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A Belgian one-day race through the Hageland hills

Dwars door het Hageland Women

A Belgian one-day race where positioning, acceleration, and late-race sharpness matter more than pure climbing power.

Open 2026 results Winners
Location
🇧🇪 Belgium
When
Third Saturday in June
Course
One Day
Most recent winner
🇧🇪 Dina Scavone (2026)
Also known as
Elmos Dwars door het Hageland
Category
Women’s Continental

About Dwars door het Hageland Women

Dwars door het Hageland Women is a one-day bike race in Belgium's Hageland region, a landscape of short climbs, narrow roads, and agricultural rolling terrain that rewards tactical sharpness and the ability to respond to repeated accelerations.

Also known as: Elmos Dwars door het Hageland · Elmos Dwars Door het Hageland Women

This is Belgian one-day racing at a scale that rewards attentiveness over raw power. The Hageland terrain is not mountainous, but it is relentless: short climbs, tight corners, and roads that narrow at the wrong moments. Races here are won by riders who can position well, accelerate out of technical sections, and stay alert when the pace lifts in the final hour.

Dwars door het Hageland Women winners

YearWinner
2026🇧🇪Dina Scavone
2025🇳🇱Lorena Wiebes
2024🇳🇱Lucinda Brand
2023🇧🇪Lotte Kopecky
2022🇮🇹Ilaria Sanguineti
2021🇳🇱Chantal van den Broek-Blaak

2026 results

This edition is complete.

Dwars door het Hageland Women route

The Hageland is a region of short, punchy climbs rather than sustained ascents, and the roads between them are often narrow, winding, and lined with hedgerows or farmland. Positioning becomes critical in the final third of the race, when the climbs start to stack and the group begins to fracture. The winner is usually someone who can handle repeated accelerations without losing contact, then has enough left to either follow a late move or initiate one. Weather can add another layer: wet roads make the descents and corners more consequential, and wind can split the field earlier than the climbs alone would manage. This is not a race where one climb decides everything, but rather where the cumulative effect of terrain, positioning, and timing separates the field.

What shapes the race

  1. Citadel of Diest finish

    The steep cobbled finishing climb at the Citadel of Diest, with double-digit gradients and wet cobbles, is tackled multiple times and decides the race.

  2. Hageland gravel and cobbles

    The course from Aarschot to Diest includes unpaved and cobbled stretches through the rolling Hageland hills of Flemish Brabant.

Signature landmarks

  1. Cobbled climb

    Citadel of Diest

    The steep finishing climb with double-digit gradients and wet cobbles, ascended multiple times.

  2. Terrain

    Hageland hills

    Rolling hills between Aarschot and Diest with cobbled and unpaved stretches through Flemish Brabant.

History

Memorable editions

  1. 2023

    Kopecky attacks on the Citadel

    Lotte Kopecky attacked on the Citadel of Diest to win solo, elevating the race's profile.

  2. 2025

    Wiebes wins on a borrowed bike

    Lorena Wiebes suffered a mechanical on the penultimate climb, jumped onto a teammate's smaller bike, and still won the sprint on the Citadel.

Iconic victories

  1. Lotte Kopecky

    Won in 2023 with a solo attack on the Citadel, the race's signature performance.

  2. Lorena Wiebes

    Won in 2025 despite a mid-race bike swap, showing resilience on the cobbled finishing climb.

Eras and records

First held in 2021. Upgraded from UCI 1.2 to 1.1 after just one edition.

  1. First edition

    2021, won by Chantal van den Broek-Blaak.

  2. Rapid promotion

    Upgraded from 1.2 to 1.1 after its first edition, reflecting the race's quality and Belgian calendar demand.