Marianne Vos takes victory 250 from her road career in Dwars door Vlaanderen

Marianne Vos has been able to add victory number 250 on the road to her impressive record. That is what the leader of Visma | did Lease a Bike in Dwars door Vlaanderen, where she settled with compatriot Shirin van Anrooij (Lidl-Trek) after a 130 kilometer race. They had pulled away from a group of six favorites in the final. Lotte Kopecky and Puck Pieterse, among others, were surprised there.

A 130 kilometer race was on the program for the women, with a final of approximately 70 kilometers starting with Berg ten Houte. Then the Kanarieberg, the Knokteberg, the Hotond and Ladeuze await. The top of this last slope is about forty kilometers from the finish. From then on the course became slightly easier during the local lap of about 30 kilometers around Waregem, with some cobblestone sections including the one on Nokereberg.

There was no leading group to color the race in the opening hour of the race. The first serious revival came on the Kanarieberg, where Puck Pieterse was the first favorite to attack. Demi Vollering and world champion Lotte Kopecky also started there. They were the instigators of an elite group of eleven, but they did not get the chance to drive away.

Due to an accident between two cars in the caravan of the men’s race, the climbs of the Knokteberg and the Hotond were canceled. It didn’t stop there, because to keep everything running smoothly, the match was stopped for a while. After a short break, the riders could start the last 46 kilometers.

Six of them break free on the cobblestones
In that last hour of racing, cyclo-cross riders Fem van Empel, Pieterse and Yara Kastelijn, among others, showed up, but they were unable to pull away. Lidl-Trek then chose to harden the race and that led to a leading group on the Huisepontweg with many favorites: Kopecky, Pieterse, Marianne Vos, Elisa Longo Borghini, Shirin van Anrooij and Letizia Paternoster.

So no Demi Vollering and Fem van Empel, who lost a lot of valuable time shortly after each other due to a flat tire. The leading six ran well in the flat final towards Waregem and thus extended their lead to 30 seconds. Lidl-Trek had the surplus and played that out by sending Van Anrooij into the attack 12 kilometers before the finish. The only one who jumped along was Vos, after which it fell silent behind it.

Seconds game in the final
Many eyes looked at Kopecky, who tried to close the gap in one go on the last sloping section. That didn’t work, so Van Anrooij and Vos held on to their 15-second lead. However, they did not stand still in the background, as the gap was slowly closed by attacks from Longo Borghini and Kopecky. And because Van Anrooij could no longer get out of Vos’ wheel, it became even more exciting.

The chase stalled in the last two kilometers, causing Vos and Van Anrooij to sprint for the win. Vos lived up to her role as favorite, although her younger compatriot came dangerously close. The Brabant woman thus achieved her 250th professional victory in her impressive career. The sprint for third place was ultimately won by Paternoster, ahead of Kopecky and Pieterse.