Dwars door Vlaanderen 2025

2025 Dwars door Vlaanderen report / How it happened

Neilson Powless scored a major coup in the 2025 Dwars door Vlaanderen, shifting a major disadvantage of being in a breakaway with three Visma-Lease a Bike riders including favourite Wout van Aert into a tactical victory.

EF Education-EasyPost knew their rivals would need to have Van Aert win to shake off heavy criticism in the Belgian media, and used that to form their strategy. Powless saved enough energy to out-sprint Van Aert and score the biggest win in his career.

Dwars door Vlaanderen history

Dwars door Vlaanderen returns on April 2, 2025 for its 79th edition, and its seventh as the penultimate stop of 'Flemish Holy Week’ on the Wednesday before the mighty Tour of Flanders. 

First held in 1945, Dwars door Vlaanderen has been part of the WorldTour since 2017, and the following year moved forward a week to take the coveted pre-Flanders slot from the Three Days of De Panne. 

Dwars door Vlaanderen was once known as something of a sprinter's race, but followed the trend of increasingly aggressive and selective racing in the Spring Classics in recent years. 

In 2023, Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) soloed to victory after attacking out of a much-reduced leading group once the early breakaway was caught. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) claimed his second title in 2022, having first won the race on his stunning debut Classics campaign of 2019.  The Dutch rider is one of 14 two-time winners but no one has won the race three times.

Last year, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) escaped solo from a select group in the final 10 kilometres to claim a solo victory. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) sprinted to second ahead of Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ).

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our 2025 Spring Classics coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from all the Cobbled Classics from Opening Weekend to Paris-Roubaix. Find out more

Dwars door Vlaanderen route

This year's route covers 184.2 kilometers, making it 4.2 km shorter than in 2024. As always, the race begins in Roeselare and concludes in Waregem, just 20 km away on the other side of the motorway. However, along the way, riders venture deep into the Flemish Ardennes, tackling seven cobbled roads and 10 challenging climbs in the iconic terrain that defines these loved Belgian Classics.

Following last year's massive crash, the organisers removed the Kanarieberg climb, and shuffled the other climbs for the 2025 edition.

Full details of the route for the 2025 Dwars door Vlaanderen.

Dwars door Vlaanderen start list

Data powered by FirstCycling

Dwars door Vlaanderen teams

• Alpecin-Deceuninck
• Arkea-B&B Hotels
• Bahrain Victorious
• Cofidis
• Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
• EF Education-EasyPost
• Groupama-FDJ
• INEOS Grenadiers
• Intermarché-Wanty
• Lidl-Trek
• Movistar Team
• Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
• Soudal Quick-Step
• Team Jayco AlUla
• Team Picnic PostNL
• Visma-Lease a Bike
• UAE Team Emirates
• XDS Astana Team
• Israel - PremierTech
• Lotto
• Uno-X Mobility
• Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
• Team Flanders-Baloise
• Tudor Pro Cycling Team
• Wagner Bazin WB