Dwars Door Vlaanderen 2021 [LAST 15 KM]

March 31, 2021

Dwars Door Vlaanderen 2021 – Roeselare – Waregem : 184,1 km

The Springs Classics season will continue this Wednesday with yet another grueling test through the cobbled streets of Flanders – Dwars door Vlaanderen. This is the final dress rehearsal before the Tour of Flanders next Sunday and thus the last opportunity for the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Julian Alaphilippe and Matteo Trentin to stake their claim on the ‘King of Flanders’ title. Dwars door Vlaanderen is one of the shorter cobbled Classics, at around 180km, but with 13 climbs and six cobblestone sectors packed into a short space it can soon become one of the most attritional races on the calendar.

Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) claimed a sensational solo victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen, celebrating in Waregem after riding alone for more than 50 kilometres.

A fast and chaotic edition of the midweek race raised big question marks ahead of the Tour of Flanders as Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Julian Alaphilippe – plus much of the world champion’s Deceuninck-QuickStep team – looked well off the pace.

Van Baarle, however, who had a strong showing at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, rode his way into the bracket of favourites for Sunday, holding off a string of chasing groups for more than an hour.

Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) was the last survivor of that chase, sprinting to second place at 25 seconds, while Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) was third as the main bunch caught up in the final kilometre.

“To win a semi-classic is super special. It’s really important. Last year was a difficult year with everything that happened, but now we are on the good way,” said Van Baarle.

“We’re approaching the Classics a bit differently this year – much more attacking. It’s nice to race like this. I’m happy I could finish it off.”

Van Baarle made his move on the Berg Ten Houte, the eighth of 13 short climbs on the menu in the Flemish Ardennes. At that point, after a fast start run off at nearly 50km/h, the race had just exploded on the Taaienberg.

Van der Poel was in the main group of 25 as the peloton split over the top, but Deceuninck-QuickStep were notable by their absence. Florian Sénéchal was their only representative as Alaphilippe and E3 winner Kasper Asgreen were well back, and Davide Ballerini fell away completely.

Van Baarle emerged in a lead group of seven and decided to attack them on the Ten Houte with 52km to go. There looked to be plenty of firepower in the groups behind, but he was never seen again.

The Dutchman was able to establish his advantage during a period of flux in the groups behind. However, it looked like the tables were about to turn when the race exploded again on the Knoketeberg with 36km to go. There, the chase was concentrated into a strong group of eight: Laporte, Sénéchal, Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën), Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic), Victor Campenaerts (Qhubeka Assos), Luke Durbridge (Team BikeExchange), and Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates).

Van der Poel, meanwhile, completely fell away on the climb. He was caught and passed by Alaphilippe, who made a stinging attack of his own to try to recover the situation, but both riders had to settle into the larger main bunch.

From there, Van Baarle steadily pressed on and maintained a largely stable 30-second advantage over the eight chasers. Van Avermaet did the forcing on the Vossenhol, while Stuyven gave it a nudge on the Holstraat, but the pace would dip between the accelerations. Still, it was hardly a mess of a chase, making Van Baarle’s performance all the more impressive.

Van der Poel did the lion’s share of the work in trying to bring the main bunch back, and almost ground to a halt when the job was done. By that point, however, they’d only reached the chasing eight, and Van Baarle was already savouring his first major one-day win.

Results :
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
11 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
12 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
13 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Team BikeExchange
14 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
15 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
16 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
17 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
18 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
19 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
20 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
21 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
22 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
23 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team DSM
24 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
25 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
26 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
27 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team
28 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
29 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
30 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
31 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic
32 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
33 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Qhubeka Assos
35 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
36 Stan Dewulf (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
37 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
38 Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
39 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
40 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
41 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
42 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
43 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
44 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
45 Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-Nippo
46 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
47 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
48 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
49 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Cofidis
50 Anthony Jullien (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
51 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:39
52 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie 0:00:46
53 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:00:47
54 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:00:54
55 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
56 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:09
57 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:12
58 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:41
59 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:58
60 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
61 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team BikeExchange 0:02:00
62 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix 0:04:28
63 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
64 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 0:05:45
65 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
66 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
67 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:08:14
68 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
69 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
70 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
71 Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
72 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
73 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
74 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
75 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
76 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
77 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
78 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Team DSM
79 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
80 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team
81 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
82 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal WB
83 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
84 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
85 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
86 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
87 Jack Bauer (NZl) Team BikeExchange
88 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
89 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
90 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
91 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team
92 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
93 Emil Vinjebo (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos
94 Michal Golas (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
95 Florian Maitre (Fra) Total Direct Energie
96 André Carvalho (Por) Cofidis
97 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
98 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
99 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
100 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
101 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
102 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
103 Alex Edmondson (Aus) Team BikeExchange
104 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Jumbo-Visma
105 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
106 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
107 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
108 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos
109 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
110 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
111 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
112 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
113 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
114 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
115 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
116 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
117 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
118 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-Nippo
119 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Education-Nippo
120 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-Nippo
121 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
122 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
123 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNS Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
DNS Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-Nippo
DNS Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Education-Nippo
DNF Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Ivo Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Andreas Nielsen (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos
DNF Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team DSM
DNF Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM
DNF Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
DNF Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM
DNF Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team BikeExchange
DNF Barnabás Peák (Hun) Team BikeExchange
DNF Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange
DNF Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
DNF Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma
DNF David Dekker (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
DNF Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
DNF Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
DNF Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
DNF Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education-Nippo
DNF Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
DNF Tom Bohli (Swi) Cofidis
DNF Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis
DNF Jordi Meeus (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
DNF Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
DNF Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise