How to watch the Classic Brugge-De Panne 2024
Top sprinters head to Belgian as the spring Classics resume on March 20 and 21
The 2023 spring Classics season is well underway and this week the peloton is returning to Belgium, with the Classic Brugge-De Panne (March 20) and Classic Brugge-De Panne Women (March 21) coming up.
The races kick off a month of hard racing in Belgium and northern Europe following hot on the heels of one-day racing at Opening Weekend, Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo earlier this spring.
A sprinter-friendly race, the Classic Brugge-De Panne is set to play host to a host of big-name fast finishers, including Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan), Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), and Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich PostNL).
Dates: March 20-21
Free streams: VRT
USA: Max
Canada: FloBikes
UK: Discovery+
Australia: N/A
Watch anywhere: Try NordVPN, 100% risk-free
Unfortunately, women's powerhouse squad SD Worx-ProTime won't make the start after various injuries have struck the team. However, the women's peloton will be filled with major names including Chloe Dygert and Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-Sram), Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Emma Norsgaard (Movistar), Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ), and Alison Jackson (EF Education-Cannondale).
The men's race will see the likes of Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty), Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla), and Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech).
Cyclingnews will be bringing you full reports, results, news, interviews, and analysis throughout the race. Read on to find out how to watch the racing action via live stream, no matter your location, with NordVPN.
How to watch the Classic Brugge-De Panne for free
If you live Belgium or are visiting on holiday, then you can watch the 2024 Classic Brugge-De Panne for free via Belgian network VRT
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But if you're away from home on holiday during the racing then it's possible to keep up with the racing without resorting to shelling out for a local streaming subscription.
A VPN could solve your problem, and we have all the information on how to watch Classic Brugge-De Panne using a VPN below.
How to watch the Classic Brugge-De Panne in the USA & Canada
The 2024 Classic Brugge-De Panne will be aired by Max in the USA. A subscription to the service will set you back $10 per month or $100 per year with ads, $16/$150 for an ad-free experience, or $200 per year for the 'Ultimate' package, which includes additional devices and 4k resolution where available.
In addition to that, you'll need to pay for the B/R Sports add-on, which costs an extra $10 per month.
The race will be aired by FloBikes in Canada, meanwhile. A subscription to the streaming service will set you back CAN$150 for the year or CAN$29.99 on a monthly basis.
How to watch the Classic Brugge-De Panne in the UK
In the UK, live coverage of the 2024 Classic Brugge-De Panne will continue to be broadcast via Eurosport and Discovery+ – with the same commentators that featured on GCN+.
A 'standard' subscription to Discovery+, which includes Eurosport's cycling coverage, will set you back £6.99 per month or £59.99 per year. The package includes year-round cycling streams as well as other live sports, including snooker, tennis, motorsports, the Paris Olympic Games, and more.
A premium subscription, which includes all that plus TNT Sports (Premier League, Champions League and Europa League football plus rugby, wrestling, UFC, and MotoGP) costs an additional £29.99 per month.
How to watch the Classic Brugge-De Panne in Australia
Annoyingly, there are no official broadcasters of the Classic Brugge-De Panne in Australia, with SBS not holding the rights to air the stage race.
However, if you're away from home and on holiday Down Under, then it's possible to keep up with the action via your usual Max, FloBikes, or Discovery+ subscriptions using a VPN. Read on for more information on how to do just that.
Watch live cycling on any streams
If you are outside of your home region and need to access your live streaming services to watch the action, you may find your access to be geo-restricted.
In this case, a VPN service will come in handy, allowing your computer to pretend it's home and let you log into your streaming accounts to catch all of the racing action.
Our colleagues at TechRadar thoroughly tested several VPN services and came up with a few great recommendations below.
1. NordVPN - get the world's favorite VPN We've put all the major VPNs through their paces and we rate NordVPN as the best for streaming Netflix as our top pick, thanks to its speed, ease of use and strong security features. It's also compatible with just about any streaming device out there, including Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation, as well as Android and Apple mobiles.
There are a couple other very good options that are safe, reliable and offer good bandwidth for streaming sports. Check out two other top options below - ExpressVPN and the best budget option, Surfshark.
1. Try ExpressVPN risk-free for 30 days
ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money back guarantee with its VPN service. You can use it to watch on your mobile, tablet, laptop, TV, games console and more. There's 24/7 customer support and three months free when you sign-up.
3. Surfshark: the best cheap VPN
Currently topping our charts as the fastest VPN around, Surfshark keeps giving us reasons to recommend it. It's a high-value, low-cost option that's easy to use, full of features, and excellent at unblocking restricted content.
With servers in over 100 countries, you can stream your favorite shows from almost anywhere. Best of all, Surfshark costs as little as $2.30 per month, and it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee to try it out.
Classic Brugge-De Panne schedule
Race | Times (CET) | Length |
---|---|---|
Men's, March 20 | 12:30 - 17:20 | 199km |
Women's, March 21 | 13:00 - 17:05 | 155km |
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix – 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.