2016 Dwars door Vlaanderen
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.
Event poster with previous winner Jelle Wallays | |||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | March 23, 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Stages | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 199.7 km (124.1 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 4h 47' 55" | ||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
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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. The defending champion was Jelle Wallays (Lotto–Soudal).
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. 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. 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.
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. Bryan Coquard (Direct Énergie) finished second, with Edward Theuns (Trek–Segafredo) third.