At it happened: Gent-Wevelgem Men decided by long-range solo attack

Hello and welcome to the 2025 Gent-Wevelgem!

Just two days after Friday's battle at E3 Saxo Classic, it’s time for another major cobbled classic - Gent Wevelgem.

Mathieu van der Poel won two days ago with yet another unstoppable long-range attack, the kind of which has become so familiar in recent years, but in his absence there will be a different winner today.

Last spring, this was the one spring cobbled Van der Poel competed in that he did not win, as Mads Pedersen pipped him to the line in Wevelgem. The Dane returns to defend his title this year and is the favourite for the win, leading a strong Lidl-Trek line-up that also features Jonathan Milan and Jasper Stuyven.

While races like E3 Saxo Classic have felt a little formulaic recently, the strongest rider simply riding away from everyone early on to take the win, Gent-Wevelgem remains thrillingly unpredictable. Its balance of tough climbs early on and a long flat finishing straight, plus the destabilising effect the weather can have here, keeps multiple riders in contention for the win, and it’s one of the hardest races of the spring to call - and therefore often one of the most exciting.

Talking of the weather - here’s what things looked like at the start in Ypres earlier this morning. Blue skies with no sign of rain, though there is a bit of wind in the air.

The riders have rolled through the unofficial start and will be racing properly soon.

Here they are in the neutralised zone.

250KM TO GO

And they're off!

The attacks start straight away with Jules Hesters of Team Flanders-Baloise having a go.

More attackers follow suit, but they've all been brought back.

More attacks have been made but nothing's stuck yet.

240KM TO GO

4 riders are currently up the road, but there lead is only about 10 seconds.

Those four riders are:

Sam Maisonobe (Cofidis), Jasha Sütterlin (Jayco-AlUla) Marco Haller (Tudor Pro Cycling) and William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility).

Four more riders are in pursuit of them: Max Walker, Victor Vercouillie, Samuel Leroux and Alexys Brunel. 

That chasing four have been joined by a fifth rider - Rui Oliveira of UAE Team Emirates-XRG

Both groups have some daylight between themselves and the peloton, of at least 30 seconds.

Not everyone’s happy yet, though - Ludovic Robert of Cofidis has jumped out of the peloton to try and join them.

The five chasers are only about 10 seconds away from the four leaders. They should join them to form a big lead group soon.

230KM TO GO

Meanwhile the peloton is a minute behind. It appears these riders should be able to stay out.

The five chasers have indeed joined the four riders. Ludovic Robert is not among them, however, having been brought back into the peloton.

Here's a full list of the nine-man break:

Sam Maisonobe (Cofidis)

Jasha Sütterlin (Jayco-AlUla)

Marco Haller (Tudor Pro Cycling)

William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility)

Max Walker (EF Education-EasyPost)

Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise)

Samuel Leroux (Total Energies)

Alexys Brunel (Total Energies) 

Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

Over 2 minutes for those 9 riders now. This is indeed the break of the day.

220KM TO GO

3 minutes now for the breakaway. The race has settled down.

It’s interesting to see UAE Team Emirates represented in the break with UAE Team Emirates. They’re one of the few top teams whose strength today lies in their attackers rather than sprinters, so may want a hard race - as evidenced by getting Oliveira into the break.

That said, Juan Sebastián Molano did win Classic Brugge-De Panne on Wednesday, so could fancy his chances in a sprint.

A correction - it’s not William Blume Levy (Uno-X Mobility) who is in the break, but Emīls Liepiņš (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team).

Lidl-Trek is the team pulling at the front of the peloton. They’re embracing their status as race favourites - a rarity for them in the classics.

Whereas UAE Team Emirates, Visma-Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck have left behind their respective star men Tadej Pogačar, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, Lidl-Trek have brought all of their leaders. 

Not only is defending champion Mads Pedersen here, they also have Jonathan Milan for a sprint, and Jasper Stuyven either as a wildcard or super-domestique. Even the rest of their domestique line-up features the very strong Matthias Vacek and Toms Skujiņš. While other teams are resting up for the Tour of Flanders, they’re going all in for this one.

210KM TO GO

The gap between the peloton and the nine riders has grown some more, to 3-30.

A first look at the nine riders up the road.

While Pedersen is the bookies’ favourite, that status might have gone to Jasper Philipsen were it not for his involvement in a couple of crashes recently. The Belgian started the classics season on fire, winning Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne having the day before been one of the best on the Muur to finish third at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but was underpar at Milan-SanRemo after hurting himself in a crash a few days before at Nokere Koerse. 

We still don’t know how well he has recovered from that crash, as he was prevented from sprinting at the end of Classic Brugge-De Panne after getting held up in one of the several late crashes that marred the finish of that race. But if he is in form, this is a race that’s perfect for him.

200KM TO GO

We're a fifth of the way into the race, and the gap remains about the same as it has for a while at 3-20.

Things are calm in the peloton for now. There's no adverse weather to complicate matters.

As well as Milan and Philipsen, the world’s other fastest sprinter is also here - Tim Merlier. The Belgian has already won 6 times this year, and has proved himself capable of dealing with this race’s climbs with a couple of top ten finishes here in the past. 

But is he fully fit after hitting the deck at the end of Wednesday’s Classic Brugge-De Panne? And will the effort of getting over the climbs take too much out of his finishing sprint?

190KM TO GO

It's as you were, the gap still at about 3-20.

One sprinter who might fancy his chances of winning even if up against Philipsen, Milan and Merlier is Olav Kooij. While he hasn’t gotten the better of them to take a win in a sprint against them this year, he has been climbing very well, as evidenced by Milan-San Remo, where he survived the Poggio and Cipressa while Philipsen and Milan were dropped. Such climbing superiority could give him the edge today, in the event that a more select group makes it to the finish to contest for the win.

180KM TO GO

The gap's still at 3-30. We're still in the slow, gradual wearing down process of the race, before we reach the cobblestones and climbs that will liven things up later.

The peloton, being led by Lidl-Trek.

Elsewhere in Europe it’s the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya, which is turning out to be a thrillingly close battle for the overall victory. You can follow along here.

170KM TO GO

The gap's grown to just shy of 4 minutes, the highest it's been all day.

Another glimpse of the peloton, where things remain calm for now.

Although most of the favourites for the win today are sprinters, Gent-Wevelgem hasn’t actually been decided by a sprint from a group larger than seven riders since 2019. So should we perhaps be looking at attackers to win the race, rather than sprinters?

One such rider is Tim Wellens. The Belgian has been one of the strongest riders this spring campaign, finishing third at Strade Bianche, and making the select group behind Van der Poel, Pedersen and Ganna at E3 Saxo Classic. He’ll also enjoy leadership status at UAE Team Emirates today, in the absence of Tadej Pogačar.

There are a couple of abandonments to report - Sven Erik Bystrøm (Groupama-FDJ) and Thomas Gachignard (Total Energies).

Jasper Philipsen has had a mechanical. Here he is getting it sorted.

160KM TO GO

The gap remains steady, at just beneath 4 minutes.

Philipsen's teammate Gianni Vermeersch has also had a flat. Thankfully for him it's much too early and too calm for it to matter.

Things might start to wake up now as the race enters the posed De Moeren road. If the wind blows enough, there could be action.

150KM TO GO

The pace is up a little bit, to bring the gap to the leaders down to 3-30.

The wind is blowing, and we have echelons!

There are splits in the peloton, with significant gaps growing between them.

The front peloton only has about 30 riders in it. Lidl-Trek are happy with it's make-up, and are pushing on at the front.

Now four riders have gone clear from the rest of that front peloton - including Mads Pedersen!

Pedersen is also with Huge Page (Intermarché-Wanty), Stefan Bissegger (Decatlon- AG2R La Mondiale) and Clément Russo (Groupama-FDJ)

140KM TO GO

The break's lead is tumbling amid all this action, down to not much more than two minutes.

BEAUVOORDESTRAAT

Time for the first cobbled sector of the race: Beauvoordestraat.

Pedersen and the other three have been brought back.

VEURNESTRAAT

They're on the cobbles again, this time for the Veurnestraat section.

As well as Lidl-Trek, Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe are well represented in the front peloton.

It seems Philipsen and Merlier are among the riders not to have made this front peloton.

Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) has gone down in a crash.

Ahead of all the action in the pelotons, the nine riders from the day's break still leads the race - albeit by a much-reduced margin of 1-40.

130KM TO GO

There are about 20 seconds between the front peloton and the second peloton containing Philipsen and Merlier. The leading 9 are 1-40 ahead.

The race is still in pieces, with the front peloton trailed by several groups. Philipsen and Merlier are in the first chase group behind the peloton, while Arnaud De Lie and Søren Wærenskjold are further adrift in another group.

The Philipsen and Merlier group have just rejoined the front peloton.

Philipsen's teammate Gianni Vermeersch isn't with them though - he's had a mechanical.

The group containing Søren Wærenskjold and Arnaud De Lie are still 1-15 behind the peloton.

Vermeersch is now in the De Lie group.

Visma-Lease a Bike are pressing on at the front of the peloton, trying to cause more splits.

Lidl-Trek also involved. The peloton is strained and might be about to break up again.

110KM TO GO

All this is seeing the gap to the leaders tumble down yet more. It's now a 47 seconds. 

It also looks over for the De Lie group. They're almost 2 minutes down now.

Splits are indeed materialising again.

Two separate groups have been distanced by the front peloton.

It seems most of the top favourites are in this front peloton - Pedersen, Milan, Wellens, Girmay, Philipsen, Kooij.

Tim Merlier is missing though - he's in one of the trailing groups.

As is Philipsen! He is not in the lead peloton after all.

Philipsen and Merlier are about 12 seconds adrift from the group of favourites.

Nils Politt and Yves Lampaert are also in the Philipsen/Merlier group.

SCHERPENBERG

The race is about to get hard in a whole different way now The break has just started the Scherpenberg, the first of the day's nine climbs.

Panic over for Merlier and Philipsen - they're group has rejoined the front peloton.

Attack from Johan Jacobs out of the peloton.

Camapanaerts has attacked too, and has caught Jacobs.

Further back, Arnaud De Lie has given up the ghost and abandoned the race. 

100KM TO GO

The peloton is now just 32 seconds behind the leaders, with Camapanaerts and Jacobs somewhere in between.

It's all calmed down again in the peloton The 50 or so riders left in have all bunched together. 

Here was Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike piling the pressure on earlier. 

There's been a crash in the peloton going around a corner. Jordi Meeus, Juan Sebastián Molano and Matteo Trentin are among the fallers. 

They're all back up, but having to chase back.

Tosh Van der Sande also fell, but has just joined the peloton along with Trentin.

Campanaerts and Jacobs have built a decent lead, of about 35 seconds on the peoton.

BANEBERG

They're climbing the seconds ascent of the day, the Baneberg.

Campanaerts has dropped Jacobs on the climb. He had been struggling to keep the Belgian's wheel.

Campanaerts has joined the front group.

Things have definitely calmed down in the peloton. They've allowed the break's lead to grow back up to 1-30.

Here's the echelon action earlier - always a beautiful sight for racing lovers!

Having deen dropped by Campanaerts, Jacobs is back in the peloton.

90KM TO GO

The gap between the 10 leaders and the peloton is 1-30. The latter is growing in size, as riders dropped earlier take advantage of the slowing pace to rejoin it.

MONTEBERG

They're climbing the Monteberg, but no team in the peloton is taking it on for now.

KEMMELBERG

Time for Gent-Wevelgem's most famous climb - the Kemmelberg. The break has just started climbing its steep cobbled gradients, the first of three times they will tackle it today. 

Now the peloton are on the Kemmelberg, led by Lidl and Red Bull.

Mads Pedersen leads them over the climb, with Red Bull's Pithie on his wheel. 

They ane nine other riders have a small gap, but it looks like it'll come back together on the descent.

Another DNF to report - Vincenzo Albanese.

More have joined the leading 11, but there are still splits yet to heal.

Mohorič is one of the riders dropped. He's still struggling, for what has been a tough spring.

About 10 riders have managed to get a gap ahead of the other pelotons - Girmay, Florian Vermeersch, Benoot and Skujiņš are present.

These aren't the riders who went over the Kemmelberg first, but a different group that slipped clear after its descent. 

Ballerini, Segaert, Turner, Bissegger, Wright and Rex are also in this group.

 Vercouillie from the day's break is about to be caught by this group, having been dropped by the rest of the break on the Kemmelberg.

The group containing Girmay that slipped clear has just got a lot bigger, as another group rejoin it.

The riders are approaching the Plugstreets dirt road sections. Here, homage is paid to the many soldiers who so tragically and needlessly lost their lives during World War One.

There appears to be around 40 or 50 riders in the peloton as they ride the first gravel road sector.

The break is splitting on this sector. 

Attack from Mads Pedersen!

Philipsen and Kooij are following him, but Girmay can't follow.

But now Philipsen's been dropped, due to a puncture.

It's terrible timing for Philipsen. It's going to take a long time for his team car to get to him on this section.

Kooij has also had a mechanical - he's sat on the roadside waiting. 

Actually, Kooij has crashed rather than had a mechanical. That must be race over for him.

That leaves just one rider with Pedersen - Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto).

70KM TO GO

That pair are 42 seconds behind the leaders, and abbout 5 or so seconds ahead of the peloton as they take on the second Plugstreet.

Correction - it's not Jenno Berckmoes who's with Pedersen, but Arjen Livyns.

That pair are now 15 seconds ahead of the peloton, being led by Visma-Lease a Bike as they enter the third and final Plugstreet.

Wheel change needed for Bjerg.

The peloton is still large, with about 60 riders. They're over 30 seconds behind Pedersen and Livyns, who have caught some of those dropped from the break.

Philipsen is still not in the peloton - he's just managed to change bikes.

He's not far behind though and looks set to rejoin.

Philipsen is indeed back in the peloton.

Here's Mads Pedersen leading the peloton over the Kemmelberg. Even before his Plugstreet attack he was at the front and looking on fire. 

Pedersen, Livyns and the dropped riders have joined the front group.

Olav Kooij has abandoned the race following his crash.

60KM TO GO

There's one minute between the leading nine and the peloton. It's a big gap, which means Pedersen will likely want to commit to it - but will he receive any help from the others?

There are still five more climbs to be taken on starting with the Monteberg.

Alpecin-Deceuninck are leading the peloton, for Jasper Philipsen.

MONTEBERG

The break are climbing, and it's not Pedersen but Brunel who is leading them.

That climb has reduced the lead group to 6 riders - Pedersen, Livyns, Brunel, Campanaerts, Oliveira and Walker .

KEMMELBERG

They're climbing the Kemmelberg again, and it's Campanaerts who leads.

Campanaerts has gone deep on this one, and is taking just Pedersen, Livyns and Haller with him.

Pedersen accelerates!

He's dropped the other 3 over the top, but not by much.

Meanwhile Ineos lead the peloton on the climb.

Jorgenson is attacking in the peloton.

Jorgenson reaches the top with one other rider, and a gap of only a few seconds over the following riders. Philipen and Girmay are up there, in about 7th and 8th.

Emīls Liepiņš is the rider with Jorgenson, having been dropped from the break. Unsurprisingly, he's struggling to hold on.

Pedersen does not want to wait for the others He's built a lead of 15 seconds.

Pedersen has looked sensational all spring, but winning from this position and holding off the peloton riding solo for the remaining 50 kilometres is a huge ask even for him.

There's been a split in the peloton.

Alpecin are the team leading the front peloton.

50KM TO GO

Pedersen is 20 seconds ahead of the three chasers, and exactly one minute ahead of the front peloton.

Brunel, Walker and Maisonobe are about to be caught by the peloton.

The peloton has come back together again. There appears to be about 60 riders present in it.

SCHERPENBERG

Pedersen's started the Scherpenberg again, the third-to-last ascent of the day.

Crucially, Pedersen’s teammates Milan and Stuyven are still in the peloton. They’ll get an armchair ride, and give licence for Pedersen to go all in on this move, in the knowledge that they can take over should he be caught. Lidl are in a great position here.

Pedersen is growing his lead. He's 1-30 ahead of the peloton, and 27 seconds ahead of the chasers.

Alpecin aren't getting any help from the other teams. Lidl-Trek have placed their man Kirsch on 2nd wheel, to disrupt the chase. 

In fact there are 4 Lidl riders all swarmed behind the Alpecin rider. They're letting their superior numbers be known.

Dries De Bondt has attacked out of the peloton.

BANEBERG

Pedersen starts the day's penultimate climb, his lead over the chasers 38 seconds, and over the peloton, 1-27.

40KM TO GO

Pedersen crests the climb with his lead extended, up to 50 seconds on the chasing trio and 1-37 on the peloton.

Michael Matthews is being dropped out of the peloton on the Baneberg.

Madouas is attacking on the climb, Jorgenson following.

Still Pedersen's lead grows. He's now over a minute up on the chasers, and 1-50 on the peloton.

Madouas and Jorgenson were unable to go clear with their attacks. De Bondt is still out there though.

KEMMELBERG

Pedersen is about to begin the Kemmelberg for the final time. This is a crucial time in the race - how big will his lead be over the top? And can a select group go clear of the peloton?

Pedersen is still looking good as he battles up the cobbles.

He crests the climb, his lead at 1-27 over the chasers and 2-02 over the peloton. It's grown bigger!

Bjerg leads the peloton on the steep section of the climb.

Philipsen now takes over at the front.

Philipsen reaches the top first, Florian Vermeersch with him.

The peloton hasn't split up, though. It should be a large group that forms after the descent.

There are still some small gaps in the peloton, but it looks like they're about to form into a group of about 50.

Sprinters Philipsen, Milan and Merlier are all still there.

30KM TO GO

Pedersen leads the chasing Campanaert, Livyns and Haller by 1-36, and the peloton by 1-54.

There’s a notable lack of cohesion in the peloton. They aren’t working together. 

A UAE rider's attacked out the peloton, but is marked by Philipsen and a Lidl rider. This is why Lidl's strength in numbers is so important - they can destabilise any attempt to chase their man Pedersen.

Campanaerts, Livyns and Haller have been caught by the peloton.

Despite the disorganisation, Pedersen's lead has come down a bit, to 1-30. Is he starting to tire?

It’d be understandable if Pedersen was tiring - not only has he put in a huge effort with his long-range move today he also went deep just two days ago to place third at E3 Saxo Classic.

20KM TO GO

Pedersen's retaining his lead though - it remains at 1-30, with 20 left to ride. 

Alpecin are receiving help in the peloton now, from Soudal-QuickStep, Uno-X and Decathlon-AG2R. Their sprinters Merlier, Kristoff and Bennett are all present.

EF are also riding. We can assume that Madis Mihkels has made it into this peloton, as their other sprint option Albanese abandoned earlier. 

What a ride this is by Pedersen. Remember, he first went clear from the rest of the peloton on the Plugstreets, about 70km from the finish. 

If Pedersen can hold on, this will be his third career Gent-Wevelgem title - bringing him level with Tom Boonen, Peter Sagan, Mario Cipollini, Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy and Robert Van Eenaeme on the all-time list.

10KM TO GO

And it's still looking good for Pedersen. His lead as he enters the final 10km is 1-25.

This was the moment Pedersen went clear on the Plugstreet, with Arjen Livyns. He did initially have Philipsen and Kooij with him, before the former punctured and the latter crashed. It might have been a very different race had they not suffered those misfortunes.

Pedersen's leads's come down a bit, but not much. It's down to 1-15, with 7km to go.

5KM TO GO

This is Pedersen's to lose. With just 5km left, he leads by 1-15.

Uno-X and Soudal-QuickStep have taken the initiative over Alpecin-Deceuninck in the chase, but their work isn't enough to close the gap.

Pedersen's under the 3km to go banner. He's nearly there!

Jorgenson moves to the front of the peloton, but hasn't managed to go clear.

1KM TO GO

Pedersen's under the Flamme Rouge.

MADS PEDERSEN WINS

Pedersen crosses the line and celebrates!

Here comes the peloton, sprinting for the podium spots.

Stuyven leads out Milan, Lidl are looking for a one-two

Photo finish between Milan and Merlier.

Merlier was ahead and finishes second, Milan in third.

One rider notably missing from the top ten is Jasper Philipsen. His Alpecin team stopped working towards the end of the chase, having done the work earlier. Perhaps he realised that he would not have the legs in the sprint.

Some more records: Pedersen becomes the first man since Tom Boonen in 2012 to defend his Gent-Wevelgem title.

He's also the first solo winner of the men's Gent-Wevelgem since Luca Paolini in 2015.

Even more remarkably, you have to go all the way back to 1978 for the last time a rider won Gent-Wevelgem with a winning margin larger than Pedersen's of 49 seconds today.

It’s not just the size of the margin that’s so impressive, but the manner in which Pedersen won. He made his first attack a whole 72km from the finish, then spent no less than 56km out front all on his own after attacking the penultimate time on the Kemmelberg. That’s unheard of in recent years at Gent-Wevelgem.

It’s also the 50th win of Pedersen’s career - and arguably his best. It’s not as prestigious as his Worlds title from 2019, but so impressive in his boldness, display of strength and dominance.

Credit must also go to Merlier and Milan in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Those are career-best results at this race for both, and proof that they can survive the cobbled climbs as well as sprint fast.

The action is still going on in the women’s Gent-Wevelgem, which you can follow here.

Thanks for joining us today for what was a sensational win from Mads Pedersen. We'll be back on Wednesday for Dwars door Vlaanderen, before the big one on Sunday - the Tour of Flanders.