Marlen Reusser (Movistar) delivered one of the most emotionally charged victories of the spring season on Wednesday, winning the Dwars door Vlaanderen Women 2026 in a photo-finish sprint against Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ United) — in only her first race back after two months on the sidelines with injury.
The 32-year-old Swiss rider, who only confirmed her race start the day before, attacked from the reduced peloton with 24 kilometres remaining alongside Vollering, and the pair worked together to build an advantage that took the leading group to the finish. In a chaotic final kilometre in which the duo nearly threw away their lead, Reusser held her nerve to edge Vollering at the line, with Lienke Nooijen (Visma–Lease a Bike) storming up for third in a dramatic sprint.
Race Story: A Victory Built on Courage
The 128-kilometre race set off from Ieper in typically blustery Belgian spring conditions, with a cast of favourites that included defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini, European champion Demi Vollering, and the formidable Lotte Kopecky — fresh from her dominant Milan-San Remo victory.
The decisive move came just after the Huisepontweg cobbled section, when Reusser attacked unexpectedly. Vollering — instinctively responding — chased and bridged across at the bottom of the Nokereberg climb, 22 kilometres from the finish. The two riders, from rival teams with different tactical interests, found unexpected common ground: neither wanted to give up the move, so they worked together to stay away.
Behind them, a motivated Nooijen refused to accept the race as decided. The Dutch rider clawed back significant time in the final 3 kilometres, forcing Reusser and Vollering to push harder than anticipated. In a final kilometre that felt chaotic even by Classic standards, the leading duo nearly allowed the chase to merge — before finding another gear to hold on.
Reusser’s sprint was the stronger of the two. She crossed the line with a wheel’s advantage over Vollering, arms raised in a celebration that carried the weight of a difficult few months.
What It Means: The Return of Reusser
Context matters here. Reusser spent two months on the sidelines with an injury sustained in pre-season training, and this was genuinely her first proper race day of 2026. Her Movistar team had listed her as a “possible starter” only 48 hours earlier.
What Wednesday demonstrated is that Reusser has returned to something close to her best — which, at her peak, makes her one of the most dangerous riders in women’s cycling. Her power profile — exceptional in time trial conditions, formidable in long-range attacks — is particularly suited to cobbled Classics where sustained effort over flat to rolling terrain matters most.
“For me it was perfect,” Reusser said after the race. “I’m a bit surprised by how the legs felt — but I trusted the work I did in training and it paid off today.”
The victory sends a pointed message ahead of Sunday’s Tour of Flanders Women — where Reusser, Vollering, Kopecky, and the rest of the Spring Classics field reconvene on a harder, more selective course. For context on the women’s Classic picture heading into Flanders, our women’s Spring Classics 2026 guide has the full overview.
Women’s WorldTour: A Season of Rising Standards
Wednesday’s race was another illustration of the extraordinary depth in women’s road cycling in 2026. The UCI Women’s WorldTour received a record 20% funding boost for 2026, and the quality of racing has visibly increased in tandem.
Multiple Grand Tour contenders and sprinters alike are now investing seriously in the Classics — the race complexity, combined with the prestige, is drawing the best riders in women’s cycling. Wednesday’s final featured two of the top three ranked riders in the world, a defending champion, and multiple sprint and Classic specialists, all racing aggressively in the final 30 kilometres.
Full Results: Dwars door Vlaanderen Women 2026
- Marlen Reusser (Movistar) — SUI
- Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ United) — NED, s.t.
- Lienke Nooijen (Visma–Lease a Bike) — NED, s.t.
What’s Next
The Spring Classics reach their biggest weekend on Sunday with both the men’s and women’s Tour of Flanders in Oudenaarde. Then the focus shifts to the cobblestones of northern France and Paris-Roubaix on April 12 — where both Reusser and Van Aert, heartbroken from Wednesday’s near-miss in the men’s race, will be looking to put down strong statements on the pavé.
