Strong Victor Campenaerts 4th at Dwars door Vlaanderen

Lotto Soudal rider Victor Campenaerts kept his word and delivered an impressive performance at Dwars door Vlaanderen. In a nerve-racking final of the race, the current World Hour record holder accelerated several times from an eight-man leading group but was reeled in every time by his breakaway companions. In the end, Benoot and Van der Poel managed to open up a gap in the penultimate kilometre and sprinted for victory in Waregem. It was the Dutchman Van der Poel who took the win. In the sprint for third place, Victor Campenaerts was only beaten by Pidcock.

The decisive moment of the 76^th Dwars door Vlaanderen took place on Berg Ten Houte – the seventh climb of the day – where an elite group of six riders formed. With Pidcock, Van der Poel, Benoot, Küng, Turner and Lotto Soudal rider Victor Campenaerts, a lot of quality was to be found at the front. The six immediately found each other and started to work together. At around 45 kilometres from the finish, they caught the early breakaway, with two of them still able to follow the elite group. That way, eight riders went into the final of Dwars door Vlaanderen. The leading group made it a real game of cat and mouse, in which Victor Campenaerts attacked several times. His breakaway companions had to pull out all the stops but the 30-year-old Belgian was eventually caught in the closing kilometres. The victory went to Van der Poel, who reacted to an attack of Tiesj Benoot in the penultimate kilometre, and beat the Belgian in the sprint. Campenaerts did everything he could for the third podium spot but was beaten on the line by Pidcock.

“I felt really good in a race which I had been looking forward to for quite a long time”, Victor Campenaerts said. “When the acceleration came on Berg Ten Houte I couldn’t wait any longer and everyone had to play their cards. The group worked together really well and eventually we went into the final with eight riders. I think I was amongst the strongest riders in the breakaway and hoped of course that my attacks would last until the finish. But unfortunately, it wasn’t to be today. I would have loved to be on the podium and did everything in my power but I just couldn’t win the sprint from Pidcock. Maybe fourth place is a bit of a disappointment, but the main thing I remember from today is that I felt really good. De Ronde? It’s still a lot more kilometres than today so we’ll have to see if we can do something there. But today’s performance really gives me a boost.”

Unfortunately, Lotto Soudal also had to deal with bad luck at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Frederik Frison was involved in a crash just before the second ascent of the Knokteberg. The Belgian was taken to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a collarbone fracture.