} The 2015 Dwars door Vlaanderen ( en, Across Flanders) was the 70th edition of the

Dwars door Vlaanderen Dwars door Vlaanderen ''( en, Across Flanders)'' is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI W ...

cycling one-day

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

, which took place on 25 March 2015 and was rated as a 1.HC event as part of the

2015 UCI Europe Tour The 2015 UCI Europe Tour was the eleventh season of the UCI Europe Tour. The 2015 season began on 29 January 2015 with the Vuelta a Mallorca, Trofeo Santanyí-Ses Salines-Campos and ended on 25 October 2015 with the Tour of Aegean. The points le ...

. The race was in length. It was organised as part of the

Flanders Classics Flanders Classics is an official cooperation among the organizers of the classic cycle races held in Flanders. It was founded in 2009

organisation. The

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

winner was

Niki Terpstra Niki Terpstra (; born 18 May 1984) is a Dutch racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam . He is the brother of fellow racing cyclist Mike Terpstra. He is the third Dutch cyclist to have won both of the cobbled Monument spring classics, Paris–Ro ...

(), who won the race in a solo breakaway. He was the favourite for the 2015 race and raced as part of a strong team in 2015. The team also included world champion

Michał Kwiatkowski Michał Kwiatkowski ( , born 2 June 1990) is a Polish professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Kwiatkowski is seen as a strong all rounder, with good sprinting, time-trialling and climbing abilities allowing him ...

, former world champion

Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Isle of Man, Manx professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialises in the Madison (cycling), madison, po ...

and Iljo Keisse. Other favourites included

Lars Boom Lars Anthonius Johannes Boom (born 30 December 1985) is a professional cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing cyclist from the Netherlands. He has also competed professionally in road racing, between 2004 and 2019. Born in Vlijmen, Netherlands, B ...

(),

Stijn Devolder Stijn Devolder (born 29 August 1979) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally for (2002–2003), (2004–2007), (2008–2010), (2011–2012), (2013–2016), (2017–2018) and (2019). Career Born in ...

Gert Steegmans Gert Steegmans (born 30 September 1980 in Hasselt) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was noted for a strong finishing sprint and could compete in the sprint with fellow Belgian cyclist, and ...

(both ) and former winners

Matti Breschel Matti Breschel (born 31 August 1984) is a Danish retired professional road racing cyclist, who competed between 2005 and 2019 for the , , and teams. Career Junior career Born in Ballerup, Breschel got his breakthrough with small Danish Tea ...

() and

Oscar Gatto Oscar Gatto (born 1 January 1985) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2007 and 2020, for seven different teams. His nickname is 'Oscar the Cat' because his surname (Gatto) is the Italian word for "cat ...

(), as well as a large number of other riders. The race was also notable for the presence of

Nairo Quintana Nairo Alexánder Quintana Rojas, Order of Boyacá, ODB, (born 4 February 1990) is a Colombian racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . Nicknamed "Nairoman" and "El Cóndor de los Andes", Quintana is a specialist climber, known ...

(), racing on the cobblestones for the first time in his career as part of his preparation for cobbled stages in the

2015 Tour de France The 2015 Tour de France was the 102nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 4 July in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and concluding on 26 July with the Champs-Élysées stage ...

. The first part of the race was generally flat, but it became more hilly towards the end of the race. It included 12 major climbs, five of them

cobbled Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fr ...

, and three flat sections of cobbled roads. The race included several of the climbs used in the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organi ...

, which took place the following week, such as the

Oude Kwaremont The Oude Kwaremont (English: ''Old Kwaremont'') is a road in Kluisbergen, a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The Oude Kwaremont, contrary to popular belief, is not the name of a hill, but the name of one of the cobbled roads ...

and the

Paterberg The Paterberg is a hill in the municipality of Kluisbergen, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. With its top at 80 m, it is one of many hill formations in the Flemish Ardennes, close to Wallonia. The slopes of the hill were unpaved unt ...

. The race was won by

Jelle Wallays Jelle Wallays (born 11 May 1989) is a Belgian road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Jelle Wallays is the brother and nephew of racing cyclists Jens Wallays and Luc Wallays. He was coached by his uncle in his early racing ...

(). He was part of the main breakaway of the day, escaping early on in the race. The breakaway was closed down early, having only 20 seconds' lead with to race. Wallays attacked, initially alongside

Gert Dockx Gert Dockx (born 4 July 1988) is a former Belgian professional road bicycle racer who rode for UCI ProTour team . Career achievements Major results ;2010 : 7th Hel van het Mergelland ;2012 : 6th Druivenkoers Overijse ;2013 : 1st Stage 7 La Trop ...

() and then alone, and built a lead of nearly a minute. On the Taaienberg, with remaining, Kwiatkowski,

Edward Theuns Edward Theuns (born 30 April 1991) is a Belgian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He rode for his national team at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships. Career Theuns made his debut for in 2014. He took his first victor ...

() and

Dylan van Baarle Dylan van Baarle (born 21 May 1992) is a Dutch professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Biography Born in Voorburg, van Baarle resides in Veenendaal, Netherlands. Van Baarle is the son of f ...

() attacked from the first chasing group. They quickly caught Wallays and created a lead group of four riders. They built a lead of 40 seconds thanks to Kwiatkowski's efforts on the Oude Kwaremont; Boom attempted to counter-attack, but he crashed into a field. The chase group was unorganised and failed to catch the leading four riders. With remaining, Wallays made another attack. Since Theuns was Wallays' teammate, Kwiatkowski and van Baarle had the task of catching him. They both looked to the other to do the work to catch Wallays and ended up leading out Theuns to give the first two positions on the podium. After the race, Kwiatkowski and van Baarle blamed each other for their failure to win the race.

Categorised sections

Climbs

Flat cobbled sections

Results

References

External links