Who is Oier Lazkano? The Basque 'brute' who lit up Dwars door Vlaanderen

Oier Lazkano (L) with winner Christophe Laporte and third-placed Neilson Powless on the podium of Dwars door Vlaanderen 2023
Oier Lazkano (L) with winner Christophe Laporte and third-placed Neilson Powless on the podium of Dwars door Vlaanderen 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Christophe Laporte won Dwars door Vlaanderen to make it five wins from the five major cobbled races for Jumbo-Visma. Remarkable, but oddly unremarkable. The rider who really got the heart racing on Wednesday was the one who bounced his bike over the line 15 seconds later: Oier Lazkano.

Laporte's solo victory felt oddly flat - routine, run-of-the-mill - but Lazkano's ride was anything but. A Jumbo-Visma victory is easy to predict but a 23-year-old Movistar rider finishing second - after being in the breakaway all day - will have been on no one's bingo card.

Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.