Dwars door Vlaanderen organisers have opted to remove the Kanarieberg climb and the fast approach to it from the 2025 race route due to safety concerns.
The paved climb is located near Ronse in Flanders and has also featured in the Tour of Flanders in the past. However, it hit the headlines at this year’s Dwars door Vlaanderen thanks to a mass crash on the approach to the hill.
The crash in the peloton saw Wout van Aert, Jasper Stuyven, Biniam Girmay and Mads Pedersen among the riders who hit the deck hard on the fast and sweeping stretch of the N48 road on the approach to the Kanarieberg. Van Aert and Stuyven were forced to miss the remainder of the spring Classics as a result, with both suffering several injuries including broken collarbones.
At the 2025 route presentation on Thursday, Dwars door Vlaanderen organisers revealed that the road and the hill, which averaged 8% over 1km, will not be featured in next year’s race, which falls on April 2.
“After the heavy crash last year, we made an evaluation together with Flanders Classics,” race chairman Pavel Desmet told Het Nieuwsblad.
“Cycling is changing and ‘preparation races’ no longer exist. In all races nowadays, riders race with a knife between their teeth. That’s why we decided to change the course to improve safety even more.”
The Kanarieberg, its approach and the Kortekeer were also removed from the Tour of Flanders back in March before the mass high-speed crash at Dwars in 2024.
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Van Aert recently revisited the climb – along with several other famous Flandrian hills including the Wolvenberg, Oude Kwaremont, and Paterberg – as part of a 97km recon ride with his Visma-Lease A Bike teammates.
He was joined by Olav Kooij, Christophe Laporte, Dylan van Baarle and several young members of the Dutch team, including a handful of neo-pros.
Van Aert will be among the riders happy to see a reminder of a ruined spring removed from the route, though it’s not the only change the organisers have made for the 2025 race.
The cobblestones at Varent will be removed, as will the climbs of the Kortekeer and Laudeuze. Kortekeer will be replaced by a further ascent of Berg Ten Houte, while Ladeuze will be replaced by the Eikenberg.
