March 30, 2025
Although not considered a Monument, Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields is Monument distance with prestige almost on par. The 250KM route starts in Ypres under the Menin Gate and traverses West Flanders through the countless cemeteries of the First World War. A passage through De Moeren with 150KM to go will take the riders towards the hill zone of the Scherpenberg, Baneberg, Monteberg, and Kemmelberg. After those climbs, the route continues South East into Wallonie to take on the three gravel sectors of Hill 63, Christmas Truce, and the Catacombs, all within about 10KM. The hills then come back, all repeated again, this time with two climbs of the Kemmelberg before a 34KM run to Wevelgem for the finish.
It was a bright but cool morning for the sign-on in the Grote Markt in Ypres. Nine riders got away including Rui Oliveira of UAE-XRG, Max Walker of EF-Education EasyPost, Sam Maisonobe of Cofidis, Jasha Sütterlin of Jayco AlUla, Emils Liepins of Q36.5, Victor Vercouillie of Flanders-Baloise, Marco Haller of Tudor Pro Cycling, and Samuel Leroux and Alexys Brunel of TotalEnergies. They had a gap of over 4 minutes but when the peloton hit De Moeren, it split into pieces with the crosswind blowing across the road. With 120KM to go, the gap was 1 minute 30 seconds as the peloton was just regrouping behind. The wind continued to blow and broke the peloton apart again with 110KM to go. Only about 50 riders were still at the front with 100KM to go. The break hit the Baneberg 5 kilometers later with a gap of 24 seconds to Victor Campenaerts of Visma-Lease a Bike and Johan Jacobs of Groupama-FDJ who attacked from the bunch just before the climb. The peloton, which had partially regrouped to at east 80 riders, followed about 1 minute later. As the front group reached the giant Lijstermolen at the top, Campenaerts had joined them to make 10 but Jacobs dropped away to the peloton behind.
The break went over the Monteberg and started the Kemmelberg from the longer but less steep Belvedère side at 87KM to go, 1 minute 35 seconds ahead of the peloton. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Lidl-Trek were the ones to make the climb hard, and by the bottom, there were groups everywhere. A split of 13 riders got clear but the situation was constantly changing. Pre-race favorites Biniam Girmay of Intermarché-Wanty, Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck, and Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek were all present near the front.
The break started the ploegstreet segment of Hill 63 at 74KM to go. They still had a gap of 50 seconds to peloton which had swelled to at least 40 riders with another group of comparable size only 10 seconds behind. Japser Philipsen, Arjen Livyns of Lotto, and Olav Kooij of Visma-Lease a Bike followed an attack by Pedersen near the end of the segment in a heavy cross wind. Philipsen flatted out of the group and Kooij crashed out, leaving Pedersen and Livyns off the front of a sizeable peloton. Gaps stabilized through the Christmas Truce and the final ploegstreet segment of the Catacombs. From the original break, only Oliveira, Walker, Brunel, and Haller remained, with Campenaerts there as well. Pedersen and Livyns caught the five leaders and brought Maisonobe and Liepins back to the group to make nine once more with 64KM to go and a gap of 53 seconds.
Pedersen exploded the lead group on the second ascent of the Kemmelberg and went solo. Campenaerts, Haller, and Livyns were chasing while the peloton was knitting itself back together on the flat roads heading towards the Scherpenberg. With 50KM to go, Pedersen had 20 seconds on the three chasers and 1 minute on the bunch of around 65 riders which was being pulled along by Alpecin-Deceuninck. Pedersen consolidated his lead to 40 seconds on the chase and 90 seconds to the peloton at the start of the Baneberg with 41KM to go. The race went up and over the Baneberg to the Kemmelberg for the final time and Pedersen continued to extend his gap, now 2 minutes on the peloton which was being heavily marked and weighed down by Lidl-Trek.
The peloton was trimmed over the top of the Kemmelberg but a large enough group was still present to organize a chase if the desire was there. Lidl-Trek continued to disrupt however and the fight seemed to go out. Haller, Campenaerts, and Livyns were caught with 25KM to go as they approached Ypres on their way to Wevelgem. The lead for Pedersen was 90 seconds as he passed Lakenhalle, home of the In Flanders Fields Museum. Alpecin-Deceuninck finally got some help from Soudal Quickstep and Uno-X Mobility but the route swung into a tailwind which increased the speed and made it impossible to catch the Dane. Pedersen completed his 74KM attack, 55 of which were solo, by crossing the finish line in Wevelgem for his second win in a row and the third of his career, matching Peter Sagan, Tom Boonen, Mario Cipollini, Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy, and Robert Van Eenaeme for the most all-time. In the race for second, Lidl-Trek set up their lead out and were best placed with 300M to go. Jonathan Milan went long at 250M but it was Tim Merlier of Soudal Quickstep who took second with a bike throw to Milan in third.