'For me it was perfect' – Marlen Reusser profits from Demi Vollering breakaway and post-injury strength to grab Dwars door Vlaanderen victory

For all that her team had been singing her praises, Marlen Reusser (Movistar) did not quite know how Dwars door Vlaanderen would go when she lined up in Waregem on Wednesday.

Coming back from an injury to her knee and shoulder, and having only had one proper day of racing so far in 2026, Reusser was thrown straight back into it in Belgium and hoped to be one of the protagonists.

In the end, she was much more than that, winning on her very first day back, after making a move with Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) and getting the tactics and sprint just right in the finale.

"Legs-wise, it's always super difficult to say, and I just know you shouldn't judge your legs, you shouldn't think they're good or bad," Reusser said about how she felt starting the race on Wednesday.

"But I felt really hard to position, it's so nervous, I know this, but it's really hard if you didn't race for a while, especially if you come back to these races. I had real trouble finding my teammates and organising, but I knew you have to keep going."

Those nerves and teething issues didn't last long, however, as Reusser was soon on the front foot, attacking with 24km to go after a cobbled section, only joined by Vollering.

"I really felt good also in the harder parts, I felt I had something left, so I knew when there was a chance to try, I would try," he said. "And the chance came quite quick actually then, and I thought I'll give it a go."

Going away with Demi Vollering, winner of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad already this season from a similar two-rider move, is clearly still a very challenging situation, but Reusser played it smart, testing her rival and then working with her.

"I tried to attack her just when she came back. There was this kicker, I went again, then the downhill came too early, and I couldn't drop her," she explained.

In the finale, the gap was never enormous, coming down to close to 10 seconds thanks to effort from UAE Team ADQ and AG Insurance-Soudal behind, but a decision to work together clearly helped the two leaders. For Reusser, there was also the added benefit of having cards to play in the chasing group, which perhaps gave her the edge in the finale.

"Then we agreed, or we felt, I think, that we wouldn't attack for a moment. But then later she also tried. I think she knew that's their shot because I had Cat [Ferguson] and Liane [Lippert] behind, but she had nobody as fast in the group behind, so she really had to keep riding with me, and this was a good situation."

There was still the question of the sprint, with Vollering and Reusser fairly evenly matched in such an effort, and the Swiss rider still riding with depleted strength in one leg after her injury.

In the end, a later flyer from Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike), who came flying past the leaders in the final kilometre, proved fruitful for Reusser. Leading out the sprint, it was Vollering who had to latch onto the Visma rider, allowing Reusser to start her sprint from behind.

"That was really a surprise. My radio said it, but she was already gone. They said, 'She's coming really fast, the Visma rider', and I was like, 'Yeah, I can see her, she's gone already,' the winner laughed.

"But I just knew I had to gamble, and Demi was in the front, and she went behind [Nooijen], and I could profit from a really long sprint and come out of the wheel. I think for me it was perfect because I had this injury, my leg is still maybe not full power, so my sprint is maybe not [the best], so I was lucky with the sprint like this."

Reusser's victory marked perhaps the best return she could have had from injury, and a positive confirmation of how fast form can return, even if it takes some time to get used to the nerves of the bunch.

"I know that you're not going to get your top shape like this, but to get at your quite good shape, you don't need so long for this," she explained. "Every time I'm surprised again. If you keep patience and you keep trust and you just build up slowly but steady, if you once were fit you're not losing it."

It's ominous words for Reusser to suggest that that was only "quite good shape" and not her top level, and certainly positive signs for Movistar as they head into the Tour of Flanders and beyond.

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