Less than 6 months after he took a surprise win in Paris-Tours, Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen) again beat all the WorldTour stars when he took the victory in the first cobbled classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen. Having originally been part of the early break, he was joined by his teammate Edward Theuns, Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Garmin) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) before launching a perfectly timed attack at the flamme rouge to take a solo win. Theuns beat van Baarle in the sprint to make it a 1-2 for Topsport Vlaanderen.

In October, Jelle Wallays defied the odds when he outwitted Thomas Voeckler to take a hugely surprising win in Paris-Tours. Today he proved that he has a great talent to shine in the biggest races when he took another hugely surprising victory in Dwars door Vlaanderen.

“Obviously I put Dwars door Vlaanderen on number one. Why? Because it starts in my hometown. I’ve got a huge amount of fans here. They were all present here. It’s a big group. Some take a day off from work to be here. If you can win here then that’s fantastic. Paris-Tours is a big race too but if you’re gunning for the classics and you can win one then that’s fantastic,” Wallays said at the post-race press conference.

“Our advantage was that we were with the two of us. I know Dylan from the youth categories. I didn’t think he was faster than Kwiatkowski. Edward is a finisher. He showed that in recent races. As a team we gave away a great show, which we can’t asses while we’re young. They are all big names. First, I tried to keep off the chasers. I had been in the long breakaway move. I told Edward I would do everything to deliver him. When the gap was a minute I knew there was more room to try other things. Last week, I helped him to the victory in Drenthe. At three kilometres from the finish line we talked. I asked him if I could attack, and he nodded.

“I think I already showed what I’m capable of. I finished on the podium at the Belgian Championships as a neo-professional. Winning Paris-Tours, winning Lichtervelde, now also Dwars door Vlaanderen. I hope I can head to a ProTour team to help a big rider. If I can ride in front of the peloton. That’s something I can do for a long time. At crucial moments I can strengthen a team.

“No ProTour teams contacted me. The only one who contacted me was Patrick Lefevere [Etixx-QuickStep]. He’s been following me since the youth categories in the Beveren 2000 team. He called me to say he had no room for a classics rider, which I am. I understand that and at least I knew he was keeping an eye on me.

“There are a lot of riders who would love to have a palmarès like me. I want to ride a Grand Tour. That’s something I can’t do here at Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise. I thanked my team twice now with great victories. They would certainly let me go to a ProTour team with pleasure.”

“I felt super strong today. I counted on my sprint and Jelle was able to profit if the others hesitated. I was confident that I could win in the sprint. Jelle, his victory in Paris-Tours was great but claiming a 1-2 double in Dwars door Vlaanderen is fantastic. On Sunday, I want to show myself again in Gent-Wevelgem,” Theuns said.