Preview Dwars door Vlaanderen 2025 | Pedersen and Van Aert return to the race where things went wrong last year

Dwars door Vlaanderen is a more recent addition to the WorldTour, which has boosted its prestige in recent years. Nevertheless, it is a race in which the 'underdogs' also have a chance of victory, although this has changed slightly in recent editions. Names like Jens Debusschere and Jelle Wallays (twice) won the race in the last decade, but from 2019 onwards, a shift has been taking place under the leadership of Mathieu van der Poel.

The Dutch rider opened his list of classic victories with a decisive win in this race. Dylan van Baarle and Van der Poel again ensured a Dutch series in the following years, which Christophe Laporte and Matteo Jorgenson, employed by the Dutch Visma | Lease a Bike team, continued in the last two years. However, after Wout van Aert's crash in 2024, it was only a matter of damage control.

2024 Matteo Jorgenson
2023 Christophe Laporte
2022 Mathieu van der Poel
2021 Dylan van Baarle
2020 Canceled
2019 Mathieu van der Poel
2018 Yves Lampaert
2017 Yves Lampaert
2016 Jens Debusschere
2015 Jelle Wallays

This season, Dwars door Vlaanderen will use its tried-and-true recipe. This means that the famous climbs of the Flemish Ardennes—Paterberg, Oude Kwaremont, de Muur, and Koppenberg—will not be included, which often offers opportunities for riders who are usually less able to compete on these climbs on Sunday.

We start in Roeselare and finish 188 kilometers later in Waregem. As we enter the last hundred kilometers, the preliminary final usually starts with the Hotond-Knokteberg-Berg ten Houte triptych, where the first pack shuffling can occur. Then, we will turn in a different direction than last year.

The most important change to the Dwars door Vlaanderen course is the removal of the now infamous descent towards the Kanarieberg, where last year's serious crash involving Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven and Biniam Girmay took place. Instead, the riders will make an extra trip up the Berg ten Houte.

Around fifty kilometers from the finish, we return to the Knokteberg and the Hotond, where the riders must fight it out. After that, the Eikenberg and Nokereberg follow, as well as the cobblestone sections of Doorn, Huisepontweg, and twice the Herlegemstraat, to finally arrive in Waregem. It can usually end in several scenarios: either a solo rider, a small group, or a compact peloton.

Weather
Meteorological spring has begun, as the riders will notice on Wednesday, with a temperature of 16 degrees Celsius. The wind is blowing from the northeast. We will not be getting any precipitation.

Times
Start: 06:25 AM EST
Finish: 10:35 AM EST

Dwars door Vlaanderen 2025 will undoubtedly stir up mixed emotions for some of the participants. Last year, this race cast a dark shadow over the spring season with the serious crash of Wout van Aert, among others. The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike did not let it get him down and returns this year in the final test for the Tour of Flanders alongside defending champion Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot. Olav Kooij was also expected, but he broke his collarbone in Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday.

They also did well in Lidl-Trek last year until that crash. Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven were the leaders heading up the Kanarieberg, but they, too, will be back this year in Roeselare. After his impressive victory in Gent-Wevelgem, Pedersen will start the race as the top favorite. However, with Stuyven, Toms Skujins, and the fast Jonathan Milan, the German-American team can still count on several strong riders.

On the Kemmelberg, Jasper Philipsen also showed that his legs were fine, but a flat tire prevented him from reaching his full potential in Gent-Wevelgem. On Wednesday, he will try to succeed again, presumably without Mathieu van der Poel by his side. Alpecin-Deceuninck will also send Tibor Del Grosso and Kaden Groves from the Tour of Catalonia to Dwars door Vlaanderen, so once again, we are talking about a strong team.

UAE-Emirates XRG does not have Tadej Pogacar, but Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch, Antonio Morgado, and, for the time being, Jhonatan Narváez. Soudal Quick-Step is counting on top talent Paul Magnier, while Intermarché-Wanty has Biniam Girmay and Laurenz Rex, who also suffered heavy crashes last year.

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has not yet seen its new classics squad reap the rewards, but on Wednesday, there will be a new chance for the Van Dijke brothers, Oier Lazkano, Jordi Meeus and Laurence Pithie, among others. INEOS Grenadiers will keep Joshua Tarling and Filippo Ganna on the sidelines, but Magnus Sheffield will ride his first spring classic.

Other men we will also see on Sunday include Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Alberto Bettiol, Mike Teunissen (XDS-Astana), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), the strong Arjen Livyns and Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto), Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar), Oliver Naesen (Decathlon AG2R), Rick Pluimers (Tudor), Soren Waerenskjold, Alexander Kristoff, Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Nils Eekhoff of Picnic PostNL: they are all present.

Top favorites:Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Dwars door Vlaanderen can be followed on Wednesday via Sporza and Eurosport. The broadcast on VRT 1 starts at 08.00 AM EST, while Eurosport will switch to the main channel and online platforms at 08.15 AM EST.