Dwars door Vlaanderen is no mere mid-week snack ahead of Flanders. While some of the biggest names are sitting this race out to save their legs for the big showdown of Flanders this weekend, that’s actually all the more reason to watch Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.
Without the likes of van Aert, van Der Poel, and Pogačar lining up on the men’s side, and no Kopecky or van Vleuten on the women’s side, the race might actually end up being more exciting since the final podium feels like less of a foregone conclusion.
How to watch Dwars door Vlaanderen
Bothe the men’s and the women’s races will stream live on FloBikes on Wednesday, March 29. The men’s start at 8:10 a.m. EDT and the women’s showdown kicks off at 9:50 a.m. EDT.
More From Bicycling
The champions we’ve been missing are back
The course will pack many punches in to form of climbs in what organizers have dubbed the “hill zone” in the middle of the race. The men’s course includes eleven climbs and eight cobbled sections, and clocks in at 184K. The women's course features eight climbs and seven sectors for a total of 115K.
One of the greatest cyclists of all time, Marianne Vos, will be lining up at the start.
Vos has only recently returned to racing after an off-season surgery for iliac artery endofibrosis, and while her team has said her recovery is going well, she experienced severe leg cramping in the Trofeo Alfredo Binda a few weeks ago and finished in 20th place.
Likewise, we’re also in no way discounting superstar Tom Pidcock, who is back on the bike after having to sit out Milan-San Remo due to a concussion he sustained after crashing out with Wout van Aert in the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.
Natascha Grief got her first bike shop job before she was old enough to drink. After a six-year stint as a mechanic, earning a couple pro-mechanic certifications and her USA Cycling Race Mechanics license, she became obsessed with framebuilding and decided she wanted to do that next. After Albert Eistentraut literally shooed her off his doorstep, admonishing that if she pursued framebuilding she will be poor forever, she landed an apprenticeship with framebuilder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood City, CA. After that, she spent several years working for both large and not-so-large cycling brands. Somewhere in there she also became a certified bike fitter. Natascha then became a certified personal trainer and spent nine years honing her skills as a trainer and coach, while also teaching Spin. During the dumpster fire that was the year 2020, she opened a fitness studio and began contributing regularly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a freelance writer. In 2022, she joined the staff of Bicycling as News Editor.
