2016 Dwars door Vlaanderen

2016 Dwars door Vlaanderen
Event poster with previous winner Jelle Wallays
Event poster with previous winner Jelle Wallays
Race details
DatesMarch 23, 2016 (2016-03-23)
Stages1
Distance199.7 km (124.1 mi)
Winning time4h 47' 55"
Results
  Winner  Jens Debusschere (BEL) (Lotto–Soudal)
  Second  Bryan Coquard (FRA) (Direct Énergie)
  Third  Edward Theuns (BEL) (Trek–Segafredo)
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The 2016 Dwars door Vlaanderen (English: "Across Flanders") is a one-day road cycling race that took place in Flanders on 23 March 2016. It was the 71st edition of the Dwars door Vlaanderen race.[1]

The race is part of the cobbled classics season. It uses some of the same roads and climbs as other such races, including the Tour of Flanders.[2] The defending champion was Jelle Wallays (Lotto–Soudal).[1]

The day before the race was due to take place, there was a series of attacks in Brussels. This caused a heightened security level in Belgium and led to the possibility that the race would be cancelled. The organisers of the race decided to continue, however, with the final decision to be taken by the Belgian government on the day of the race itself.[3] Team Giant–Alpecin, one of the teams scheduled to take part in the race, was forced to withdraw: they had entered the minimum number of riders (six); three of these were unable to travel to Belgium because their flights were cancelled.[4] The race started as planned, following a minute's silence. Like Team Giant–Alpecin, several other teams had riders unable to attend the race due to travel restrictions; Movistar started the race with four riders instead of eight.[5]

Jens Debusschere arriving first in Waregem

The race was won by Jens Debusschere (Lotto–Soudal) in a sprint finish, after his teammates chased down Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) in the closing kilometres.[6] Bryan Coquard (Direct Énergie) finished second, with Edward Theuns (Trek–Segafredo) third.[7]

  1. ^ a b "Dwars door Vlaanderen / A travers la Flandre (preview)". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Dwars door Vlaanderen 2016". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  3. ^ Stokes, Shane (22 March 2016). "Dwars door Vlaanderen likely to go ahead, but final decision rests with Belgian government". Cyclingtips.com. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  4. ^ O'Shea, Sadhbh. "Giant-Alpecin pull out of Dwars door Vlaanderen after Brussels bombings". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  5. ^ Farrand, Stephen (23 March 2016). "Dwars door Vlaanderen 2016: Elite Men As It Happened". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  6. ^ Decaulwé, Brecht (23 March 2016). "Dwars door Vlaanderen: Debusschere wins one day after Belgian horror-day". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference pcs-result was invoked but never defined (see the help page).