What a climax! Powless surprises everyone and beats Visma trio in Dwars door Vlaanderen

Dwars door Vlaanderen has an essential place on the cycling calendar. The Belgian classic is the last major event before the cobblestone Monuments, including the Tour of Flanders. For many riders, the Wednesday before the Tour of Flanders is an important day to test their legs. Last year, a massive crash in this race meant that Van Aert had to cancel his spring season, but the Belgian was still on the starting line on Wednesday. Biniam Girmay, Mads Pedersen, and Jasper Stuyven also hit the ground hard last year, but they appeared at the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday morning.

The riders were sent off under a bright sun in Roeselare, after which an unspectacular opening phase followed. Many riders tried, but in the first hour, no one escaped. Eventually, five riders succeeded: Taco van der Hoorn, Joshua Giddings, Fabio Christen, Rasmus Pedersen, and Petr Kelemen gained a slight lead on the peloton. Lewis Askey, Mikkel Bjerg, and Ceriel Desal caught up with the five leaders shortly after, creating an early break of eight riders.

Alexander Kristoff tried to catch up for a moment but was unsuccessful. So we continued with eight leaders towards the first ascent of the Knokteberg-Trieu. That first climb signaled Van Aert and Visma | Lease a Bike to set the pace. The Belgian rode hard and opened the door wide at the back of the peloton. Not much later, Mads Pedersen also accelerated – there were still 88 kilometers to finish! – causing the next reshuffling of the pack. Jonathan Milan had already been dropped, while Paul Magnier, who had crashed earlier in the day, had also been dropped. The French rider would eventually give up.

For a brief moment, Mikkel Bjerg and Rasmus Søjbjerg Pedersen broke away from the pack. After a few minutes of calm in the pack, things got pretty wild again. Fabio van den Bossche rode with Neilson Powless and Joshua Tarling towards the two leaders. The trio managed to catch up, but Visma | Lease a Bike continued racing behind them.

With an attack involving four teammates (!), the Dutch formation rode hard towards Berg Ten Houte. Van Aert Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot managed to get away, but the gap with the leaders was closed in no time. At the front, we had seven leaders, including the three Visma men, Pedersen, Powless, Van den Bossche, and Bjerg.

With 55 kilometers to go on the Trieu, the three men from Visma | Lease a Bike kicked it into a higher gear. Only Powless could keep up with the three Killer Bees, leaving us with four at the front: three in yellow shirts and one in bright pink. Behind them, the competitors kept chasing. Mads Pedersen, for example, pushed hard on the Trieu, but he did not come any closer to the leaders. In the meantime, the chasing peloton could no longer be called a peloton. It also broke up due to the wind in an open area, which benefited the four in front.

Just before the Eikenberg, the last climb 40 kilometers from the finish, Nils Politt and Laurence Pithie also crashed. Meanwhile, the leading four continued to consolidate their lead, which was still three-quarters of a minute at the top of the Eikenberg. Gradually, the chasing group realized that they would have to settle for fifth place today.

Only a few cobblestone sections remained until the finish in Waregem, where the three-against-one dynamic at the front created a beautiful spectacle. Behind them were mostly the same names, such as Stefan Küng and Mads Pedersen, trying to make a difference. The latter came onto the cobblestones of the Nokereberg with an incredible acceleration but was still 50 seconds behind the leaders. Tibor Del Grosso also seemed to be in excellent shape.

A group of chasers did form, with Pedersen, Küng, Del Grosso, Alec Segaert, Arjen Livyns, and Dries De Bondt finding each other. They gained a lead of about 20 seconds on the other chasers but did not come any closer to the leading four. That is why the main question was how Visma | Lease a Bike would play in the final. They outnumbered the front group with Van Aert, Jorgenson, and Benoot, but how would they beat the lone Powless? For the American, the question was the other way around: how could he surprise the other three?

In the end, there was no question of a surprise attack as the four leaders entered the final kilometer. Powless chose the last row, hoping to surprise the three Visma men.

Jorgenson was the first to sprint, followed by Van Aert. Powless followed on his wheel, and the American appeared to have quite a sprint in his legs. He came from behind and surprised everyone. Van Aert was beaten and came second, Benoot third. It was an amazing climax to a special day.