How it happened
The Belgian attacked near the top of the Eikenberg climb (1,200m @ 5.2%, max. 10%), with 40km left to ride on the 184.2km course from Roeselare to Waregem. He joined the two-rider breakaway of Romain Grégoire (Groupama–FDJ United) and Niklas Larsen (Unibet–Rose Rockets) and worked with them until Grégoire was dropped about 20km from the line. Larsen gave way some 10km later.
“I felt the tempo drop and knew I had to go alone,” Van Aert said about his decision to attack. “After the Eikenberg I got to the front of the race with good companions, but I realized I had to make the difference myself. When I dropped Niklas with about 10 kilometers to go, there was no way back. I tried to focus on my effort and not look behind, but in the end the race was 150 meters too long.”
Van Aert gave it his all as Ganna initiated several attacks out of the peloton, only to be caught. With 5km left to ride, he still had a lead of 13 seconds over a chase group led by the Italian. At 3km, his lead over Ganna and Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) was still 8 seconds. But Ganna put on the afterburners just before the final kilometer and caught the unlucky Belgian in the shadow of the finish line.
An “amazing victory” for Ganna
“All day we were a bit unlucky,” Ganna said afterwards. “In the first part, after the first hill, I broke my front wheel and had to change my bike for the first time. And then I broke my handlebar,” which necessitated another bike change. “Wout made an impressive effort; to catch him was not easy,”.
“I was feeling good in Gent [In Flanders Fields] and I tried to help my teammates,” he added. “And today they did an amazing job for me and gave me massive support. In the end I tried to give back all their support with an amazing victory. I think it’s one of the most important [victories]. . . . It’s really nice for me.”
The race was brutally fast from the start. The winner’s average speed for the day was 48.483km/h, the fastest Dwars door Vlaanderen ever by more than 2km/h. That was little consolation for van Aert, who said after the race, “I tried everything and was really dying. It would have been nice if the finish was 150 meters earlier, but this is racing.”
This was not the first time the Dwars door Vlaanderen has been a deep disappointment for van Aert. Last year, he was outsprinted by Neilsen Powless (EF Education–EasyPost) after starting his sprint too early and the year before that he was seriously injured in a crash in the race, an incident that began a series of crashes and illnesses that seriously disrupted his career.
But, to look at the silver lining, his performance on Wednesday and in the previous weekend’s In Flanders Fields suggest that he is finally coming back to his best form again. In Saturday’s race, he and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Premier Tech) raced in front of the peloton for about 32km before being caught by the bunch, as the race was won by van der Poel’s teammate Jasper Philipsen in a bunch sprint.
Reusser wins women’s race by a hair
The women’s race, held at the same time, also ended with a thrilling finish. Marlen Reusser (Movistar) broke away from a very reduced peloton with about 23km left to ride on the 128.8km course in and around Waregem. She was soon joined by 2023 Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Demi Vollering (FDJ United–SUEZ). The duo kept the chase group – which contained Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx–Protime) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix–Premier Tech) – at bay until there was 6km left to ride, when the fight seemed to go out of the group.
Reusser and Vollering began the usual game of positional cat and mouse when they entered the final kilometer, as Lieke Nooijen (Visma–Lease a Bike) burst out of the bunch and joined them with about 700 meters left to ride. The three headed for the line as the reduced peloton, no doubt inspired by Nooijen, also rode hard into the final straight. But it was too little, too late, as the three leaders sprinted towards the line. It was Reusser who won, by an eyelash over Vollering, while the 24-year-old Nooijen registered her first-ever WorldTour podium.
“Actually, I’m a bit surprised,” Reusser said after her first race since early February, when she crashed in the UAE Tour, injuring her shoulder and knee. “I didn’t expect it [to happen] like this. I’m so happy. In the beginning of the race I felt like, ‘Ahh.’ I really had trouble positioning and stuff, but I kept being confident to help the whole team, because I think we have a super-strong team.”
“She was the strongest today and the smartest,” Vollering said of Reusser. “It was super close, and another time maybe it would be another way around. It’s always nice to battle for the win.”
Results Men’s 2026 Dwars door Vlaanderen
- Filippo Ganna, INEOS Grenadiers 3:48:27
2. Wout van Aert, Visma–Lease a Bike “
3. Søren Wærenskjold, Uno-X Mobility “
4. Biniam Girmay, NSN Cycling “
5. Laurence Pithie, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe “
6. Orluis Aular, Movistar “
7. Christophe Laporte, Visma–Lease a Bike “
8. Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin–Premier Tech “
9. Vito Braet, Lotto Intermarché “
10. Mads Pedersen, Lidl-Trek “
Results Women’s 2026 Dwaars door Vlaanderen
- Marlen Reusser, Movistar 3:09:12
2. Demi Vollering, FDJ United – SUEZ “
3. Lieke Nooijen, Visma–Lease a Bike “
4. Zoe Bäckstedt, Canyon–SRAM zondacrypto +0:07
5. Eline Jansen, VolkerWessels Cycling “
6. Cat Ferguson, Movistar “
7. Charlotte Kool, Fenix–Premier Tech “
8. Franziska Koch, FDJ United – SUEZ “
9. Karlijn Swinkels, UAE Team ADQ “
10. Thalita De Jong, Human Powered Health “