Today is a busy day in the world of cycling, later today you can watch the best cobblers of the ProTour during the East Midlands Cicle Classic (United Kingdom). Or if you enjoy Continental Circuit stage racings more, you can go watch the FBD Eire Tour (Ireland) or Tour de San Luis (Argentina) instead, but we start this day with the early morning broadcast of Dwars door Vlaanderen in West Flanders, Belgium.

Let's first have a look at the main favourites for today: Summerhill, Vanspeybrouck and Baugnies.

Behind these main favorites there are a lot of other good cobblers here in Belgium like Vanmarcke, Boonen, Thomas, Maes, Vandenbergh and Veelers (1st in 2012 edition).

Also cobblers like Albert, Breschel and Nuyens are present, they could all have a vital role as second leader in their teams.

As seen below the riders first cycle around Waregem, passing the finish twice, before entering the hard part of the race (last 100km). Many of the slopes on the way are 15% or more. It’s a race where a rider needs to be at the front all day and get over each climb with the first few riders. The cobble sections are also sometimes narrow, so positioning will be very important to avoid being in the wrong split, also if you ride in the back of the peloton, with the peloton stretched, you will have a lot of catching up to do before the next hill/cobble section starts!



Now let's go the live coverage of Dwars door Vlaanderen, 135 riders in total here at the start in Roeselare, including 10 National Champions from Belarus Sakalou, Curaçao De Maar, Latvia Liepins, Mongolia Delgerbayar, Ethiopia Mebrahtu, Luxembourg Fritsch, San Marino Zafferani, Malaysia Ahmad Zamri, Indonesia Wahyudi and Japan Shirota. The last one (Japanese Champion Yamato Shirota) is the youngest rider in the peloton; age 20 (and 3 months), while Sylvain Chavanel is the oldest; age 35 (and 8 months).
Looking out of the commentary window we can see it's cloudy but dry, we might have rain later on. None other than cycling legend Eddy Merckx gives the start signal: Here we go!



After 3km of neutral section, the race director waves his flag and right from the start we have the first attack of 3 riders: Max Losch Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling, Johan Lindgren Risa - Ergon and Kristof Vandewalle Aegon - Lavazza.



The 3 upfront really have to fight hard to stay away, the gap is now one minute to the peloton after 25km racing. Geert Van der Sanden and Daniel Oss are trying to get in the break as well.



One hour of racing has passed and still the peloton hasn't slowed down yet. Van der Sanden and Oss are still trying to reach the 3 riders in front, but mainly due to Team BPost (Naesen, De Vreese and Fouquet) we still can see the race situation in one shot; first 47km in one hour!



Two hours (and 86km) have passed now and Van der Sanden and Oss have been pulled back by the peloton, after that the peloton finally slowed down a little bit. But as often happens the concentration in the pack went down too -> crash in the back of the peloton; Mirko Selvaggi Strava and Spas Gyurov Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish on the ground! Malaysian Champion Ahmad Zamri and Indonesian Champion Wahyudi were able to use their brakes in time to avoid falling.



Losch Lindgren and Vandewalle reached the Nieuwe Kwaremont first (100km from the finish line). Max Losch was first so he will enjoy his weight in Kwaremont beer after the race! The peloton crossed the top of the Nieuwe Kwaremont 6 minutes later. Apparently some managers didn't like the race situation and gave the order for mid-stage attacks. First to attack and try to reach the break of the day solo is Tim Declerq (second best cobbler of Team Puma - SAP).



A little bit later also Nick Nuyens (co-leader of Gazelle) attacks.



Curaçaoan Champion Marc De Maar ...



... and Lierse SK's leader Stijn Joseph also go for this mid-stage attack tactic.



Meanwhile the first group already is tackling the first cobble section (Kattenberg, 90km left), Losch Lindgren and Vandewalle are working well together and still hold a 5 minute lead to the peloton. Between the front group and the peloton are the 4 riders who strangely choose to bridge the gap solo instead of working together.


Declerq is the first one to make it to the early morning breakaway. After a short period of time recuperating he again starts riding hard on the second cobble section of the day; Haaghoek, 80km left.



Also De Maar and Nuyens made it to the first group. The Gazelle rider is looking really strong, and sets the pace on the Eikenberg, in the distance we see Joseph still working to get to the breakaway, the pack is still 4 minutes away with 60km still left to ride.



All breakaway riders came together on the Taaienberg (55km left), but the 7 riders are losing time on the peloton, latest gap; 3 minutes.
Declerq
De Maar
Joseph
Lindgren
Losch
Nuyens
Vandewalle



With 45km still to go the 7 riders are almost at the highest point of the race (154m), they are still in front of the peloton, but the peloton (91 riders with AMEX-Navigon, Azteca - NBCSN and Team BPost working hard) is closing in fast now, 2 minutes is the time difference on top.



Almost everything comes together on top of the monumental Oude Kwaremont Vandewalle and Losch couldn't keep up with the other breakaway riders and are already been taking back by the peloton, Team BPost clearly doing most of the work now, only 35km left.



Not the Oude kwaremont but the Paterberg seems to get the decisive role today; The five remaining breakaway riders are caught on top of the Paterberg. And together with almost all favourites in front of the peloton, they formed a new first group and got away from the rest during the descent of the Paterberg. This is going to be quite a battle!



So with 25km and 2 cobble sections left to ride we have big two groups 50 seconds away from each other; E1 (13 riders) <- 50" -> E2 (23 riders).
E1:
Albert
De Vreese
Stallaert
Vanspeybrouck
Baugnies
Breschel
Veelers
Nuyens (mid-stage-attack)
Summerhill
Declerq (mid-stage-attack)
De Maar (mid-stage-attack)
Joseph (mid-stage-attack)
Lindgren (early-morning-breakaway!)



De Maar, Joseph and Lindgren lost contact with the first group on the Varent (2000m of cobble stones, 22km from the finish). Also the second group is shrinking, 16 riders including;
E2:
Boonen
Drucker
Langeveld
Thomas
Trentin
Vandenbergh
Vanmarcke
+7 Helpers/Teammates



Team BPost again takes control of the first group and makes sure the second group can't come back anymore. We are in the streets of Anzegem now (18km left) and Summerhill attacks!



Team BPost tries to close the gap with Summerhill but he actually is gaining ground. Baugnies has no other option to bridge the gap on his own and off he goes.



Only 10km left and Baugnies is closing in on Summerhill, behind them Albert and Vanspeybrouck are giving it another try as duo, leaving the rest behind:

E1	E2	E3	E4	E5	E6
(2)	(2)	(5)	(4)	(17)	(12)
0"	31"	47"	1'05"	2'19"	4'27"
Summerhill	Albert	Declerq	Joseph
Baugnies	VSB	Stallaert	De Vreese
		Veelers	Nuyens
		Breschel	De Maar
		Thomas

Last cobble section; Nokereberg, 6km to the finish. Summerhill is letting Baugnies doing most of the work upfront, behind them Albert looks stronger than his team-leader Vanspeybrouck, but Albert - loyal as he is - keeps pushing while shouting against Vanspeybrouck to stay in his wheel.



We are almost in Waregem now and the situation is still the same, Summerhill or Baugnies is going to win Dwars door Vlaanderen!



1000 metres left, Summerhill is starting the sprint...



500 metres left, Vanspeybrouck is losing contact with Albert for 3rd place. Summerhill still leads in front, can Baugnies counter?



Nope! Danny Summerhill (1st) wins Dwars door Vlaanderen 2015, he was the first to attack of the main favourites and played it really smart in the last 10km. Jerome Baugnies (2nd) - in hindsight - did to much work in the last kilometres, still second place is a very good result.



Niels Albert (3rd) was best of the rest today, maybe next cobble races he should have a more free role. Tom Veelers (winner of 2012) finishes strong, (4th) place, while Pieter Vanspeybrouck won't be happy with his result; (5th) place. Joeri Stallaert is Team BPost third rider in the top-10 (6th), Matti Breschel assisted Baugnies for a big part of the race (7th) and Tim Declerq is the first rider to pass the finish line from the mid-stage-attack (8th). Geraint Thomas was the only one to come back from behind (9th).



Matteo Trentin wins the second group sprint (10th) - completing the top-10 - in front of Sep Vanmarcke and Tom Boonen.



Your 2015 Dwars door Vlaanderen winner: Danny Summerhill of Azteca - NBCSN!



Hope you all enjoyed the race and hopefully we will see you next year!
Result

1	Danny Summerhill	Azteca-NBCSN	4h23'10
2	Jérôme Baugnies	AMEX-Navigon	s.t.
3	Niels Albert	Team BPost	s.t.
4	Tom Veelers	Gazelle	s.t.
5	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	Team BPost	s.t.
6	Joeri Stallaert	Team BPost	s.t.
7	Matti Breschel	AMEX-Navigon	s.t.
8	Tim Declerq	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
9	Geraint Thomas	Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish	s.t.
10	Matteo Trentin	Risa - Ergon	+ 1'08
11	Sep Vanmarcke	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
12	Tom Boonen	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
13	Sebastian Langeveld	Strava	s.t.
14	Jesus Del Nero	Grupo Nutresa	s.t.
15	Jempy Drucker	Sauber Petronas Racing	s.t.
16	Laurens De Vreese	Team BPost	s.t.
17	Stijn Vandenbergh	Grupo Nutresa	s.t.
18	Maxime Daniel	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
19	Marc De Maar	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
20	Angelo Tulik	Strava	s.t.
21	Michael Kurth	AMEX-Navigon	s.t.
22	Ermin Van Wyk	Strava	s.t.
23	Stijn Joseph	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	s.t.
24	Kenny De Haes	AMEX-Navigon	s.t.
25	Kevin Fouquet	Team BPost	s.t.
26	Sven Nooytens	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
27	Nick Nuyens	Gazelle	s.t.
28	Nikolas Maes	Team TomTom	s.t.
29	Johan Lindgren	Risa - Ergon	+ 2'19
30	Samuel Coronel	Azteca-NBCSN	+ 4'03
31	Julien Vermote	Team TomTom	+ 4'32
32	Bert De Backer	Strava	s.t.
33	Tyler Farrar	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
34	Evert Verbist	Team TomTom	s.t.
35	Oliver Naesen	Team BPost	s.t.
36	Geert Steurs	Risa - Ergon	s.t.
37	Sven Krauss	AMEX-Navigon	s.t.
38	Niki Østergaard	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
39	Jan Polanc	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	s.t.
40	Luis Pulido	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
41	Max Losch	Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling	s.t.
42	Wim De Vocht	Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling	s.t.
43	Sascha Modolo	Grupo Nutresa	+ 5'51
44	Sascha Weber	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
45	Kristian Sbaragli	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
46	Martin Grashev	Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish	s.t.
47	Thiago Duarte Nardin	Gazelle	s.t.
48	Sebastian Lander	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
49	Steve Chainel	Gazelle	s.t.
50	Bob Schoonbroodt	Team TomTom	s.t.
51	Cedric Lebris	Team TomTom	s.t.
52	Jonas Vangenechten	Gazelle	s.t.
53	Kevin Peeters	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	s.t.
54	Guytan Lilholt	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
55	Timothy Dupont	Strava	s.t.
56	Geert Van der Sanden	Team TomTom	s.t.
57	Alessandro Bazzana	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
58	Nick Ingels	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
59	Goton Mebrahtu	Grupo Nutresa	s.t.
60	Silvio Herklotz	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
61	Olli Kulppi	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
62	Jamie Sparling	Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish	s.t.
63	Christopher Stevenson	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
64	Andris Smirnovs	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
65	Leonardo Duque	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
66	Greg De Winde	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	s.t.
67	Johan Vansummeren	Team BPost	s.t.
68	Mirko Selvaggi	Strava	s.t.
69	Øystein Stake Laengen	Risa - Ergon	s.t.
70	Ian Boswell	AMEX-Navigon	s.t.
71	Louis Verhelst	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	s.t.
72	Isaac Bolivar	Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish	s.t.
73	Gert Steegmans	Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling	s.t.
74	Bereket Yemane	AMEX-Navigon	s.t.
75	Kristof Vandewalle	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
76	Dadley Corwin	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
77	Fabio Sabatini	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	+ 7'21
78	Daniel Oss	Gazelle	s.t.
79	Cesar Andre Fonte	Grupo Nutresa	s.t.
80	Jasper Bovenhuis	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
81	Jan Tratnik	Gazelle	s.t.
82	Martin Mortensen	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
83	Marc Codrington	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
84	Niki Terpstra	Gazelle	+ 8'28
85	Sven Fritsch	Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish	s.t.
86	Jens Debusschere	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	s.t.
87	Sébastien Rosseler	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
88	Stef Clement	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
89	Martin Weiss	Evonik - ELKO	+ 9'15
90	Jasper Stuyven	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	s.t.
91	Willi Willwohl	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
92	Robin Stenuit	Team TomTom	s.t.
93	Momchil Robov	Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish	s.t.
94	Matthias Wengelin	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
95	Jetse Bol	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
96	Christiaan Kriek	Strava	s.t.
97	Davide Villella	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
98	Maksym Averin	Grupo Nutresa	s.t.
99	Marco Zafferani	Sauber Petronas Racing	s.t.
100	Arthur Vanoverberghe	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	+ 10'58
101	Maris Bogdanovics	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
102	David Claerebout	Team TomTom	s.t.
103	Erdenebayar Daspuntsag	Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling	s.t.
104	Eros Capecchi	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	s.t.
105	Wataru Mutsumine	Sauber Petronas Racing	s.t.
106	Emils Liepins	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
107	Marcos Crespo	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
108	Will Clarke	Risa - Ergon	s.t.
109	Heiner Rodrigo Parra Bustamente	Grupo Nutresa	s.t.
110	Johannes Heider	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
111	Valentin Stoenchev	Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish	s.t.
112	Sonomtseren Delgerbayar	Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling	s.t.
113	Calvin Watson	Risa - Ergon	s.t.
114	Victor Campenaerts	Team BPost	s.t.
115	Maani Altanzul	Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling	+ 12'15
116	Maksym Vasilyev	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo Cycling Team	s.t.
117	Patrick Bevin	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
118	Gabriel Chavanne	Sauber Petronas Racing	s.t.
119	Pawel Cieslik	AMEX-Navigon	s.t.
120	Yamato Shirota	Sauber Petronas Racing	s.t.
121	Dayer Quintana	Grupo Nutresa	s.t.
122	Spas Gyurov	Lululemon/Bulgaria Blackfish	s.t.
123	Dylan Van Baarle	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	+ 13'48
124	Andrei Sakalou	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	s.t.
125	Alexei Tsikhanau	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	s.t.
126	Konstantin Klimiankou	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	s.t.
127	Christer Rake	Risa - Ergon	s.t.
128	Sylvain Chavanel	Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling	s.t.
129	Simon Clarke	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	+ 14'51
130	Kristoffer Skjerping	Risa - Ergon	s.t.
131	Eloy Teruel	Fox Sports - Golomt Cycling	s.t.
132	Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri	Sauber Petronas Racing	s.t.
133	Nandra Eko Wahyudi	Sauber Petronas Racing	s.t.
134	Giacomo Scarponi	Sauber Petronas Racing	+ 19'39
135	Yauheni Shamsonau	BelarusBank Pro Cycling	s.t.