76th Dwars door Vlaanderen: 30 March, 2022

[Pantani_lives]

The final test before the big one is Dwars door Vlaanderen. This race used to be called Dwars door België, but since it's supported by the Flemish community the name has been changed. It's a typical Flemish race with hills and cobblestones, but not too long or too hard, ideal for preparation, and a chance for outsiders. Over a distance of 183.9 km the riders will ride from Roeselare to Waregem, passing thirteen hills. The big question is: who will finish second behind Victor Campenaerts?

Recent winners:
2012 Niki Terpstra
2013 Oscar Gatto
2014 Niki Terpstra
2015 Jelle Wallays
2016 Jens Debusschere
2017 Yves Lampaert
2018 Yves Lampaert
2019 Mathieu van der Poel
2020 /
2021 Dylan van Baarle

The women will start before the men and finish around 15.25 PM. The weather will be dry and clouded, with a northeast wind.

Recent winners:
2012 Monique van de Ree
2013 Kirsten Wild
2014 Amy Pieters
2015 Amy Pieters
2016 Amy Pieters
2017 Lotta Lepistö
2018 Ellen van Dijk
2019 Ellen van Dijk
2020 /
2021 Annemiek van Vleuten

 

[Ilmaestro99]

The big question is: who will finish second behind Victor Campenaerts?

Campanaerts will give another masterclass in how not to race, just like last year

 

[Panda Claws]

I dont understand the meme about Crampenaerts here

 

[RedheadDane]

Recent winners:
2012 Niki Terpstra
2013 Oscar Gatto
2014 Niki Terpstra
2015 Jelle Wallays
2016 Jens Debusschere
2017 Yves Lampaert
2018 Yves Lampaert Quick-Step Floors
2019 Mathieu van der Poel
2020 /
2021 Dylan van Baarle

Lampaert, in 2018, was the only one who actually had a team.

 

[Sciatic]

Funny, I never thought about there being a Nieuwe Kwaremont

 

[tobydawq]

Lampaert, in 2018, was the only one who actually had a team.

No, it's just a weird mistake on the list.

 

[RedheadDane]

No, it's just a weird mistake on the list.

But is the mistake the adding of the team in 2018, or the non-adding of the teams in all the other years?

 

[Samamba]

There's going to be some wind, but the bad weather is sadly for Thursday
So 40 guys within 10 seconds it is.

 

[tobydawq]

But is the mistake the adding of the team in 2018, or the non-adding of the teams in all the other years?

I wouldn't presume to know.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Yikes, the route is even worse than in previous years with only Ladeuze and the flat cobbles of Mariaborrestraat (different second half than in the Ronde) and Doorn (first half is skipped) between Trieu and Nokereberg, then a pointless easy loop around Waregem to move the few actually-selective hills further from the finish than before. Trieu is at just over 50k to go, Ladeuze at almost 40, so it might as well be another Kuurne now. Also much like Kuurne, we have plenty of sprinters while the best riders of E3 and Gent-Wevelgem aren't there for the most part. The only hope is Van der Poel going insane, otherwise this will be a reduced bunch sprint.

 

[Samamba]

Yikes, the route is even worse than in previous years with only Ladeuze and the flat cobbles of Mariaborrestraat (different second half than in the Ronde) and Doorn (first half is skipped) between Trieu and Nokereberg, then a pointless easy loop around Waregem to move the few actually-selective hills further from the finish than before. Trieu is at just over 50k to go, Ladeuze at almost 40, so it might as well be another Kuurne now. Also much like Kuurne, we have plenty of sprinters while the best riders of E3 and Gent-Wevelgem aren't there for the most part. The only hope is Van der Poel going insane, otherwise this will be a reduced bunch sprint.

That or Thursdays predicted rain needs to fall on Wednesday. Most flemish classics need a complete overhaul. Only Kuurne, GW and De Panne (I'm fine with a flat echelon race) should be for sprinters. Not almost every flemish classic should end with a (reduced) bunch sprint for the win, podium or top 5. Make Omloop, Nokere, Bredene and DDV harder so they're not relying on bad weather to create gaps.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Lampaert, in 2018, was the only one who actually had a team.

It was copy-pasted from Wikipedia, and I forgot to remove it. It's gone now. If you're looking foor a good flooring brand you can look it up.

I dont understand the meme about Crampenaerts here

He announced months ago that he was going to win this race. It just can't go wrong!

 

[RedheadDane]

It was copy-pasted from Wikipedia, and I forgot to remove it. It's gone now. If you're looking foor a good flooring brand you can look it up.

Personally, I think I would have just... not deleted anything.

 

[Red Rick]

Yikes, the route is even worse than in previous years with only Ladeuze and the flat cobbles of Mariaborrestraat (different second half than in the Ronde) and Doorn (first half is skipped) between Trieu and Nokereberg, then a pointless easy loop around Waregem to move the few actually-selective hills further from the finish than before. Trieu is at just over 50k to go, Ladeuze at almost 40, so it might as well be another Kuurne now. Also much like Kuurne, we have plenty of sprinters while the best riders of E3 and Gent-Wevelgem aren't there for the most part. The only hope is Van der Poel going insane, otherwise this will be a reduced bunch sprint.

Pog and MvdP going full YOLO should make it a bit interesting

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Pog and MvdP going full YOLO should make it a bit interesting

I didn't know Pog would do this race. This is his first encounter with cobbles, I believe. Hopefully it will be fun.

 

[gavia88]

behalve berg ten houte, waar zijn de kasseiklimmetjes? Vrij opmerkelijke route. Vele asfalt klimmetjes met laag percentage (nieuwe kwaremont, Zeelstraat, Hotond). Ladeuze is leuk, maar één van de weinige lastige klimmetjes in de finale. Nergens op de route een kassei muurtje om het peloton echt te splitten, ook niet ergens ver voor de finish.

 

[tobydawq]

behalve berg ten houte, waar zijn de kasseiklimmetjes? Vrij opmerkelijke route. Vele asfalt klimmetjes met laag percentage (nieuwe kwaremont, Zeelstraat, Hotond). Ladeuze is leuk, maar één van de weinige lastige klimmetjes in de finale. Nergens op de route een kassei muurtje om het peloton echt te splitten, ook niet ergens ver voor de finish.

Ja, de nieuwe route is toch jammer. Ik denk het ook. Wil je een lidmaatschap in de nederlandstalige afdeling van the Petulant Whiners United?

Helaas weet ik niet hoe men "petulant" zeggen in het Nederlands

 

[topcat]

But is the mistake the adding of the team in 2018, or the non-adding of the teams in all the other years?

And you care because ....?
I wouldn't worry too much about mistakes. Every pencil has a rubber (except the ones that don't).

 

[tobydawq]

And you care because ....?
I wouldn't worry too much about mistakes. Every pencil has a rubber (except the ones that don't).

I think it's a lost cause to make RhD stop pointing irrelevant things like that out all the time. It's kind of a thing one has to live with on this forum. It wouldn't be a worse place if she stopped doing it, though, I don't think.

 

[RunningRouleur]

Quite excited to see a 50km duo attack by MVDP and Pog...
...UAE team car calls Pog back to pull Trentin up to the front, then MVDP dusts him in the sprint.

 

[fox]

I didn't know Pog would do this race. This is his first encounter with cobbles, I believe. Hopefully it will be fun.

Only 2 cobbled climbs if you can even call them that. Berg ten houte only has 300m of cobbles and they were recently renewed so they are not that hard. And Nokere you can't really call a climb because you go into it at very high speed and it's over before you know it. The only real cobble section is mariaborre. Really nasty section but too far from the finish line. So we won't be any wiser to see if Pogy has a chance on sunday.

 

[Orbit501]

Only 2 cobbled climbs if you can even call them that. Berg ten houte only has 300m of cobbles and they were recently renewed so they are not that hard. And Nokere you can't really call a climb because you go into it at very high speed and it's over before you know it. The only real cobble section is mariaborre. Really nasty section but too far from the finish line. So we won't be any wiser to see if Pogy has a chance on sunday.

My first ever introduction to riding cobbles was Marieborrestraat. Now I'm no pro rider, but let's just say there was a moment there where I could have been mistaken for riding for AG2R, kit wise

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Only 2 cobbled climbs if you can even call them that. Berg ten houte only has 300m of cobbles and they were recently renewed so they are not that hard. And Nokere you can't really call a climb because you go into it at very high speed and it's over before you know it. The only real cobble section is mariaborre. Really nasty section but too far from the finish line. So we won't be any wiser to see if Pogy has a chance on sunday.

No matter who wins tomorrow I think Pog will try to attack at some point. You can always count on it!

 

[KZD]

I don't see Van der Poel and Pogačar doing anything crazy tomorrow given that de Ronde is already on sunday

 

[Boes]

I think it was last year that MVP and Alaphilippe both dropped really early and a flying dutchman took the win.
Usually Dwars door Vlaanderen doesn't really provide any new insights.

Vocsnor ftw.