Martina Alzini won the 2026 Dwars Door Wingene – Danneels Ladies Classic, sprinting to victory in Wingene after Cofidis helped bring back a dangerous mid-race breakaway and then set up the Italian for the finish. Alzini came through fastest in the bunch sprint, beating Lonneke Uneken of VolkerWessels Cycling Team and Marith Vanhove of AG Insurance-Soudal Devo Team.
The victory was Alzini’s third of the 2026 season, following her wins on stage 1 of the CIC-Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées and stage 2 of the Volta a Portugal Feminina. It also continued a strong sprinting run for Cofidis, who had started the race with only five riders because of injuries but still took responsibility when the race threatened to get away from them.
UAE Development Team also left Wingene with a strong result after Abigail Miller sprinted to fifth. Her teammate Magdalena Leis had spent much of the day in the main breakaway, then still had enough left to help Miller in the closing metres.
A new women’s race around Wingene
Dwars Door Wingene – Danneels Ladies Classic took place on Saturday 11 July 2026 in West Flanders, with the women’s race forming part of the Lotto Belgium Cup Women. The route was based around Wingene and finished with repeated laps of a local circuit measuring 11.8 kilometres.
The race distance was just under 140 kilometres, on a mostly flat course that still carried the usual Belgian one-day race complications: narrow roads, repeated accelerations, positioning battles and a local circuit that made control important.
The event sits in an interesting space on the women’s calendar. It is not a WorldTour race, but it gives development teams, continental teams and experienced sprinters a serious platform. With 138 riders from 23 teams on the start line, the bunch had enough depth to make the race hard, but also enough sprint interest to ensure the chase never switched off.
That balance defined the day. The finish suggested a sprint race, but the route to get there was far from passive.
Early attacks before seven riders go clear
The opening phase was lively, with several attacks before the first significant move finally formed just before the midway point. Seven riders went clear: Dina Boels, Anne Knijnenburg, Puck Langenbarg, Anna Bruneel, Magdalena Leis, Julie Stockman and Magdalene Lind.
Lind was the first to lose contact when the pace in the break proved too high, leaving six riders at the front as the race moved towards the final local circuits. With five laps of the 11.8-kilometre circuit remaining, the leaders held around 20 seconds over the peloton.
It was never a huge advantage, but the composition of the group made it dangerous. Leis gave UAE Development Team a presence up front, while several of the others were strong enough to keep the move organised if the bunch hesitated.
Cofidis could not afford that. Alzini was their clear card for a sprint, and with only five riders in the race, they had to calculate carefully how much energy to spend and when.
Cofidis forced to work hard
The middle of the race became the decisive phase for Cofidis. Arthur Quillec later admitted the team had expected a sprint finish because of the course, but the breakaway forced them into a difficult chase.
With a reduced line-up, Cofidis had fewer riders to share the work. That meant the team had to use energy earlier than ideal to stop the move gaining a race-winning advantage.
“We went in expecting a sprint finish, given the course,” Quillec said. “We started with only five riders because we have quite a few injuries on the team. We had a bit of a tough time midway through the race, where we had to expend a lot of energy to catch up to a dangerous breakaway.”
That chase was the foundation of Alzini’s win. Without it, the sprint never happens. With it, Cofidis kept the race close enough for the final laps to come back under control.
Kessler bridges as the break reshuffles
The breakaway changed shape with 57 kilometres remaining when Julie Stockman sat up and returned to the peloton. Soon afterwards, Nina Kessler went the other way, bridging across from the bunch to join the leaders.
That gave the escape fresh energy and kept the pressure on the peloton. As the race entered the final four local laps, the group still had 25 seconds. The gap later reached a maximum of around a minute, the largest margin of the day and the moment when the break looked most threatening.
A one-minute gap on a local circuit is never decisive, but it is enough to make the chase uncomfortable. The peloton had to stay committed, and Cofidis were among the teams doing the most to ensure the race came back.
The catch came with 29 kilometres remaining. After a long period of uncertainty, the bunch had finally shut down the main move, but the race was not finished with attacks.
Tacey and Leis try late move
With the main break caught, April Tacey and Magdalena Leis attacked inside the final 6 kilometres. It was a sharp late move, and Leis’ presence made sense after UAE Development Team had already raced aggressively through the day.
The pair did not get far enough to turn the race into a breakaway finish. Two kilometres later, the peloton was back together, but the move still disrupted the sprint preparation and forced the bunch to chase again before the final organisation could begin.
Leis’ ride was one of the strongest all-round performances of the day. She had been in the early break, went again late, and still managed to help Miller in the final. That was particularly notable given she had arrived fresh from winning the European Under-23 Team Pursuit title on the track in Cottbus.
Once Tacey and Leis were caught, AG Insurance-Soudal Devo took charge at the front of the bunch. Their acceleration sharpened the pace and helped line out the peloton before the sprint.
Alzini emerges through the middle
The final sprint was crowded rather than perfectly controlled. AG Insurance-Soudal Devo had helped set the rhythm late, and several teams had reason to believe they could finish the job. Alzini, though, found the right way through.
Rather than launching from a long, obvious lead-out, she emerged from the middle of the bunch and timed her acceleration well. It was the kind of finish that suited her: busy, physical, and decided by positioning as much as pure speed.
Uneken took second for VolkerWessels, adding another strong result to a season that already included victory at the Midwest Cycling Classic. Vanhove finished third for AG Insurance-Soudal Devo, backing up the team’s late work after she had already shown strong one-day form with second at Trofee Maarten Wynants.
For Alzini, the sprint was another reminder of how dangerous she is when the race comes back together. She did not need a perfect lead-out. She needed enough organisation from Cofidis to create the sprint, then the instinct to finish it off.
Miller rewards UAE Development Team
Behind the podium, Abigail Miller sprinted to fifth for UAE Development Team. It was a strong result in itself, but the way the team delivered it made it more significant.
Leis had spent much of the day in the main breakaway and still found enough energy to help Miller in the closing metres. After the late attack with Tacey was caught, she switched back into team mode and contributed to the lead-out.
For a development squad, that is exactly the kind of collective performance that matters. They placed a rider in the decisive break, animated the late finale and still came away with a top-five sprint finish.
Miller’s fifth also underlined that the race was not only a simple sprint result. The riders contesting the finish had come through a day of repeated accelerations, a long chase and a stop-start final phase. Positioning and freshness mattered, and UAE Development Team managed both well.
Cofidis get the reward for a risky chase
Cofidis’ win was built on commitment rather than numerical superiority. Starting with only five riders meant they had less margin for error, especially once the seven-rider break formed and the gap began to rise.
The team still took responsibility because Alzini was worth protecting. That is often the key decision in races like this. A team can hesitate and save energy, but risk losing the chance of a sprint. Cofidis chose to chase, spent what they had to spend, and trusted Alzini to justify it.
Quillec’s reaction said plenty about the value of the result. “We eventually caught up, and Martina Alzini handled the finish really well,” he said. “She’s very strong in the sprint, and it’s great to see her like this, full of confidence. It’s a great victory for her and for the team as a whole.”
That confidence now has results behind it. Alzini has three wins this season, all from finishes where her sprint has had to do real work. Wingene was another example of that growing sharpness.
Alzini’s sprint season keeps building
Alzini’s 2026 record is starting to look like more than a short burst of form. Winning in the Pyrénées, Portugal and now Belgium shows that she can repeat the same finishing level across different race types and different team situations.
This one was particularly useful because Cofidis did not have a full-strength squad around her. They had to manage the race with five riders, close down a dangerous break and still leave Alzini in position for the sprint. That makes the win more valuable than a straightforward bunch finish on paper.
It also adds her name to the first edition of Dwars Door Wingene – Danneels Ladies Classic as part of the women’s UCI calendar. The race got what new events need: an animated breakaway, a late attack, a committed chase and a recognised sprinter winning at the end.
For Alzini, it was win number three of the season. For Cofidis, it was proof that even with a reduced squad, they had the right rider and the right plan.
Dwars Door Wingene 2026 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
