After another heartbreaking defeat in the final straight-away of Dwars door Vlaanderen, Wout van Aert was surprisingly stoic and measured. While he admitted to team cameras that the Dwars finale seemed “cursed,” he was as poised as ever in his post race interviews.
“Obviously it would have been nice if the finish was a 150m earlier. I tried everything I had and I was really dying in the end,” van Aert, adding he had good co-operation If someone passes me, that’s racing.”
“Suddenly I saw a wheel next to me”
Wout van Aert looked to have a solid solo chance of taking the Dwars door Vlaanderen win right up until the final corner in the race. The Belgian believed in his chances, too.
“I only knew it when he passed me,” van Aert said of when he realised he’d been defeated. “Until the very last moment I thought maybe it would be just enough to make it. I almost never looked back because I tried to just focus on the last corner.”
Filippo Ganna proved unstoppable. After racing back through the pack after a broken set of handlebars, the INEOS rider separated himself from the peloton to close in on van Aert solo and pass him in the final finish straight.
“Suddenly I saw a wheel next to me,” van Aert recounted to Wielerflits post-race. “And I then I knew I would not get him back.”
🇧🇪#DDV26
Another memorable edition of Dwars door Vlaanderen. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/Zo2tXLjiT8
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) April 1, 2026
Van Aert’s strong case for a cursed Dwars
If he had held on for another 150m, van Aert would have avenged Visma-Lease A Bike’s defeat in 2025. That saw Neilson Powless, outnumbered three-to-one by Visma riders coming into the finish line, steal an unlikely victory from van Aert and teammates. The year before? Van Aert went out early in a horrible crash. No wonder he says the race might be cursed.
Hopefully this resolves a “bad luck comes in threes” scenario for van Aert and he can find redemption at Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2027. Or sooner. Maybe this weekend at the Ronde van Vlaanderen?