As It Happened - Favourites held up in crash-marred Classic Brugge-De Panne finale

Hello and welcome to the 2025 Classic Brugge-De Panne!

Cycling’s Flemish Week kicks off today at Classic Brugge-De Panne, the first of five cobbled classics in the space of just twelve days that culminates in the Tour of Flanders a week on Sunday.

Of the five races, this is the one that’s best suited to a sprint, as illustrated by an illustrious start list of fast finishers that includes Tim Merlier, Jonathan Milan and Jasper Philipsen.

The race starts in the picturesque town of Brugge, and the riders are currently sampling the sights as they make their way through the neutralised section.

Though flat and lacking in cobbled sectors, Classic Brugge-De Panne isn’t quite as simple a pure sprinter’s paradise as it might seem. The exposed roads it takes place on make wind a major fact, with echelons often determining the outcome of the race.

197KM TO GO

And they're off!

The scene at the start.

Five men have a gap, and there’s a big name among them - António Morgado of UAE Team Emirates.

Morgado is with Victor Vercouillie (Team Flanders - Baloise), Michiel Lambrecht (Wagner Bazin WB), Joren Bloem and Hartthijs de Vries (both Unibet Tietema Rockets)

190KM TO GO

Despite the threat posed by Morgado, those five appear set to be our break of the day. They've been allowed a lead of one minute.

Their lead is now up to two minutes. The peloton is happy to let this one go.

Morgado really does stick out from the other four in the break. Not only is he the only man from a first tier team, he’s also got serious classics credentials, having placed fifth at the Tour of Flanders last year, and already won a couple in southern Europe (Gran Premio Castellón and Figueira Champions Classic) this year.

It’s a bold move from UAE Team Emirates-XRG to get Morgado in the break, but understandable given their roster for this race. Though they have Juan Sebastián Molano for the sprint, he’s only an outside favourite in a bunch finish up against such a strong field. Instead, their strength lies in powerful classics riders like Florian Vermeersch, Mikkel Bjerg and Morgado, so it makes sense for them to adopt an attacking approach - even if getting one of their top men in the day’s break is particularly early.

180KM TO GO

Morgado and the rest won’t be coming back anytime soon - their lead has been allowed to grow up to 2-30.

Talking of (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), the big news today is that their star man Tadej Pogačar  will, after weeks of tantalising hints, ride Paris-Roubaix. It promises to be one of the highlights of the season, and you can read all about his decision here.

The weather plays a key role in how Classic Brugge-De Panne, and, crucially, today’s conditions are mild. There are blue skies and no rain, it’s not especially cold, and there are no strong winds to speak of.

170KM TO GO

Still it remains about 2-30 between the leaders and the peloton.

In the event this does come down to a big sprint, it’ll be a real clash of the titans, with the three best sprinters in the world all facing off - Tim Merlier, Jonathan Milan and Jasper Philipsen.

The five riders in the break.

160KM TO GO

The break's lead is up a little, to nearly three minutes. That's the highest it's been so far. 

Interestingly, it’s Merlier’s Soudal-QuickStep, Milan’s Lidl-Trek and Olav Kooij’s Visma-Lease a Bike teams who are contributing to the peloton’s chase, but not Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck. It could be that the Belgian still isn’t feeling fit enough to consider himself a top favourite after his crash last week.

Of the top favourites for the win today, Tim Merlier (pictured right, in the white European Chamion’s jersey) has the most wins under his belt so far this year, with two at each of the UAE Tour, AlUla Tour and Paris-Nice. He’s also got an exceptional record in Flemish semi-classics throughout his career, and won Classic Brugge-De Panne back in 2022.

150KM TO GO

The gap's come down a little, back to about 2-30.

We've been racing for just over an hour, at a prompt pace of over 50km per hour.

Victor Campanaerts has abandoned the race. That leaves Olav Kooij down a teammate. 

Here’s an illustration of the kind of flat, swampy lands that the riders are making their way across as they travel from Bruges to the finishing circuit in De Panne.

140KM TO GO

The leaders have now arrived in De Panne, holding a lead of about 2-30 over the peloton. 

After Merlier, the next most prolific sprinter of the season has been Jonathan Milan, pictured here being guided through the convoy by Lidl-Trek teammate Ed Theuns. The Italian has won five in total, including twice getting the better of Merlier at the UAE Tour. When wound up and well-positioned, even Merlier can’t match his long, explosive sprints.

There was briefly a split in the peloton, but it's back together again now.

130KM TO GO

The leaders cross the finish line in De Panne for the first time, their advantage down to 2-15. They will now embark on the first of 3 laps of a 43km circuit, which includes the De Moeren exposed section where echelons often form.

A few more DNFs to announce - Alex Kirsch, Noah Vandenbranden, Kelland O’Brien and, most notably, Fabio Jakobsen. The Dutchman’s struggles continue having also pulled out of the last two races he featured in.

While his rivals Merlier and Milan have 6 and 5 respectively, Jasper Philipsen has just one win to his name this year - though tellingly that win came at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, the only classics that all three of them have raced together this season until now. Philipsen might be sprinting slower than them at the moment, but is a hardier classics rider than them, and would benefit from a tough race today.

Philipsen’s also aiming to become the first man since Eric Vanderaerden to win three consecutive editions of Classic Brugge De Panne, but does he have the fitness? He won last year’s race on the back of victory at Milan-SanRemo, but this year was dropped out of contention early in that race, apparently still suffering the aftereffects of a crash earlier in the week. Has he recovered enough to be competitive today?

120KM TO GO

The gap between the five leaders and the peloton has come down a little more, to just under two minutes. 

The five riders up the road.

After Merlier, Milan and Philipsen, Olav Kooij is probably the next best candidate for the win. The young Dutchman has three wins to his name this year, and was 2nd behind Philipsen at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. He’s also climbing very well, staying in contention to win a tough stage four at Tirreno-Adriatico, and placing eighth at Milan-SanRemo while Milan and Philipsen were dropped - not that he’ll need those climbing legs on today’s pan flat route.

110KM TO GO

The gap's holding steady at about 2 minutes, as we approach the halfway point of the race. 

100KM TO GO

Still the gap remains at about 2 minutes. That could change soon though, as we near the dangerously exposed De Moeren section.

Alexander Krstoff has got back into the peloton, having fallen back earlier to deal with a flat tyre. The Norwegian is closing in on 100 career wins, having won a 97th at Vuelta a Andalucia, and is an outside favourite to add to that tally in a race he won all the way back in 2015 back when it was the ‘3 Days of De Panne’ stage race.

90KM TO GO

The pace has increased in the peloton, and consequently the gap has dropped to 1-30. 

The peloton is all strung out as they hit the exposed roads.

2 LAPS TO GO

The break cross the finish line for the second time, their lead now steady again at about 1-30.

Like Alexander Kristoff, Arnaud Démare is also riding today on 97 career wins, hoping to move nearer to 100. He’s at last showing some form this year with multiple runner-up finishes at Etoile de Bessèges and Paris-Nice, though he’s had a tougher time lately having pulled out of Paris-Nice and Bredene Koksijde Classic.

80KM TO GO

80km to go, and the gap's still 1-30. Despite the presence of Morgado in the break, the peloton are firmly in control.

Visma-Lease a Bike still lead the peloton with Lidl-Trek and Soudal-QuickStep. Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck remain conspicuous by their absence.

70KM TO GO

The gap's creeping down some more. The leaders now have only 1-15 on the peloton.

Along with Philipsen and Merlier, Dylan Groenewegen is another former winner of Classic Brugge-De Panne riding today. His victory came 6 years ago in 2019, but hasn’t got up to speed this spring, having only once registered a top ten finish since a pair of runner-up finishes at AlUla Tour at the start of the year.

60KM TO GO

The race remains in a holding pattern, the gap still at 1-15. Will any teams attack when we reach De Moeren again in a few kilometres? Disappointedly for fans of crosswinds, the wind might not be strong enough to encourage anyone.

Vincenzo Albanese is hovering around the back of the peloton, and has some blood on his knee. It seems he must have been involved in a crash at some point?

Visma lead the peloton as they enter De Moeren, but they're bunched together rather than strung out, with no threat of splits just yet.

The 5 breakaway riders are still up the road, though don't appear to have a chance of succeeding. Will Morgado attack at some point in an attempt to stay out longer?

50KM TO GO

The gap dips to below 1 minute for the first time, as  we enter the final 50km of the stage. 

1 LAP TO GO

The leaders here the bell, as they pass the finish line for the penultimate time.

Crash in the peloton, as Bahrain-Victorious' Daniel Skerl goes down. He's back up and riding though, and seems to be the only man to fall.

Now the peloton arrive at the finish line, only just over a minute after the break. 

40KM TO GO

Just 40km to go now. The sprinters’ teams have this under control, but there could still be attacks in the peloton on this last lap.

Some new teams are getting involved at the front of the peloton - Team Lotto and Bahrain-Victorious. They have Arnaud De Lie and Phil Bauhaus respectively.

Normally De Lie would be a top favourite for a race like this, but his form is questionable having struggled for results since pulling out of the Volta ao Algarve last month. The presence of his Lotto teammates at the front suggest he might be feeling good today, however.

30KM TO GO

The gap's down to 40 seconds. It might not be that long until the catch is made. 

Jayco-AlUla have now moved to the front and are leading the peloton. They're riding for Groenewegen, who is one of the pure sprinters who could benefit from this benin weather.

Mechanical for Robin Froidevaux of Tudor Pro Cycling, who is having the issue dealt with.

Multiple teams battling for control at the front of the peloton, with Cofidis also getting involved for their young sprinter Milan Fretin.

Jayco are the team that’s most in control for now though, leading the peloton round some tight corners.

There’s more pain etched on the riders’ faces now, with the pace up.

A few riders have dropped out the back of the peloton, as the pace increases. 

20KM TO GO

The break have a mere 37 seconds on the peloton as they enter the final 20km. 

It's been a long day for the five riders out front, but one that's soon to come to an end.

Morgado attacks from the break.

Morgado was trying to follow a move from De Vries.

Morgado isn't able to get onto De Vries' wheel, and drops back to the other three.

De Vries has a gap of a few seconds over the others, and the gap's getting bigger rather than smaller.

De Vries has 8 seconds on the others. It's a surprise that it's him, rather than Morgado, who has proven the strongest of the five in the break. He still looks strong.

The peloton enters De Moeren for the last time. Will there be any attacks and/or splits?

Soudal-QuickStep are leading the peloton, with a train featuring what seems to be all 7 of their riders.

10KM TO GO

There's still 25 seconds between De Vries and the peloton, while the other breakaway riders are stranded in between. The fire has gone out of that group.

The other four riders have been caught, leaving just De Vries out there. 

For the first time, here comes Alpecin-Deceuninck at the front of the peloton. It’s going to be intriguing to see what kind of sprinting form Philipsen has.

De Vries, now the lone leader of the race. His gap's going up a bit to, to 27 seconds with only 6km left to ride. Surely he couldn't...

5KM TO GO

Just 5km to go until the finish in De Panne. The lead's come down, to 15 seconds.

CRASH

There's a crash in the peloton, with a few riders down. 

One of Philipsen's lead-out men, Juri Hollmann, is among them. But none of the sprinters were spotted.

As a result of that crash, there's been a split in the peloton.

Another crash now - three Intermarche riders are down, incuding their sprinter Gerben Thijssen.

3km to go, De Vries is still 6 seconds ahead.

De Vries has sat up, and been caught. We're going to have a sprint.

Crash near the front of the peloton, about 6 riders down.

Cofidis' sprinter Fretin is down.

That crash happened very near the front, so many sprinters may have been held up.

De Lie and Demare are also down and out of contention.

There are only 30 or so rider left in the peloton.

There's been another crash in that group of 30.

The race is in pieces.

There's about 20 riders lefr in the main group.

Molano starts his sprint very early. 

Here comes Milan...

It's a photo finish between Molano and Milan at the line...

MOLANO WINS

Molano has been confirmed as the winner!

Milan was second, Mihkels in third. 

It’s hard to overstate just how messy a sprint that was. Those 2 late crashes left barely any riders left in contention at the end.

 Loads of top favourites were held up, including Merlier and Philipsen.

Kooij was also held up, and is slowly making his way to the finish, looking battered and bruised.

Molano took advantage of the mess to make his move early, and Milan was not quite able to catch him in time.

Milan came flying through at the end, and would have won were the finish line just a few metres later.

Credit to Molano, who took the initiative with a great move with a long sprint, which turned out to be perfectly well-timed and caught Milan and co. off guard.

Only about 20 riders were left in the peloton for the sprint, the rest all having been held up by the crashes. Most didn't go down, but they occured so close to the front that splits were caused. 

This is the biggest one-day winner of Molano’s career. The 30-year-old has won a couple of Vuelta stages in the past, but never a classic before of this calibre.

Thanks for joining us today, for a race that will, unfortunately, be most remembered for those late crashes. We await to hear what the damage is in the peloton. 

We’ll be back in Belgium on Friday for the latest instalment of Holy Week - E3 Harelbeke. With Wout van Aert returning to take on Mathieu van der Poel, It promises to be a good one!