Dwars door Vlaanderen: Filippo Ganna catches and passes Wout van Aert in closing metres to score dramatic last gasp victory

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) claimed an incredible victory at the Dwars Door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, coming back from a double bike change to snatch victory from Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in a stunning finale.

The Italian had to change bikes ahead of the key climb of the Eikenberg with 40km to go, where the handlebars on his replacement bike snapped, just as Van Aert was attacking in what appeared to be the race-winning move right up until the dying seconds.

Ganna, back aboard his original bike, stormed back into contention and attacked from a reduced peloton to hunt down Van Aert, making the catch just 150 metres from the line. He stormed past the fading Belgian, who hung his head as he drifted across the line in second place, forced to swallow yet more heartbreak at the race where he fluffed his lines so badly 12 months ago.

Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) was the fastest from the reduced bunch, itself just a single second behind, to take the final spot on the podium ahead of Biniam Girmay (NSN).

"This is an amazing victory for me," said Ganna. "I was a little bit unlucky. After the first hill, I broke my front wheel. I continued until I could change the bike the first time, then I broke the handlebars. I hope my bad luck was just for today.

"For sure, Wout made an impressive performance. To catch him was not easy, but in the end, the legs supported me to the finish line. [I believed I could win] maybe in the last corner, the group behind was chasing really fast and was coming to catch me. I'm really happy."

This was a breathless edition of Dwars Door Vlaanderen, the fastest in history, run off at over 48kph with no early breakaway and a host of big names attacking with over 100km to go. Van Aert was aggressive throughout and looked to have made the decisive attack on the Eikenberg with 40km to go, leaving everyone behind with an emphatic turn of pace on the cobbled climb.

It was a long way from home, but he was able to link up with a duo that had stolen a march, working with Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ United) and Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets), before dispatching them both in turn on the twin ascents of the Nokereberg in the finale.

But the final 10km alone would prove 150 metres too far. At first, it looked like there wasn’t enough cohesion in the reduced bunch, but Ganna threw all his horsepower and desire at it, surging on the final cobbled sector of the Herlegemstraat, then going clear with Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in the final 3km.

By that point, there were just a handful of seconds of daylight both up to Van Aert and back to the bunch, in what was as tense a finale to a Classic we’ve seen in recent memory.

It looked like they were about to be caught, but as Vermeersch was swallowed by the bunch inside the final kilometre, Ganna kicked again, swinging onto the home straight and skipping up towards Van Aert’s rear wheel. By that point, the difference in speed was remarkable, as Ganna made contact with 150m to go and was clear with 100m to go.

Ganna was able to celebrate the first one-day victory of his career and one that, especially given the circumstances, will only enhance his status as a favourite for Paris-Roubaix in 10 days. Van Aert, meanwhile, was made to suffer yet more cruelty. He surely must have sensed he was about to expunge the demons of 12 months ago, when he somehow lost to Neilson Powless from a three-on-one breakaway situation, but in the end, his heart was broken again in Waregem.

How it unfolded

The peloton set out from Roeselare at midday on Wednesday, amid the breaking news that Remco Evenepoel would ride the Tour of Flanders, with a 184.6km route through the Flemish Ardennes on the menu.

It was a ripping start to the race, with the first half an hour run off at 50kph and that pace only dropping to 49km for the first hour. Attacks rained down for most of that time, but a breakaway would only go clear when the race reached the first of two ascents of Berg Ten Houte after 75km. And it was some breakaway – 18 riders, many of them big names.

Mads Pedersen was there, along with his Lidl-Trek teammates Mathias Vacek and Søren Kragh Andersen, while Visma-Lease a Bike had both Christophe Laporte and Matthew Brennan, and UAE Team Emirates had their leader, Florian Vermeersch, alongside Benoît Cosnefroy.

Decathlon CMA CGM also had two riders there, with Tobias Lund Andersen and Daan Hoole, as did Uno-X Mobility with Jonas Abrahamsen and Søren Wærenskjold. Also in there were Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep), Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Alberto Bettiol (XDS-Astana), Rick Pluimers (Tudor), Thibaut Cruel (Groupama-FDJ United), and Hugo Page (Cofidis).

Ineos Grenadiers and Alpecin-Premier Tech were the key teams who missed the move, and they scrambled to bring things back from the front of the peloton. It wasn't quick or easy, with the gap hovering around half a minute for many kilometres, but with 100km on the clock and 85km to go, the race came back together, albeit with a reduced peloton.

It didn't take long for fresh attacks to come, and big names were involved again. Van Aert followed the accelerations on the Onderbossenaarstraat and pushed on himself, dragging a 14-rider move clear. After Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) attacked on a descent, that move came back, but Van Aert attempted to hit it again in a clear sign of his intent for the day.

The second ascent of Berg Ten Houte didn't split the race like it did the first time, though, with only António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) going clear over the top in a short-lived move.

On a quieter section of the course, attacks started to come once more. An eight-man move got away ahead of the Knokteberg but was caught on the climb itself with 56km to go. The top of the climb saw another acceleration from Van Aert, with Filippo Ganna also on the front foot. However, it was three lesser names – Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Thomas Gachinard (TotalEnergies) – who went clear over the Hotond to form a group that would play no small part in the outcome of the race.

The trio built a lead of 20 seconds as they hit the key climb of the Eikenberg with 40km to go, and that's where Van Aert truly lit up the race. The Belgian stamped on the pedals and stormed clear, followed only by Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and only for a very short time. Van Aert was alone over the top, and soon bridged to the front of the race, where Gachinard had been dropped, but Grégoire and Larsen still acted as useful allies for the cobbles star.

There was no organised chase from behind, as Magnus Sheffield – taking over from Ganna, who suffered an ill-timed pair of mechanicals, including snapped handlebars – went clear and was joined by Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Several kilometres later, Florian Vermeersch made a big effort to get across to make it a chasing trio.

As they hit the next climb, the first of two ascents of the Nokereberg, from different directions, there were 22 seconds between that chase group and Van Aert's lead group, and 22km to go. Van Aert dictated the tempo once again on the cobbled Nokereberg, and Grégoire, who lost the wheel through the opening corner, was left flailing and was forced to drop back to the chase group.

The chase group swelled further when Ganna, making a remarkable comeback, bridged across alongside Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). More riders did the same, and soon there was a mini peloton back together 25 seconds down on Van Aert and Larsen with 15km to go.

The tarmac side of the Nokereberg signalled the final climb with 10km to go, and Van Aert wasted no time in dispatching with Larsen. Soudal-QuickStep had led on the approach, but accelerations soon came from behind. The increase in pace led to a drop in cohesion, and Van Aert was able to take a 25-second lead into what was effectively a 10km time trial to the finish.

By the final cobbled sector of the Herlegemstraat with 6km to go, he had lost five seconds of that lead, and as Ganna surged from behind, he exited the sector having lost a further five seconds. He maintained that advantage as Pedersen and Gianni Vermeersch joined Ganna in issuing surges from the bunch, but when Ganna went clear with Florian Vermeersch with 3km to go, the race looked to be slipping from Van Aert's hands.

Remarkably, he held firm, holding an ever-shortening advantage as the metres ticked by, with five seconds still in hand as he entered the final kilometre. Ganna and Vermeersch looked to have been caught by the peloton before they had caught Van Aert. However, somehow Ganna found another acceleration to not only stay away, but also tear past the powerless Belgian at the very last.

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