More than a Tour of Flanders warm-up – Analysing the contenders at Dwars door Vlaanderen
Lotte Kopecky, Wout van Aert, Demi Vollering, and Jasper Philipsen among the major names taking part in Wednesday's cobbled Classic
Dwars door Vlaanderen, like many of the races which were previously viewed as tune-up events for the Tour of Flanders, has become a target of its own as part of the WorldTour for both men and women.
The same names who will be favourites to win De Ronde on Sunday will also feature prominently in the mid-week race, which takes place on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.
Dwars door Vlaanderen finishes Waregem and features 12 climbs and seven cobbled sections in the Flemish Ardennes for men, and eight climbs and six cobbled sectors for the Dwars door Vlaanderen Women.
It's not the longest race at 185km for men and 128.9km for women, but wind and aggressive racing can make for a much tougher day in the saddle than what appears on the profile. The race concludes with a circuit with two ascents of the Nokereberg, the last coming with 9.2km to go.
The first trip over the Nokereberg is from the shorter, cobbled side – the previous finish of Nokere Koerse – while the final climb uses the longer paved side, the current finale of Nokere Koerse.
So it stands to reason that riders who excel in that earlier race will do well in Dwars door Vlaanderen, but that isn't always the case.
Neither Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-ProTime) nor Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), winners of Nokere Koerse this year, have won Dwars door Vlaanderen - yet. Both are still top contenders to win it this year.
The Dwars door Vlaanderen Women's race has been won by solo riders or small groups, with the occasional bunch sprint. Because the race is so short, the rough, back-to-back Doorn and Huispontweg cobble sectors have been where the difference has been made for the past three years.
Here, Cyclingnews looks at the top Dwars door Vlaanderen and Dwars door Vlaanderen Women contenders for 2026.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Jasper Philipsen, a winner of Nokere Koerse and In Flanders Fields this year and Milan-San Remo in 2024, has yet to crack the code of Dwars door Vlaanderen, netting his best finish in 2023 with fourth place.
In the 2026 Dwars door Vlaanderen route, the same Nokereberg climb where Philipsen won Nokere Koerse is the last ascent, so why hasn't Philipsen been able to win? The race often splits up well before the finish, and he hasn't managed to make the winning move.
When Philipsen came fourth in 2023, it was from a reduced peloton behind solo winner Christophe Laporte. That was the closest the race came to a bunch sprint since 2016.
In 2024, Lidl-Trek shattered the bunch in the crosswinds before Berg Ten Houte with over 70km to go. In 2025, an attack on the Knokteberg-Trieu with 56km to go stayed clear, with Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) outfoxing three Visma-Lease a Bike riders, including Wout van Aert, to take the win.
This season seems to have a different dynamic, with Van der Poel's attack during In Flanders Fields being nullified and his E3 Saxo Classic romp almost coming to heel in the final kilometre. It might be that the peloton has learned to control long-range attacks even from the top riders, improving the chances for a sprint.
After winning in Wevelgem on Sunday, Philipsen is one of the top favourites to win Dwars door Vlaanderen. With Mathieu van der Poel taking a pass, Philipsen will have the full support of his team, but it also means an aggressive race to try to get rid of him.
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-ProTime)
With back-to-back victories in two very different races, Nokere Koerse and Milan-San Remo, Lotte Kopecky has had time to recover after skipping In Flanders Fields.
Kopecky fought for her chance to take the win in San Remo and earned the backing of her team while sprinter Lorena Wiebes won the bunch sprint for sixth behind the break of five.
SD Worx appear to be leaving Wiebes on the bench for Wednesday, so the team will be fully behind the Belgian phenom on Wednesday, with Dwars door Vlaanderen a rare blank on her palmares.
Kopecky's best finish in the race came last year when she won the reduced sprint for second behind solo winner Elisa Longo Borghini.
With this race not yet on her palmares, expect to see Kopecky on the attack across the cobbles.
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Wout van Aert will be itching for revenge after the botched team finish in 2025, where they had the numbers but not the correct tactics, losing to Powless in a three-versus-one scenario.
Powless is not racing this year due to a knee problem, but after finishing second to Van der Poel in Wevelgem at the end of In Flanders Fields on Sunday, Van Aert needs a win.
Dwars door Vlaanderen also happens to be the race where Van Aert suffered terrible injuries in a high-speed crash on a descent that has now been removed from the race, and a win would put those demons to bed as well.
Van Aert is joined by a strong team, with sprinter Matthew Brennan on hand if the race comes back together, and Christophe Laporte to make the race hard.
While the team has great options, Van Aert will want to be the one atop the podium to gain confidence and momentum ahead of the Tour of Flanders, where he wants to finally fill that blank row on his win list.
Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez)
The former winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen started her 2026 season strong with two stages and the overall at the Volta a Valenciana before winning Omloop het Nieuwsblad. Since February, Demi Vollering has only raced Strade Bianche, where her teammate Elise Chabbey took the win.
Dwars door Vlaanderen marks the start of Vollering's Classics campaign, which includes the Tour of Flanders and all three Ardennes Classics.
Vollering won Omloop with a successful breakaway with Kasia Niewiadoma, won the first stage in Valencia solo, and then won from a small breakaway on stage 3. It will be more complicated in Dwars door Vlaanderen to win solo, especially with an on-form Kopecky in the mix.
It's tough to say where Vollering's form is since she hasn't been racing since Strade Bianche, but she rarely toes the line without the intent to win. With sprinter Ally Wollaston also in the lineup, Vollering has options, too.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Lidl-Trek's spring campaign has been a washout so far, largely because Mads Pedersen was out with a wrist and collarbone fracture since February, returning for Milan-San Remo, and then fell ill and skipped In Flanders Fields.
Pedersen is still racing with tape on his wrist, and just eight weeks into his recovery, he still has to be feeling some pain on the cobbles. Pedersen is a true foreign Flandrien and hard as nails, but his record in Dwars door Vlaanderen isn't the best - he's been fifth three times (2018, 2023, 2025).
The team will also have sprinter Jonathan Milan and underrated Classics rider Mathias Vacek, covering their bases much like Visma-Lease a Bike.
Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ)
The Italian champion, winner of the UAE Tour in February, had to sit out Milan-San Remo due to illness, but after a couple of weeks of recovery, Elisa Longo Borghini is expected to be another major contender for Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Longo Borghini is ramping up for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, her major spring targets, so she will be peaking this week.
Her display in last year's Dwars door Vlaanderen showed that Longo Borghini is probably the best female rider on cobblestones, and she will be closely followed in the key moments of Wednesday's race.
Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Florian Vermeersch was so close to chasing down Van der Poel in Friday's E3 Saxo Classic, but one hesitation while he looked to his breakaway companions for one last pull spoiled his chances.
Third in that race and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Vermeersch is looking like a real contender in the Classics this year after finding his feet again with UAE Team Emirates.
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike)
The greatest cyclist of all time, Marianne Vos, is always going to be a favourite to win a Classic, and with a recent victory in Dwars door Vlaanderen still fresh, we expect her to be at the pointy end yet again.
Now 38, Vos might be a shade less prolific than in past years, but a sixth in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and seventh in Strade Bianche show she can't be counted out yet.
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Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
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