Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 2025

September 19, 2025 The Belgian road calendar is winding down with only a few more appointments before the season wraps up. In true kermesse fashion, the race around Koolskamp is a 14.5KM circuit taken on 12 times for a total of 180KM. There is hardly a bump on the road but the ten corners on each lap and subsequent accelerations after will hurt the legs for anyone sitting at the back. The expectation is for a bunch sprint so there will likely be another sprinter adding their name to the list 108 other previous winners of the illustrious Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen. It was unseasonably warm in Koolskamp at 25C (77F) but it brought out the crowds for the festival atmosphere. People were milling about the frite and beer trucks and placing bets on their favorite rider. After sign-on, the town crier rang his bell to send the race on its way. A break did establish with six riders including Jensen Plowright of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Oliver Stockwell of Bahrain Victorious, Martijn Tusveld of BEAT Cycling, Gavin Hlady of EF-Education Aevolo, Jelle Vermoote of Wagner-Bazin WB, and Born De Dobbelaere of VDM-Trawobo. When they came through for 4 laps, Vermoote and De Dobbelaere had been distanced, leaving four at the front with a lead of 3 minutes 20 seconds. Soudal Quickstep, Lidl-Trek, Tudor Pro Cycling, and Visma-Lease a Bike all had riders contributing to the chase. The wind speed increased throughout the day and it started to cause trouble at the back of the peloton. A touch of wheels and a crash saw at least five riders hit the floor including Milan Fretin who was the best bet for Cofidis to get a result. The wind calmed slightly and the riders settled back into a steady chase. From 50KM to go to 25KM, the gap dropped from 2 minutes 40 seconds down to just 20 seconds and the catch was made with 22KM to go. Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quickstep did their best to keep the pace quick and strung out but the bunch swelled forward and packed the front through 1 lap to go. On a narrow road with a cross head wind at 11.5KM to go, the bunch slowed and Joot Nat of BEAT Cycling sent a flyer. He never got more than 100M off the front and was caught 2KM later. From 6KM to go, every corner was fought for like it was the finish line. All of the corners split up the lead out trains and with 3KM to go, no team had more than three riders together. The last 2.5KM were on a wide and relatively straight road which is where teams took the opportunity to come together and get to the front. The problem though was that every team had the same idea which made it nearly impossible to get organized. Under 1KM to go, Uno-X Mobility and Jayco AlUla were leading the way. The sprint opened up with 200M to go by Dylan Groenewegen from Jayco AlUla with Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek and Tim Merlier of Soudal Quickstep sitting behind. Groenewegen did the perfect sprint and straight-lined the gently weaving road but when Groenewegen moved from left to right, the door opened up for Milan who blasted through and took the win with his bike throw. It was the best sprint we have seen from Groenewegen in a long time but it was only second best on the day. Merlier was able to grab the final podium spot for third place.