DWARS DOOR VLAANDEREN: BOTH DESTINATION & STOP ON THE ROAD TO RONDE

For some, Dwars Door Vlaanderen serves as the perfect tune-up before Belgium’s biggest cycling event, Ronde van Vlaanderen, on Sunday. For others, it’s a big goal in itself – a race that never lacks competitiveness or challenge.

The CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto team of Zoe Bäckstedt, Chiara Consonni, Nastya Kolesava, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka and Alice Towers head into the race with varying objectives, making for an exciting and dynamic lineup.

Chiara is no stranger to success here, having won the 2022 edition in a large bunch sprint, and finished second in 2023. Meanwhile, Zoe placed 13th in 2023 after moving to Belgium in October 2022, and has steadily developed a special edge when it comes to races in this area.

“I moved purely for cyclocross at that moment, with a plan to try and find myself a place where I could also live for the classics. I found the place I’m living at now, signed the contract, and haven’t looked back since.”

“I think I’ve always just loved it here. When I was young, I came over to race cyclocross, and my sister also lived here for a while. It just felt like the right place for me.”

Zoe’s home in Waregem, the start and finish town of the race, sits on the race route, making the phrase home-town advantage more literal than ever.

“I know the course like the back of my hand. I’ve checked Veloviewer a couple of times, but I could probably already tell you every turn, so I’m a little bit more excited for this race.”

Following the same course as last year, Dwars Door Vlaanderen mirrors many of the roads featured in its bigger sibling but on a slightly smaller scale – 128.6 kilometres with 1033m of elevation, compared to De Ronde’s 169km and 1531m. Riders will tackle six cobbled sectors and seven climbs, including the tough Côte du Trieu (1.2km at 7.5%) with pitches upwards of 12%, alongside some of Flanders’ most well-known cobbled stretches, such as Doorn (which reads ominously close to “Doom”), Mariaborrestraat and Huisepontweg, the latter recognisable for its iconic windmill.

The course favours quality over quantity, offering just enough cobbles and climb to provide a true test – challenging without reaching monumental levels of prolonged suffering and epicness.

“It’s a little bit shorter than the last races we’ve done, shorter than De Panne, and I think 130km is probably my prime distance for racing right now. It’s not super hilly but it still has some short, punchy climbs that I should be able to get over.”

“There’s the Côte du Trieu, where at the top, you turn right and briefly go onto the Flanders finish, then up the Hotond, and that whole section has a lot of climbing. Then you come down and hit the cobbles. That’s quite a tough part of the course, but you also do Nokereberg toward the end and some of the cobbles we raced on in Nokere itself.”

“It’s got everything – it’s really good, and I’m so excited. There’s just something about this race. I know the final so well – navigating through the town and all the different sections before that. The finish is super straight, and you can really see the end from far away.”

HOW TO FOLLOW

Dwars Door Vlaanderen | 1.WWT | Wednesday April 2 | 128.6km | 1033m elevation | Start 14:40 CET – fastest finish 17:58.

Live coverage from 15.55 CET on providers including Sporza, Eurosport, Discovery Plus, TNT Sports, Max and FloSports. Stay updated on X with #DDV25 and #DDVwomen, and follow CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto’s social channels for team updates.