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Dylan van Baarle solos to Dwars door Vlaanderen victory

Flanders Week concludes with Sunday’s Ronde van Vlaanderen

March 31, 2021
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Dylan van Baarle (The Netherlands/Ineos Grenadiers) might have the Tour of Britain and Herald Sun Tour on his palmares, but on Wednesday he earned what is surely the biggest win of his career, WorldTour race Dwars door Vlaanderen. “It’s high on the list,” he said afterwards. The Dutchman attacked 52 km from the finish in Waregem and soloed to victory.

Van Baarle solos to victory.

Dwars door Vlaanderen was the 11th round of the 2021 UCI WorldTour and the penultimate race of Flanders Week, which began with Kasper Asgreen’s fine E3 Saxo Bank Classic victory on Friday. Sunday the 28th was Gent-Wevelgem, where Wout Van Aert was the fastest out of a sextet. Flanders Week concludes with Sunday’s Ronde Monument. Asgreen was racing on Wednesday, but Van Aert was not.

The Course

The 2021 Dwars door Vlaanderen contained 12 climbs—three of which were cobbled—and three cobbled sectors in the final two-thirds of 184 km from Roselare to Waregem. A crucial pair of cobbled climbs were the Steenbeekdries and Taaienberg starting at around the 60 km to go mark. The second ascent of the Cote de Trieu would be another important selection site, and 17 km later would be the last crucial hill of Vosenhol. In the final 22 km there were two more climbs and two cobbled sections.

The pace was very high in the first hour, the peloton whizzing along at 50 km/h, something that wasn’t conducive to a breakaway. Would the day’s first hill, Kluisberg, provide the necessary launch pad? After a failed attempt a trio got loose before the Nieuwe Kwaremont.

As that was happening in the men’s race, Annemiek van Vleuten won the women’s 1.1-rated version, her first victory for new squad Movistar. Van Vleuten beat Kasia Niewiadoma in a two-up sprint. Canadian Alison Jackson was fifth.

The fourth climb, the first passage of Knokteberg-Trieu, saw one fugitive lose contact. Chaotic crashes and general feistiness before the Steenbeekdries strung out the peloton. On the Taaienberg Greg Van Avermaet attacked and the breakaway was lassoed. Favourites like Asgreen, Tom Pidcock and Davide Ballerini were found out. The peloton was split to pieces.

Berg Van Houte was where van Baarle skipped away. Reigning champion Mathieu van Poel accelerated in the group behind.

Riders had to wary of van der Poel’s accelerations.

With van Baarle still leading, the chase groups were in a state of flux heading into the final 40 km. Several attacks from the chasers on Kruisberg-Hotond and Knokteberg-Trieu unhitched van der Poel. Van Avermaet, Milan-San Remo winner Jasper Stuyven and Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Florian Senechal were the most dangerous riders in the closest chase, although Warren Barguil was certainly looking up for it.

On the Holstraat Stuyven put in a surge, but his chase group was making no inroads into van Baarle’s gap. He had a half minute with 12 km remaining. The final climb, the Nokereberg, was short.

The chase group simply couldn’t close the gap. Van Baarle was 7th in E3 and 8th in Gent-Wevelgem, but Wednesday was his day. There was no room for Deceuninck-Quick Step on the podium.

2021 Dwars door Vlaanderen
1) Dylan van Baarle (The Nethelands/Ineos Grenadiers)
2) Christophe Laporte (France/Cofidis)
3) Tim Merlier (Belgium/Alpecin-Fenix)