"There were a thousand ways to win and one way to lose" - Visma rider looks back at Dwars door Vlaanderen disaster
Cycling
Dwars door Vlaanderen could've been the peak of Visma | Lease a Bike's spring - with three men in a leading group of four, it seemed impossible not to win. The greater was everyone's disbelief at the finish when experienced men Wout Van Aert, Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson were outfoxed by Neilson Powless.
Afterwards, there was a lot of criticism towards Van Aert for taking on the responsibility - and failing. Towards sport directors in the car for not stepping in and ordering a bullet-proof winning tactic. Towards Benoot and Jorgenson for not being the least bit selfish - when it mattered. For one last time, we return to that fateful day with Visma's documentary about past spring.
It's true that when men in team car let riders think up the plan themselves, the damage was already done. "Consult each other," said team manager Grischa Niermann from team car. To which Benoot immediately replies: "We win with Wout in the sprint." A decision that, as he would later regretfully admit, Van Aert makes himself.
Although Niermann agrees without contradiction, there is still some doubt. "Can't we let Wout ride away? And tell Powless that he can come second?" he asks fellow team manager Maarten Wynants. "I would say trust," Wynants calms his colleague. Niermann nods: "Yes, we have to trust him. If we say we don't think he can beat Powless, we don't have trust."
Sweet forever. Now this defeat will carry on with Wout and the whole Visma for next months, if not years. They allowed impossible to happen - the Omloop 2015 to repeat itself. It's also an important lesson for everyone involved to never underestimate their opponent - but even more importantly - to not overestimate ourselves.
"There were a thousand ways to win and one way to lose. The one way was to get Neil to the finish," Jorgenson said, annoyed. "We should have played the game. But we all wanted to see Wout win."
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment