Dwars Door Vlaanderen Waregem, Belgium
31 MARCH 2021
Dylan van Baarle takes a corner at speed as he rides away to a spectacular solo victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen, midweek between GentWevelgem and the Tour of Flanders. The Ineos Grenadier had shown good form in Belgium already, with seventh place in E3 Saxo Bank and eighth in Gent-Wevelgem. However, his status as a second-tier favourite gave him the leeway to attack with 50km to go, as the midrace climbs broke the bunch up. Behind Van Baarle, there seemed to be no panic, but neither was there a great deal of organisation, as DeceuninckQuick Step seemed to be suffering from an off- day. His lead stayed around 30 seconds over the chasing group, with what was left of the peloton at a minute. But while the groups came together behind him, they were never able to close the gap, as the Dutchman took the biggest win of his career.