DISCUSSION - Dwars door Vlaanderen 2026 - The race was 100 meters too long? A tale of agression, timing and late drama for Wout Van Aert

Dwars door Vlaanderen 2026 delivered two contrasting yet equally dramatic races, both defined by relentless pace, tactical hesitation and decisive late moves in Waregem.

From the men’s race to the women’s event, the pattern was strikingly similar, early aggression, constant selection and finales shaped in the closing kilometres, where timing proved just as important as strength.

In the men’s race, the tempo was high from the start in Roeselare, with repeated attacks preventing any early break from settling. That intensity carried deep into the race, with crashes, mechanical issues and continuous accelerations gradually wearing down the peloton.

The first major selection came over the climbs, where a powerful group of around 20 riders forced clear, but the race was far from decided. Once the cobbled sectors began to bite, particularly on the Eikenberg, the dynamics shifted dramatically.

Wout van Aert ignited the race with a long-range move, bridging across and then accelerating clear, eventually committing to a bold solo effort after dropping his companions. For a long time, it looked like a winning move, as he stretched his advantage towards 40 seconds and held off a reorganising chase behind.

However, the balance began to shift in the final kilometres. A stronger, more structured pursuit formed, led by Filippo Ganna, who drove the chase with sustained power.

Despite Van Aert’s resistance, the gap steadily came down, and in the final metres, Ganna completed the comeback, sprinting past the Belgian to take a dramatic victory, leaving Van Aert once again agonisingly close after shaping the race.

The women’s race followed a similarly selective script, though with a different tactical rhythm. An early breakaway controlled the opening phase before being caught on the cobbles, triggering a far more aggressive second half.

The race exploded over the climbs, with multiple attacks fragmenting the peloton, until the decisive move came on flatter terrain. Marlen Reusser launched the key attack, with Demi Vollering bridging across to form a strong leading duo.

Behind, hesitation and uneven cooperation allowed the pair to build a crucial advantage, even as a reduced chase group attempted to organise. The gap fluctuated but remained enough to set up a two-rider finale.

Yet, just like in the men’s race, the closing kilometres brought unexpected tension. Inside the final kilometre, hesitation between the two leaders nearly proved costly, as Lieke Nooijen launched a late chase and came dangerously close to bridging across.

Only a late acceleration from the front duo prevented a complete turnaround. In the final sprint, Reusser proved strongest, edging Vollering on the line, while Nooijen completed the podium after her late surge fell just short.

The Dwars door Vlaanderen did not disappoint anyone today. It was a race raced from start to finish at full speed, relentlessly intense, with a few entertaining twists along the way and an unexpected, dramatic finale.

Wout van Aert might need to visit a witch. It almost feels like he is destined never to win this race. Two years ago he crashed, last year he was beaten by Neilson Powless, and this year, despite all his effort and determination, Filippo Ganna delivered checkmate right on the finishing straight.

Many fans, myself included, thought Ganna was out of contention after having to change bikes for the second time in just a few kilometres, this time due to a broken handlebar. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, he clawed his way back, launched his attack, and took a stunning victory.

A word of praise must go to Team Visma | Lease a Bike, who executed a superb team strategy. They attacked and counterattacked throughout the race, putting tremendous pressure on all their rivals and forcing a relentless pace.

Mads Pedersen, true to his style, responded to every move, but things did not fall his way in the end. Still, he leaves Belgium with a positive note, showing he has the legs for what is to come.

The average speed of the peloton says it all, no one held back. Another year, another great edition. This is, without a doubt, one of the races I most enjoy watching on the cobbled classics calendar of the WorldTour.

Now all eyes turn to Tour of Flanders on Sunday. The anticipation is already building.

The women’s race also had a dramatic finish. When we saw Reusser and Vollering leading the race, we were all expecting a two-way sprint for victory. But Lieke Nooijen of Team Vimsa | Lease a Bike seized the opportunity to attack from the peloton, and by the entrance to the final bend she was already on top of the breakaway riders.

Nooijen didn’t ease off and overtook them, whilst Vollering and Reusser looked at each other. Vollering was the first to respond to the Visma rider, with Reusser on her wheel, and it was a breath-taking sprint. Victory for the Swiss Movistar rider by half a wheel over the Dutch FDJ rider... in a finish worthy of a race that was thrilling from start to finish.

A proper top race, very exciting from start to finish as it truly had no low point, it was an all-out race the entire way. It was great to see Wout Van Aert attack the way he did, drop the peloton the way he did, and seemingly time everything to perfection from the linking up with the attacking group that had moved beforehand, and then one by one drop his companions into the final kilometers.

Destiny would have it that he finishes second again, in the race where last year he was shamefully defeated. This time around there is no shame, and he will be very optimistic ahead of Flanders and Roubaix with legs like these, but it is more of a heartbreak for the fans - including me - who wanted to see him take the win. And in what way he was going to do it. The race was 100 meters too long.

It's hard to describe why but it seems like more and more these big wins come after disastrous moments. It does feel like the 'adrenaline rush' from coming back from a crash or mechanical just gets that extra edge on the riders.

Just in a couple weeks we've had Jasper Philipsen's shoe incident at Nokere, Pogacar's crash in Sanremo, now Ganna's repeated mechanicals at a key part of the race. Logic would dictate the Italian would be slightly burned out from the chasing he had to do.

But the opposite seemed to be the case, instead there looked to be no extra fatigue and perhaps even more then what you'd expect from the rider. INEOS worked a lot throughout the day to bring back the early attack, then being part of attacking groups whilst Ganna had his issues, and then he timed his attack to perfection.

In Wevelgem he showed he already had this peak form, but worked towards a sprint when that didn't make sense at all. Here he was given his opportunity and took advantage of it perfectly.

The 2026 Dwars door Vlaanderen leaves you with one of those feelings that only cycling can evoke: the perfect blend of spectacle… and sporting tragedy.

Because what Wout van Aert did was, quite simply, incredible. He breaks the race open at 40 km, selects his group, attacks again at 22 km, eliminates everyone but one… and still has the legs to go solo at 9 km and sustain a brutal time trial. It’s the script for the perfect winner.

The problem is that in Flanders, it’s not always the strongest who wins, but the smartest… or the most opportunistic.

He capitalised on Vermeersch’s move and turned an almost impossible situation into a highly deserved victory. What’s interesting here is the contrast in styles.

Van Aert rides like an ‘old-school’ classics specialist: aggressive, generous, even reckless. Ganna, by contrast, wins like a modern rider: calculation, timing and efficiency. And the result is a harsh but clear lesson: attacking so much, so far out and so often… takes its toll.

It also offers an important insight ahead of the Tour of Flanders: Van Aert has the legs, probably the best in the peloton right now after Tadej Pogacar.In short, a spectacular classic that confirms two things: Van Aert is the strongest… but not always the one who wins. And Ganna has just shown that he too can compete and win amongst the great classics specialists.