A young team is ready to take on this demanding but spectacular event.
Held annually since 2001, Dwars door het Hageland is one of the most exciting non-World Tour one-day races on the calendar, its combination of cobbles, gravel roads and short climbs providing plenty of action each year. This should be the case again this Saturday, when the riders will line out in Aarschot for the start of a 178.4km journey over an undulating route that will take them to the beautiful citadel of Diest, where the now traditional punchy finish awaits.
Soudal Quick-Step – who was on the podium at the last three editions of Hageland – will take on the Belgian race with Kasper Asgreen, Josef Cerny, Pepijn Reinderink, Gullegem Koerse winner Marin Svrcek, and Dunkerque stage victor Warre Vangheluwe. They will be joined by two 18-year-old riders coming from our feeder team, Niels Driesen and Gauthier Servranckx.
“It’s important to stay focused the entire time, because the race is full gas from the start and things can change in an instant. Positioning will be important on Saturday, when we’ll tackle around 40 kilometers of gravel, where a selection will be made. We have a good team at the start, comprising experienced and young riders, including two guys of the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team, for whom it will be a good experience to race with the pros. We are confident and we hope to do a good race”, said sports director Geert Van Bondt.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
