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.
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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