Four crashes spoil sprinters' hopes in 'really dangerous final' of Classic Brugge-De Panne

The Classic Brugge-De Panne was disrupted by a shocking series of crashes inside the final five kilometres, injuring numerous riders including pre-race favourite, European champion Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep).

Merlier's team blamed the wrecks on the lack of wind to break up a peloton filled with the sport's top sprinters and nearly every team in the fight in addition to narrow, twisting roads before the finish line in De Panne.

Second-placed Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) survived to finish millimetres behind winner Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates), describing the finish: "The parcours was pretty dangerous with this run-in to the final kilometre - from three lines it was going in one, then this right turn, and then this twisty bit a few hundred meters to go. This makes everything a bit nervous and dangerous because, of course, everyone wants to stay in the front - everyone wants to win."

Sports director for Soudal-Quickstep Iljo Keisse, a former rider, blamed the lack of wind for not breaking up the peloton before the finish.

"It would have been better with wind in De Moeren, then everything would have been broken up there," Keisse said according to Sporza.be. "Then you also sprint with a smaller group. But a peloton sprint with this group? You knew that would go wrong."

The first crash came just outside 5km to go when the course turned left off a three-lane road onto a one-lane road while the peloton was in full flight in pursuit of the breakaway. Lindsay De Vylder (Flanders Baloise) appeared to be the worst affected, with a bloodied face.

The second came when three Intermarché-Wanty riders crashed on a straightaway. Then, as riders were trying to move up on the path alongside the roadway, one rider from Cofidis dropped back onto the tarmac, touching wheels with the rider ahead of him and fell, taking down a slew of riders, including Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).

All you heard was 'crash, crash, crash'

It was the final crash that ruined Tim Merlier's race, and it came as the race was entering a narrowing of the roadway and riders bumped into each other, causing a crash that ricocheted through the bunch and into Merlier, who was trying to avoid the chaos.

"All you heard on the race radio was crash, crash, crash and more crash," Keisse said. "He tried to move up because he was a bit out of position. And then it all happened very quickly, but he flew very far.

"He immediately asked for the doctor on the radio, and that is never a good sign. We put him in the car, and he is now in the bus with the doctor for first aid."

Merlier suffered a deep wound to his knee and could be out of Gent-Wevelgem this weekend.

Keisse knew to warn the riders about the dangerous finale, but there haven't been many serious incidents in the race in recent years because the wind usually splits up the peloton.

"This morning during the meeting, I said: 'It is so dangerous that usually nothing happens'. In recent years, miraculously, things have always gone very well, and today, it went horribly wrong.

"Four crashes in 2.5 km is a bit too much... For a race of this level, the sprinters' classic, it is a bit of an unacceptable finale."

Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) made it through unscathed but still urged organisers to examine the course more closely. "The final is dangerous, and they should look at this," Welsford said to Sporza. "I know this is a race with history, and I love it, but there has to be something that can be changed on the course."

Alpecin-Deceuninck lead-out man Jonas Rickaert lost his sprinter Jasper Philipsen to heavy braking because of one of the crashes.

"When you go to the last 800 meters with 60 fairly fresh men and it becomes one car wide, then you know it's going to be super hectic," Rickaert said.

"Everyone wants to drop their sprinter off there, and that makes it super dangerous. With echelons, you get a different story, but maybe they should look for a better and safer option. You saw today that it is really dangerous."

Organiser vows to examine route

Bruno Dequeecker, the organiser of the Classic Brugge-De Panne was in dismay at the chaos, telling Sporza, "This hurts my heart. The peloton has completed the course three times before the finish, but in the final kilometres, crashes like this happen... It hurts.

"We will have to sit down with the riders to see how it can be made safer.

"The course has been unchanged for years and is controlled by the UCI. So, this is an unfortunate coincidence. The riders clearly all wanted to give everything to win, unfortunately, that led to accidents."

Dequeecker plans to look into changes to make the finish safe. "We will have to evaluate that narrowing for the next edition. I can't say much about that now," he said.

"The weather conditions - sun and little wind - were perfect for the spectators, but less so for the course of the race. When there is more wind in De Moeren, there is more fragmentation and no pack sprinting to the finish line.

"We don't organize a race to have crashes. It's the riders who make the race, we'll have to sit together to see how it can be made safer. Or at least: to ensure that there is less chance of crashes."