Gent-Wevelgem 2023
Latest News from the Race
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Biniam Girmay blames poor Gent-Wevelgem on forgetting to eat
2022 winner will make Tour of Flanders debut on his 23rd birthday -
Savage, sodden and severe - Inside the 2023 Gent-Wevelgem
Striking photography from a unique edition of an enduring Classic -
Fabian Cancellara's Classics Column: Give Van Aert an Oscar but that was too easy
Our expert analyst dissects Gent-Wevelgem and criticises the lack of an organised chase
Date | March 26, 2023 |
Start location | Ypres |
Finish location | Wevelgem |
Distance | 260.9km |
Category | UCI WorldTour |
Previous edition | 2022 Gent-Wevelgem |
2023 Gent-Wevelgem Winner | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Jumbo-Visma) |
In a near-repeat of last year's E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Jumbo-Visma duo Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte escaped from the peloton and rode away to victory in the 2023 Gent-Wevelgem.
In the E3 Classic in 2022, it was the Paterberg with 40km to go where Van Aert instigated the attack and waited for Laporte to join him. In 2023's Gent-Wevelgem, it was the Kemmelberg with 50km to go.
It was the same tactic but with a slightly different result, with Van Aert crossing the line to win E3 last year and then gifting Laporte the Gent-Wevelgem victory this season.
Van Aert's gesture was criticized by three Belgian legends Eddy Merckx, Tom Boonen and Johan Museeuw, who said Van Aert would regret the hole in his palmares in the future.
Gent-Wevelgem held its 75th instalment as a historic Flandrien Classic on March 26, 2023. The WorldTour event is the second stop for 'Flemish Holy Week’ part of the Spring Classics, which begins at E3 Saxo Bank Classic two days before and is followed by Dwars door Vlaanderen and then Tour of Flanders.
Gent-Wevelgem rolls through Flanders Fields for the peloton, an area forever entwined with the First World War, to which the race pays homage to the victims of the ‘Great War’ each year.
Often harsh weather conditions, especially wind and rain, create havoc with the peloton before the finish, which culminates just beyond the final climb of the lung-busting cobbled Kemmelberg. Recent modifications to the course have added more climbs and made the race more closely resemble the Tour of Flanders.
The race finishes in Wevelgem but does not start in Gent. It used to start on the outskirts, in Deinze, but now starts west in the centre of Ypres. The race takes riders north through windswept De Moeren and over to the North Sea coast, rather than through the main Flemish Ardennes. It also includes some climbs in the very west of Flanders, the iconic and decisive one being the Kemmelberg. Reduced bunch sprints or small breakaways tend to contest for the victory.
Full details of the 2023 Gent-Wevelgem route
Gent-Wevelgem 2023 Start List
The men’s race was first held in 1934, while a women’s race has been added to the calendar in 2012. Six riders share the prestige of having won the race three times, the most recent addition to the list was in 2018 when Peter Sagan took his third title, which was also a record with a sixth podium.
Also in the three-time victory club are Belgians Robert Van Eenaeme, Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx and Tom Boonen, Italian Mario Cipollini. In recent years, strong sprinters like Alexander Kristoff (2019), Mads Pedersen (2020) and Wout van Aert (2021) have emerged from front selections to score victories.
Last year, Eritrean rider Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) outsprinted Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) in the final 250 metres on Vanackerestraat for the biggest win of his young career. The 21-year-old was part of a four-rider lead group that formed across the final ascent of the Kemmelberg, with Dries van Gestel (TotalEnergies) taking third ahead of Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo).
Girmay’s achievement gave him a place in the record books as the first African champion of the cobbled Classic.
Gent-Wevelgem History
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Races
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Gent-Wevelgem 202326 March 2023 | Gent | WorldTour
Latest Content on the Race
Biniam Girmay blames poor Gent-Wevelgem on forgetting to eat
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
news 2022 winner will make Tour of Flanders debut on his 23rd birthday
Fabian Cancellara's Classics Column: Give Van Aert an Oscar but that was too easy
By Fabian Cancellara published
Analysis Our expert analyst dissects Gent-Wevelgem and criticises the lack of an organised chase
Eddy Merckx critical of Van Aert’s Gent-Wevelgem gift: ‘I wouldn’t have done it’
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
news Johan Museeuw: ‘In 15 years time, Wout might regret this’
Chapman, Ganna and Kwiatkowski among injured at crash-heavy Gent-Wevelgem
By Simone Giuliani published
News Chapman fractures sacrum and suffers from concussion, Ganna has swollen knee and Kwiatkowski skin off
Sep Vanmarcke finds what he had been missing at Gent-Wevelgem
By Barry Ryan, Patrick Fletcher published
News ‘If you can finish third in today’s conditions, you can get a good result in Flanders’
Christophe Laporte: I didn't waste time at Cofidis but I made a great career choice
By Patrick Fletcher published
News 'It was a dream of mine - like winning a stage of the Tour de France - to win a Classic, and I've done it now, thanks to the team and thanks to Wout' says Gent-Wevelgem winner
Top News on the Race
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'We're always going to be a Classics team' – Soudal-QuickStep's troubles continue at Gent-Wevelgem
Team playing catch-up as Tour of Flanders approaches -
Christophe Laporte: I didn't waste time at Cofidis but I made a great career choice
'It was a dream of mine - like winning a stage of the Tour de France - to win a Classic, and I've done it now, thanks to the team and thanks to Wout' says Gent-Wevelgem winner -
'It's almost hard to believe we did it again' – Another procession for Van Aert and Laporte at Gent-Wevelgem
Belgian yields victory to Jumbo-Visma teammate after 55km two-up effort
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Ewan joins De Lie at Gent-Wevelgem with the 'mindset of winning'
Lotto-Dstny, Soudal-QuickStep and Jumbo-Visma field twin sprint options -
Molano hit head-on by driver, ruled out of Gent-Wevelgem
Colombian suffers concussion and broken toe but lucky it wasn't worse after being wiped out in training -
Patrick Lefevere: My lunch was the only good thing about E3
Soudal-QuickStep boss rues another disappointing Classics outing for his team
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Tom Pidock cleared to race after recovering from concussion
Yorkshireman misses E3 Saxo Classic as Ganna leads after Milan-San Remo breakthrough performance
Related Features
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Savage, sodden and severe - Inside the 2023 Gent-Wevelgem
Striking photography from a unique edition of an enduring Classic -
Fabian Cancellara's Classics Column: Give Van Aert an Oscar but that was too easy
Our expert analyst dissects Gent-Wevelgem and criticises the lack of an organised chase -
What is the Kemmelberg? Inside the key climb of Gent-Wevelgem
The war-torn history and brutality of the steep cobbled climb in West Flanders -
The favourites of the cobbled classics - Van der Poel, Van Aert, Pogacar primed for the road to Roubaix
A glance at the men's peloton's rocky road to Flanders and Roubaix