As it happened: How one rider's revenge leads to solo victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen

Welcome to live text coverage of the 2025 women's Dwars door Vlaanderen.

We have a stacked start list for this race including World Champion Lotte Kopecky, Elisa Longo Borghini and Puck Pieterse. 

One rider who will not take to the start today, however, is last year's winner, Marianne Vos. Her team posted this morning that she is 'not fit enough to start' today. 

Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto sprinter Chiara Consonni and her teammate Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka of  will also not start today's race. 

Official start

The race has started! 

128 km to go

We have had one attack so far but it has already been neutralised.

Crash

Crash in the peloton.

The World Champion at the start earlier today.

The riders will tackle a series of seven climbs and nine cobbled sectors in and around the town of Waregem today.

114 km to go

All together 

Martina Fidanza of Visma | Lease a Bike has abandoned the race.

100 km to go

The race is still all together. Are the riders waiting for the hills to start before making a move? 

Yonna van Dam of DD Group Pro Cycling Team attacks 

Breakaway

Van Dam has a 15 second gap 

Peloton all together

Van Dam has been caught 

Crash

Another crash in the peloton 

The average speed in the first hour of racing was 39.8 km/h

Hannah Kunz (UAE Team ADQ) has abandoned the race 

79 km to go

The riders are on the Holleweg cobbled sector 

Ellen van Dijk of Lidl-Trek is on the front 

The peloton is lined out 

The pace has reduced 

Crash

Another crash in the peloton

Soraya Paladin of Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto is one of the riders involved 

The peloton are on the approach to the Berg Ten Houte 

Fenix Deceuninck and Lidl - Trek are towards the front 

Elisa Longo Borghini is at the front of the peloton 

The wind is quite strong, will it be a factor in this race later on? 

The peloton have turned onto the run-in towards Berg Ten Houte

Berg Ten Houte

Start of the climb 

Lotte Kopecky is on the front 

Marlen Reusser (Movistar) attacks!

Lotte Kopecky and Kasia Niewiadoma are amongst those following

The accelerations over the climb have caused splits in the peloton

Reusser attacks again

The peloton is in three groups behind

Reusser has a small gap

Reusser is brought back by SD Worx - Protime as Anna Henderson of Lidl-Trek counters

Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek, Puck Pieterse of Fenix-Deceuninck and Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto and Ruby Roseman - Gannon are all in the front group alongside Reusser, Henderson etc.

Jelena Erić of Movistar is on the front driving this group 

The riders are trying to keep the move going however it looks like it's all coming back together 

64km to go

Acceleration from FDJ SUEZ 

The next climb is the Knokteberg-Trieu in 7 km 

The peloton is stretched out 

SD Worx - Protime are on the front 

Fenix - Deceuninck are now on the front 

The riders are about to reach the Knokteberg

Hungarian Champion Blanka Vas of SD Worx - Protime leads 

After the acceleration by Vas the pace has now slowed on the climb and the peloton are lined out across the road 

Attack

Amber Kraak of FDJ SUEZ attacks 

Kraak's move is neutralised

Liane Lippert of Movistar attacks and Kasia Niewiadoma and Elisa Longo Borghini follow 

Three riders have a small gap 

The peloton is divided into a leading group of four (Marlen Reusser, Femke Gerritse, Amber Kraak and Lucinda Brand), a chase group behind and a second chase group. 

The gap to the leading four is 11 seconds 

The riders have reached the bottom of the Hotond climb. It is 1.2km long with an average of 3.1%. 

Fenix - Deceuninck are chasing and the gap to the leaders is now down to 5 seconds 

50 km to go

The four leaders are working well together and still have a handful of seconds ahead of the much-reduced chasing peloton.

There is very little chase happening in the peloton now.  The leaders have a 9 second lead.

The riders are 4 km away from the Mariaborrestraat cobbled sector.

Reminder that the riders in front are: Marlen Reusser (Movistar), Femke Gerritse (SD Worx - Protime), Amber Kraak (FDJ - SUEZ)  and Lucinda Brand (Lidl - Trek). Their lead is now 16 seconds.

Fenix - Deceuninck are leading the chase behind.

The riders are on the Mariaborrestraat

The leaders are holding on to an 11 second lead.

22 seconds now for the leading group 

UAE Team ADQ are leading the chase now 

The gap has increased to 33 seconds 

41 km to go

The leading group are on the Eikenberg 

The gap has come down to 17 seconds 

Brand is struggling to hold on as Reusser accelerates

Attack

Puck Pieterse attacks from the peloton!

Marlen Reusser and Amber Kraak have a gap ahead of Lucinda Brand and Femke Gerritse 

A select group including Elisa Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma, Puck Pieterse and Anna Henderson has split from the peloton and are in pursuit of Reusser and Kraak.

Lotte Kopecky is off the back of the group 

8 seconds for Kraak and Reusser 

Elisa Longo Borghini is leading the chase behind Reusser and Kraak. 

Over the top of the Eikenberg the gap is 10 seconds 

Puck Pieterse accelerates from the chasing group!

Elisa Balsamo of Lidl - Trek is also part of the chasing group which comprises just nine riders.

35 km to go

The riders are passing through Oudenaarde 

The chasing group is:

Femke Gerritse of SD Worx - Protime, Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ, Kasia Niewiadoma of Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto, Puck Pieterse of Fenix - Deceuninck, Elisa Balsamo, Anna Henderson and Ellen van Dijk of Lidl - Trek, Liane Lippert of Movistar and Elise Chabbey of FDJ - SUEZ 

Lotte Kopecky is on the front of the third group on the road chasing hard.

The leading pair have a ten second advantage while the chase group are 12 seconds ahead of the third group on the road.

The efforts of Kopecky in the third group have brought them back into contact with the second group.

There are now 29 riders in the chasing group behind Reusser and Kraak who have a 12 second lead.

Lidl - Trek lead the chasing group 

The leading riders are on the Doorn cobbled sector 

Ellen van Dijk drives the pace in the chase group on this sector 

Van Dijk's pace has caused multiple splits in the group 

Elisa Longo Borghini is trying to bridge the gap to Van Dijk 

30 km to go

Elisa Longo Borghini, Ellen van Dijk and Kasia Niewiadoma have a small gap off the front of the chase group 

The gap between Reusser and Kraak and the Longo Borghini group is 7 seconds

Elisa Longo Borghini accelerates from the chasing trio and bridges up to Reusser and Kraak! 

Huge effort from the Italian national champion to close the gap to the leading pair 

Fenix - Deceuninck lead the third group on the road 

Longo Borghini attacks Reusser and Kraak

Kraak fades while Reusser digs deep to follow Longo Borghini's move

Longo Borghini has distanced Reusser and leads the race solo 

Nieiwadoma and Van Dijk are caught by the chasing group 

25 km to go

Longo Borghini leads by 20 seconds ahead of the chasing group 

Reusser is still a few seconds behind Longo Borghini while Kraak is still a few seconds behind her in between the Italian rider and the chasing group.

Longo Borghini is on the approach to the Nokereberg

Reusser appears to have sat up

Longo Borghini has a 26 second lead ahead of the chasing group while Kraak and Reusser are 10 seconds ahead of them

20 km to go

Reusser and Kraak are now working together. They have a 10 second lead over the third group.

Longo Borghini's lead is now 33 seconds.

Longo Borghini is 28 seconds ahead of Kraak and Reusser and 37 seconds ahead of the chasing group 

Ellen van Dijk of Lidl-Trek leads the chasing group 

Longo Borghini's lead has increased to 29 seconds ahead of Kraak and Reusser and 44 seconds ahead of the chasing group.

Ellen van Dijk continues to lead the chase group as Kraak and Reusser hang on to a five second lead. Longo Borghini is 39 seconds ahead of the chasing group. 

Van Dijk continues to drive the chase and Kraak and Reusser are almost caught by the chasing group.

11 km to go

Reusser and Kraak are caught 

Christina Schweinberger accelerates from the chase group 

Schweinberger appears to have been leading out Puck Pieterse who know pushes on with Kasia Niewiadoma and Lotte Kopecky on her wheel.

The gap to Longo Borghini is 24 seconds 

Pieterse looks around for help but Niewiadoma won't come through

Pieterse continues to drive on 

Niewiadoma attacks and Pieterse follows 

The moves from behind have reduced Longo Borghini's lead to 17 seconds. 

Pieterse attacks again!

22 seconds for Longo Borghini 

Longo Borghini has taken a few more seconds as the group behind cannot cooperate.

Pieterse accelerates again and Kopecky is distanced

4.7 km to go

Longo Borghini is holding on to a 25 second lead, can the chase group bring her back or is she set to win this race?

Kasia Niewiadoma attacks 

Lotte Kopecky closes down the gap to Niewiadoma.

3 km to go

22 seconds for Longo Borghini 

Mischa Bredewold attacks now 

2 km to go

It looks like Longo Borghini has this win sealed as the chasers continue to look at one another and attack each other instead of a concerted chase.

The third group on the road has now joined the chase group 

Final kilometre

Longo Borghini goes under the flamme rouge and can soak up the final km 

Winner!

The Italian National Champion takes the win at Dwars door Vlaanderen, her 50th career victory.

Lotte Kopecky takes second and Elisa Balsamo takes third 

Top-10

Interview: Elisa Longo Borghini

A perfect rehearsal for the Tour of Flanders?

"For me it was more like revenge from Milan Sanremo where they caught me at 150m. I was very hungry for a victory today, I came here never the less than that. I really wanted to prove that I was strong. There was some frustration going around the last weeks and i need to thank my trainer because he is always keeping me very calm. It's very nice to win with the tricolore with the UAE jersey." 

Frustration is the best fuel?

"Definitely. I am always bouncing back from a very big disappointment usually so that's another proof that sometimes it works." 

She went early, was she surprised that Reusser went even earlier?

"No, actually I hoped that the race would start on Nokereberg but nobody really wanted to attack, they only went the last 200m then at the top Marlen went and I thought that somehow we would have a race there in. I found myself alone on the cobbles and i just went full. I knew i wanted to win and I succeeded.

"I felt very well from the very beginning but then on the cobbles I saw that only Van Dijk and Niewiadoma could follow me and then on a little bump I accelerated a little bit and dropped them so it was like 'alright let's go full gas and drop also Marlen'."

She was looking around towards the end, was she scared of getting caught in the final?

"No, I just wanted to check how the situation was because on the radio I heard something and then on the screen they were writing another thing so I was like 'ok, 19 or 25 seconds?' I just wanted to have a double check. i really waned to win and I came here to win."

She will hold the record at Flanders if she wins on Sunday 

"Sunday is Sunday and today we think about celebrating this because I think my teammates deserve this and I really want to thank my teammates for the work they did today. We were a little team, we had a lot of setbacks but we showed that we are strong and resilient." 

Interview: Lotte Kopecky

"It was a pretty hard day for me but luckily i'm pretty stubborn and I refuse to give up but today I really had some moments where I was like 'what am i doing here?' 

What happened?

"I have no idea. I wish I had an explanation but i just had a really strange feeling. I have no idea how it comes." 

That's it from Dwars door Vlaanderen - thanks for joining us!