The 76th edition of Dwars door Vlaanderen (1.UWT), the last race on Belgian soil before the Tour of Flanders, contained thirteen climbs and five cobble sections this Wednesday on the parcours of 183 kilometer through the Flemish Ardennes.
Andrea Pasqualon was already among the better riders during the historical performance of Biniam Girmay in Ghent-Wevelgem and distinguished himself again by finishing twelfth at the end of a very intense race. A first acceleration in the peloton occurred with 93 kilometer to go, just before the Berg ten Houte. Somehow, the Italian rider was held up by a crash at the foot of Berg ten Houte, just before several favorites attacked. With character, Pasqualon made his way to the second chasing group and defeated his companions in the sprint for twelfth place in Waregem. In this way, he took his second top fifteen in four days.
With thirteen hills and five cobble sections included in the parcours, we were convinced that there was a low probability that the race would end in a bunch sprint. So my role was to anticipate the sprint and follow the attacks on the hills in the final, but unfortunately I was unlucky at a bad moment. A crash happened just in front of me and Pogacar, around tenth position, at the foot of Berg ten Houte. We tried our best to get back to the front, but a group with strong riders was already out of reach and twelfth place was the best possible result. After our strong performance in Ghent-Wevelgem we are very much looking forward to the Tour of Flanders. I noticed that other teams are watching us since our nice start of the season and I am proud about the steps we have made.
