The tussle between Dwars Door Vlaanderen and the Three Days of De Panne over 2018 dates has come to an end, with the UCI deciding that Dwars will take the coveted pre-Tour de Flanders slot from De Panne. Dwars door Vlaanderen, held up to now on the first Wednesday of the `Flemish fortnight`, became a WorldTour race in 2017 and quickly stated its intentions to move forward a week, ahead of De Ronde on the Sunday, much to the outrage of the De Panne organisers. For the last 41 years, the Three Days of De Panne has taken place from Tuesday to Thursday in the second week. Philippe Gilbert won the race last year and went on to win Flanders but the trend has been going in the way of the true Flanders favourites skipping the four-stage, three-day race.ADVERTISEMENT Dwars is confident its new slot will help it grow in stature, with one day of racing - very much in the Tour of Flanders mould - providing a more suitable stepping stone towards the big day for the peloton`s top classics riders. `We are very pleased with this. It is a position on the cycling calendar where we have five years to pursue, with three WorldTour races in one week,` said race chairman Carlo Lambrecht, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. `We will adjust our course to the standard of the teams. We will not imitate the Tour of Flanders, but we will make our own course that has the identity of Dwars door Vlaanderen.` Fellow Belgian daily newspaper, Het Nieuwsblad reports that the Three Days of De Panne is likely to become a two-day event, with the possibility of retaining its name thanks to the introduction of a women`s race the day after the conclusion of the men`s. A move to Dwars` old slot, between Milan-San Remo (Sunday) and E3-Harelbeke (Wednesday), means the three-day format would be something of a squeeze and would no doubt have a detrimental effect on the start list. Pozzato into managerial role as Wilier extends sponsorship Drucker dethrones Jungels in Luxembourg TT ...
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