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Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) gets his first win as world champion(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alexander Kristoff wins his second consecutive stage at Driedaagse De Panne.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jolien D'hoore (Mitchelton-Scott) wins Women's WorldTour Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde Women 2018(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Philippe Gilbert, Niki Terpstra and Greg van Avermaet on the E3 Harelbeke podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jolien D'hoore (Mitchelton-Scott) wins Women's WorldTour Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde Women 2018(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Julian Alaphilippe's victory at Milan-San Remo, popularly known as La Primavera, has officially signified the beginning of the Spring Classics. Cyclingnews will have full live coverage of the men's and women's Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne, E3 BinkBank Classic and Gent-Wevelgem, as well as for each stage of the Volta a Catalunya.
Join us for minute-by-minute coverage from start to finish, at our live race centre: live.cyclingnews.com
Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne men and women – March 27 and 28 in Belgium
Although the Classics started with the 'opening weekend' at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, and then Le Samyn earlier this month, the racing moved to Italy for Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo. Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne brings the one-days back to Belgium for what will kick off the cobbled Classics.
Organisers of Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne reduced the race from its traditional three-day event to a one-day UCI 1.HC race last year, but added an inaugural one-day Women’s WorldTour event to their schedule. They will once again host two one-day races and this year the men's race was upgraded to WorldTour status alongside the women's race, bringing in a higher-quality field.
The men will race 200km from Brugge to De Panne on Tuesday, March 27. Defending champion Elia Viviani will line up with his Deceuninck-QuickStep team as they reach for a 20th victory this season.
The women will race 151km on Wednesday, March 28. Defending champion Jolien D'hoore will not participate having broken her collarbone last week, which opens up the race to any number of potential winners.
The event is also known as the 'mini' Tour of Flanders and will take on much of the same steep hills as the Monument such as the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg. The last 40km of the 204km race will also feature Karnemelkbeekstraat and Tiegemberg before reaching the finish line in Harelbeke. Niki Terpstra will be on the start line with his new Direct Energie team in an attempt to defend his title.
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The men's race begins in Dienze and travels through West Flanders and into France and back, covering 10 climbs and three sections of dirt roads (Plugstreets) over the 251.5km distance before finishing in Wevelgem. Last year Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) took the victory while Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) won the year before that. Although it has been known as a race for the sprinters, anything can happen in a Spring Classic.
As always at this time of year, the major one-day races and stage races overlap. Overall contenders recently finished Paris-Nice in France and Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy, and are now competing on Spanish soil at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya this week.
The seven-day race opened with a dominant performance my Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), who won the stage, and took the early lead in the mountains, points and overall GC classifications. The race continued with Michael Matthews (Sunweb) sprinting to victory on stage 2, while overall contender Chris Froome (Sky) lost time in a late-race crash.
Follow along with Cyclingnews' live coverage during the remaining five stages.
The Spring Classics are in full swing after 'opening weekend' in February and with the first of the five Monuments, Milan-San Remo, just around the corner. Why not relive last year's cobbled Classics with Cyclingnews' premier film THE HOLY WEEK, which is on special offer until Paris-Roubaix held on April 14. You can now download to buy for just $2.49, while 72-hour rentals are available at $1.99.
