert in his band of brothers were Wallays, Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors), Loic Vliegen, Dylan Teuns (BMC), Mat Hayman, Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott), Mike Teunissen (Sunweb), Dylan Groenewegen, Amund Jansen (LottoNl-Jumbo), Matti Breschel, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates), Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis).

Notable absences from that move were Arnaud Demare (FDJ), Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale-Drapac) and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo). Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) accelerated hard in front of the peloton on the Taaienberg, only to find some watchdogs neutralising his efforts. Despite some work from Bahrain-Merida, the gap grew up to 45 seconds when approaching the Oude Kwaremont. Lutsenko and Lampaert were setting the pace on the long cobbled climb.

The Paterberg turned out to be Quick-Step Floors’ battleground. In front, Lampaert led the first part of the climb before teammate Gilbert accelerated on the final section of the short but steep cobbled climb. Durbridge, Lutsenko and Lampaert were the only riders who managed to keep up with the Belgian champion.

Back in the peloton, there was another attack featuring Stybar and Terpstra. The other teams were left without an answer. Terpstra and Lampaert bridged up with the nine remaining riders of the former lead group. Further back, a group of 15 riders was coming closer. On the tenth climb of the day, the Vossenhol climb, the two chase groups came together and formed a peloton of 26 riders. The four leaders were co-operating perfectly and kept the first peloton at 45 seconds on the Vossenhol climb.

With little co-operation in the chasing bunch, the four leaders were allowed to extend and hold their lead. Quick-Step had the upper hand with two in the key move, and Gilbert and Lampaert did their best to soften up the other escapees. Gilbert struck first with a move on the final stretch of cobbles, Herlegemstraat. He was brought back but Lampaert was quick to react and made his own move soon after.

As Gilbert sat on the back, Durbridge and Lutsenko tried to catch the young Belgian. It looked like they might just do it but they appeared to give up when another injection of pace from Lampaert increased the distance.

Quick-Step almost always turns up to a race with plenty of options, but often they fail to convert that into victory. On this occasion, it the team managed to play it spot on and Lampaert ground out his first individual win since the 2015 season.

Results :
1 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 4:47:26
2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:39
3 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
4 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott
5 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:03
6 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
8 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
9 Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-Scott
10 Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
11 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
12 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team
13 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
14 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
15 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
16 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
17 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
18 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
19 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
20 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
21 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
22 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
23 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
24 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
25 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:08
26 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottNl-Jumbo
27 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-Scott
28 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:35
29 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:51
30 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:01:54
31 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
32 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
33 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
34 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
35 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac
36 Raymond Kreder (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
37 Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
38 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ
39 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
40 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
41 Rudy Barbier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
42 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
43 Sacha Modolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
44 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
45 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb
46 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
47 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
48 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
49 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
50 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
51 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
52 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
53 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
54 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
55 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
56 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
57 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
58 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott
59 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
60 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
61 Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
62 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale
63 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
64 Marko Kump (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
65 Huub Duijn (Ned) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
66 Kevyn Ista (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
67 Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team
68 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie
69 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Sunweb
70 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
71 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
72 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
73 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
74 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-Scott
75 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
76 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
77 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
78 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:02
79 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
80 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
81 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
82 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
83 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott
84 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
85 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
86 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
87 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
88 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
89 Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
90 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
91 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:08
92 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
93 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:13
94 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:32
95 Twan Castelijns (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
96 Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
97 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
98 Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
99 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
100 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
101 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
102 Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy
103 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
104 Aleksei Tcatevich (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
105 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
106 Jorge Arcas Peña (Spa) Movistar Team
107 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
108 Nuno Bico (Por) Movistar Team
109 Taco Van Der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
110 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
111 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
112 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac
113 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
114 Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
115 Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie
116 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
117 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
118 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
119 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
120 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ
121 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
122 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy
123 Mihkel Räim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy
124 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy
125 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
126 Alex Kirsch (Lux) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
127 Julien Stassen (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
128 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
129 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
130 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
131 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
132 Thomas Scully (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
133 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
134 Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
135 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
136 Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
137 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Sunweb
138 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:41
139 Federico Zurlo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
140 Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:07:53
141 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:08:44
142 Andrea Guardini (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
143 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
144 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
145 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
146 Sander Cordeel (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
147 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
148 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
149 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
150 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
151 Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
152 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
153 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
154 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Sunweb
155 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:10:21
156 Yohann Gene (Fra) Direct Energie
157 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
158 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
159 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
160 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
161 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
162 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
DNF Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott
DNF Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) FDJ
DNF Lorenzo Manzin (Fra) FDJ
DNF Marc Fournier (Fra) FDJ
DNF Marc Sarreau (Fra) FDJ
DNF Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Ion Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
DNF David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
DNF Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Stijn Steels (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Sjoerd Van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Timothy Dupont (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Michael Goolaerts (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Roman Maikin (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Ivan Savitskiy (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Andrei Solomennikov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Ludwig De Winter (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
DNF Lawrence Naesen (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
DNF Thomas Deruette (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect