Results Dwars door Vlaanderen 2026 | Heartbreak again for Wout van Aert as Filippo Ganna crushes Belgian dreams in thrilling finale

Dwars door Vlaanderen 2026 developed into a relentless, high-speed contest that built steadily towards a dramatic finale, with Filippo Ganna overturning Wout van Aert’s long-range attack in the final metres to take victory in Waregem.

From the moment the flag dropped in Roeselare, the race was contested at full speed. A flurry of early attacks prevented any immediate break from settling, with the peloton repeatedly brought back together through the opening kilometres despite constant attempts to force a move clear.

That aggressive start came at a cost. A mid-race crash disrupted the peloton and saw both Dylan Teuns and Jenno Berckmoes abandon, the latter taken to hospital, while others were forced to chase back on. Mechanical issues also briefly affected riders, including Van Aert and Jasper Philipsen, adding further instability to an already stretched bunch.

Despite the repeated accelerations, it was only after the race reached the early climbs, including the Volkegemberg and Berg Ten Houte, that a move of real consequence finally took shape. A large and powerful group of around 20 riders broke clear, featuring representation from nearly every major team.

Among those present were Christophe Laporte and Matthew Brennan for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Mads Pedersen, Soren Kragh Andersen and Mathias Vacek for Lidl-Trek, and Florian Vermeersch and Benoit Cosnefroy for UAE, alongside names such as Alberto Bettiol, Jonas Abrahamsen and Mick van Dijke. Notably absent, however, were several key favourites, including Van Aert and the entire Alpecin-Premier Tech squad.

That imbalance immediately shaped the race behind. With Alpecin missing the move, they were forced onto the front of the peloton, joined by INEOS Grenadiers and Lotto-Intermarche in a sustained chase effort before the break was eventually brought back together in the hill zone.

Following a series of accelerations that thinned the peloton but failed to produce a clear split, the race finally broke apart on the cobbled slopes of the Eikenberg.

Van Aert launched a decisive move, first distancing those around him before bridging across to the leaders to form a new front group with Romain Gregoire and Larsen. Behind, disruption — including another mechanical issue for Filippo Ganna — further complicated the chase.

The trio quickly established an advantage, with Van Aert driving much of the pace as the gap stretched towards 40 seconds while the peloton struggled to organise a coherent response.

On the Nokereberg, the Belgian increased the pressure once more. Gregoire was dropped under the repeated accelerations, leaving Van Aert out front with Larsen as the race entered its decisive phase.

Rather than settle for numbers, Van Aert continued to force the pace, eventually dropping Larsen as well to go clear alone, committing fully to a long solo effort with the race still finely balanced behind.

Behind, the race gradually reorganised. A fragmented peloton came back together, with riders such as Ganna and Laurence Pithie returning to the front of the chase, while Soudal-Quick Step and Lidl-Trek contributed to a more structured pursuit.

Despite that, Van Aert continued to hold firm. Even inside the final 10 kilometres, he maintained a narrow advantage, repeatedly accelerating out of corners to keep the chasers at bay.

The gap, however, began to fall under sustained pressure. It dropped towards 15 seconds, then closer still, as Ganna drove the chase with a series of powerful turns that brought a select group clear behind him.

Inside the final kilometres, the race tightened dramatically. The peloton stretched into a long line in pursuit, with multiple riders contributing, while Van Aert pressed on alone, holding off the chase metre by metre.

But inside the closing metres, the effort finally told. After being driven forward by the chase, Ganna launched his sprint in the final straight, powering past Van Aert to take victory in Waregem, with the Belgian forced to settle for second after a long-range effort that had defined the race.

It marked a bitterly familiar outcome. A year on from being beaten in a three-against-one finale, Van Aert was again denied victory late despite being the rider who had shaped the race, this time caught in the final metres after committing fully to his move.

Backed by loud roadside support throughout the closing kilometres, he came agonisingly close to ending a three-year wait for a Spring Classics victory, only for it to slip away at the very last.