Ganna breaks Van Aert’s heart with late catch to win dramatic Dwars door Vlaanderen

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) won Dwars door Vlaanderen in a dramatic finish, catching Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), who had been out front solo, just metres from the finish line.

It is the first Flemish Classics victory of the Italian’s career and third win of the 2026 season after time trial victories at the Volta ao Algarve and Tirreno-Adriatico.

Van Aert had powered clear from the peloton on the Eikenberg with 40km remaining, and bridged across to Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) and Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets).

Meanwhile, Ganna had suffered from mechanical issues, which initially looked to have cost the Italian in his bid for victory. 

Van Aert dispatched his companions one by one, leaving Larsen to go solo with just under 10km remaining. From here, the Belgian dug deep to hold off the chasing peloton, as many riders, including Ganna, tried to jump across to the motoring Belgian.

Ganna successfully jumped clear from the peloton inside the final 3km alongside Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) before going solo and catching and passing Van Aert inside the final 100 metres.

A deflated Van Aert held onto 2nd place, another confirmation of his strong form, despite the late heartbreak. Meanwhile, Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) sprinted to 3rd from the peloton just a second behind Ganna. 

It was a fast start, with the first 30 minutes of the race ridden at 51km/h, and the first hour at 49km/h.

During the first ascent of the Berg Ten Houte with around 110km remaining, a dangerous group of 18 riders opened an advantage on the peloton of around 25 seconds. 

The group included, Jonas Abrahamsen and Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana), Matthew Brennan and Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike), Benoît Cosnefroy and Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Stan Dewulf, Daan Hoole and Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM), Thibaud Gruel (Groupama-FDJ United), Søren Kragh Andersen, Mads Pedersen, and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), Hugo Page (Cofidis), Rick Pluimers (Tudor) and Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Alpecin-Premier Tech and Ineos Grenadiers were two of the teams that missed the move and were leading the chase in the peloton. Over the first ascent of the Knokteberg with 90km remaining, the groups were within touching distance, and the bridge was made just a few kilometres later.

There was a series of attacks over the next 30km, including from Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), with groups briefly forming, but ultimately none managed to stick. 

Eventually, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Thomas Gachinard (TotalEnergies) and Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets) pulled clear and established the biggest advantage over the peloton, around a 30-second gap.

On the run-in to the Eikenberg with 47km to go, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) suffered a mechanical, but the Italian suffered once more with bike issues on the climb with a broken handlebar, and had to change back once more.

The most significant attack of the race to this point came on the Eikenberg with 40km to go when Van Aert blasted away from the peloton, with no other rider able to come close to the speed that the Belgian was riding on the climb.

Van Aert bridged across to Grégoire and Larsen out front in no time at all, and over the summit, the advantage to the now-reduced peloton was 20 seconds.

Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) and Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) formed a counter move, and dangled out in front of the peloton, but were unable to bridge to the front trio alone.

With 24km remaining, the in-form Florian Vermeersch powered across to Sheffield and Van Dijke, who sat 20 seconds behind the front trio.

Onto the Nokereberg with 22km remaining, Grégoire found himself distanced, as Larsen fought for dear life to hold on to Van Aert, who was motoring. 

Grégoire was swept up by the chase group, which had swelled in size as Ganna and Pithie bridged across before the rest of the peloton reconnected. 

The gap reduced to under 20 seconds with 10km remaining, and this marked the moment where Van Aert decided to go solo, leaving Larsen in his wake. 

Onto the Nokereberg and Herlegemstaat inside the final 8km, attacks continued to fly from the peloton from the likes of Ganna, but Van Aert continued to dig deep, as Strand Hagenes did everything he could to disrupt the rhythm of the chasing peloton.

However, Ganna and Vermeersch managed to jump clear of the pack before Ganna went solo inside the final couple of kilometres.

Van Aert emptied the tank, but it wasn't to be enough as Ganna, strong as an ox, motored into the slipstream of the Belgian before passing with a crushing blow to take a superb victory.