The Movistar rider claimed victory ahead of breakaway partner Demi Vollering as Lieke Nooijen nearly surprised the two.
Reusser outsprinted Demi Vollering and Lieke Nooijen to take her first win since crashing at the UAE Tour.
Cor Vos
Marlen Reusser’s spring campaign was originally intended to include more Cobbled Classics, but unfortunately, the Movistar rider was forced to the sidelines after a nasty crash in the second stage of the UAE Tour in February. On Wednesday, Reusser returned to racing at Dwars door Vlaanderen for the first time since her crash – and she swiftly took a resounding victory against her former teammate Demi Vollering, now with FDJ United-Suez.
The two were almost surprised at the line by Visma-Lease a Bike’s Lieke Nooijen, who took a flyer in the finale, but Reusser was able to kick just in time to cross the line first.
“I am a bit surprised, because I didn’t expect it like this, so I’m so happy,” Reusser said after the finish. “Honestly, especially at the beginning of the race, I really had trouble positioning, but I kept being confident also to help the whole team, because I think we have a super strong team.”
Reusser’s absence has been felt in a few of the Classics so far. She is normally a key rider to watch when the races are hard and is known to go head-to-head with Vollering often. The two were teammates on SD Worx-Protime from 2022 to 2024, but since leaving the Dutch team, they’ve formed a bit of a rivalry that has created some interesting situations, including at the Tour de Suisse in 2025.
At Dwars, Vollering was clearly keen to get off the front. The FDJ United-Suez rider forced a breakaway with three other riders with 40 km to go, but UAE Team ADQ brought the move back. Reusser waited for a cobbled sector to attack. She jumped off the front of the bunch with 24 km to go. Vollering was quick to follow, bridging to the time trial world champion within a kilometre.
Vollering’s first breakaway with Puck Pieterse, Letizia Borghesi, and Fleur Moors.
From the moment the two joined forces, the cooperation was off. At times, they were riding well together, but conversations were frequent, and as the race approached the final 9 km, it looked like their efforts were doomed.
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