Dwars door Vlaanderen 2023 Live Stream: Dwars door Vlaanderen returns on March 29 for its 77th edition, and its fifth as the penultimate stop of ‘Flemish Holy Week’ on the Wednesday before the mighty Tour of Flanders.
First held in 1945, Dwars door Vlaanderen has been part of the WorldTour since 2017, and the following year moved forward a week to take the coveted pre-Flanders slot from the Three Days of De Panne. Dwars door Vlaanderen was once known as something of a sprinter’s race, but followed the trend of increasingly aggressive and selective racing in the Spring Classics in recent years.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) won his second title 2022, having first won the race on his stunning debut Classics campaign of 2019. There are 12 other two-time winners but no one has won the race three times, and that will remain the case as Van der Poel and Soudal-QuickStep’s Yves Lampaert (winner in 2017 and 2018) will both be absent on Wednesday.
The 2023 route will follow a familiar format, starting in Roeselare and finishing in Waregem, taking in 11 climbs and eight separate cobblestone sectors in the Flemish Ardennes.
Full details of the route for the 2023 Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen will be broadcast and streamed live across the world, so check out our guide for how you can watch the race.
How to watch Dwars door Vlaanderen – live streaming
THE FAVOURITES
Two-time winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) has decided to skip this year’s race, and so have his two main rivals for the Tour of Flanders, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
That leaves the race without the trio who are widely considered to be head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to the Ronde on Sunday, and therefore Dwars will not have quite the same say in shaping the narrative in the build-up to the big day.
In their absence, a host of hopefuls will look to gather some much-needed momentum ahead of Flanders, but will also be aware that this now represents a major opportunity for a victory in its own right.
Jumbo-Visma might be without Van Aert but they still hold the keys to this race. Christophe Laporte helped Van Aert dominate Gent-Wevelgem and was allowed to take the win, and will be involved on Wednesday alongside Dylan Van Baarle, as will Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne champion Tiesj Benoot. Olav Koiij is a sprint back-up.
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) was part of the winning move here 12 months ago and he returns to action after suffering a concussion at Tirreno-Adriatico.
The Briton had won Strade Bianche but was forced to miss Milan-San Remo, and this will be a key indicator of how much form he has lost and how competitive he might be at Flanders.
Julian Alaphilippe leads a Soudal-QuickStep team who have taken a hammering so far this spring, on the road but also in the media from their own team boss.
The team’s cobbled classics stalwarts – like Kasper Asgreen and two-time Dwars winner Yves Lampaert – are rested, with rather sprint-heavy replacements in Tim Merlier, Davide Ballerini, and Casper Pedersen.
Alaphilippe, though, is a punchy climber who will race rather differently. On his day he can live with the likes of Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pogačar but he’ll need a rapid finding of form, and he’ll need to show signs of life on Wednesday.
Stefan Küng and Valentin Madouas line up for Groupama-FDJ, while Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven form another two-pronger approach for Trek-Segafredo. Lotto Dstny go again with both Arnaud De Lie and Caleb Ewan but – apart from the former’s impressive display at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – neither caught the eye at Gent-Wevelgem.
Michael Matthews comes in for Jayco-AlUla after recovering from COVID-19, while 2019 Flanders champion Alberto Bettiol needs some inspiration ahead of Sunday.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) is arguably the top sprinter in the world at the moment but also has a Classics heart and would be favoured if a sizeable group hit the finishing straight.