March 25, 2026
Formerly known as the Three Days of De Panne, Three Days of Bruges-De Panne, and, more recently, Classic Brugge-De Panne, the race has been rebranded as the Ronde Van Brugge-Tour of Bruges for 2026. The race will also be on a new course after years of crash-marred finishes, something people have been calling for for a long time, especially since the race holds a World Tour status. The first edition of the new format will mostly be ridden on a 58 kilometer circuit after a 45 kilometer loop to the South of Bruges. The only elevation gain in the 203 kilometer race is from a rounding error in the gpx file. The course is completely flat and looks, on paper at least, to be a bit safer with wider roads and less traffic furniture to contend with. The circuit is a counter-clockwise loop with the last few kilometers heading South into Bruges with the finish on the wide ring road that circumnavigates the city. The finale feels less like a Belgian kermesse and more like a Grand Tour sprint finish which is probably a good thing.
Highlighted Riders: Juan Sebastián Molano, Jasper Philipsen, Phil Bauhaus, Cees Bol, Luke Lamperti, Matteo Milan, Orluis Aular, Laurenz Rex, Hugo Hofstetter, Oded Kogut, Pavel Bittner, Amaury Capiot, Erlend Blikra, Max Kanter, Milan Fretin, Luca Mozzato, Dylan Groenewegen, Emilien Jeannière
Race Summary
It was a cold start in terms of temperature but the speed was quick when the flag dropped. The bunch split and reformed on multiple occasions early in the race. No break was established and with 94KM to go, the peloton had reformed and were all together. Nerves were unsettled however and Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Premier Tech, and Uno-X Mobility were visible at the front, waiting for something to happen. With 87 kilometers to go, the wind started blowing across the left shoulder of the riders and those at the back of the peloton were put into the gutter.
Ineos and UAE-XRG got involved in the echelons which split the front group to only around 40 riders with 80 kilometers to go. Wind continued to blow and the race was split in more than ten distinct groups. The front was whittled down to just 15 riders as the rotation only covered half the road width and it was impossible to work out which sprinters were in which group. When the riders swung to the North, they hit a head wind which allowed the front group to grow back around 40 riders. At this point, Dylan Groenewegen of Unibet Rose Rockets, Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech, Luke Lamperti of EF-Education EasyPost, Juan Sebastián Molano of UAE-XRG, Ben Turner of Ineos, and Luca Mozzato of Tudor Pro Cycling all managed to make the front group. The rest of the peloton were at 1 minute and chasing.
The front group rolled through the finish line to take the bell for 58 kilometers to go. The chasing peloton crossed 50 seconds later led by Flanders Baloise, Jayco AlUla, and TotalEnergies. With the windy sections just up the road, many riders in the front group decided to sit on and take a rest before things kicked off again. As a result, the gap was down to 35 seconds when they entered the town of Oostkamp.
Exiting Oostkamp, the peloton was just 15 seconds behind and Edward Theuns of Lidl-Trek went on the attack out of the front group. The Belgian was not able to tease a group away and with 42 kilometers to go, the chasing peloton had caught back on and the race was mostly all together. All was quiet for the next 9 kilometers until the speed ramped up once again for a key left turn onto the nicely set cobbles of the Brieversweg. Near the end of the sector, a crash at the front sent riders shooting off into the adjacent field. Fortunately for those that did fall, the verge was soft and everyone was able to get back going again. A separate crash took down Juan Sebastián Molano which Milano suggested to have been caused by a race motor bike. We later saw that the motor bike was trying to get a protester off the course and Molano was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
About 60 riders were left in the front group after the crashes but the wind was picking up and bikes were being pushed from left to right across the road once again. Interestingly, there were not many riders wanting to push on and dropped riders were able to get back on, making about 80 riders in the front with 25 kilometers to go. The race threatened to split up a few times on the run-in and with 15 kilometers to go, the roads turned wet with the passing of a recent rain shower. The final major change of direction came 1 kilometer later as they turned South back towards Bruges and into a cross-tail wind.
Wind battered the front group with 10 kilometers to go and only 40 riders survived. Davide Ballerini of XDS-Astana was always present near the front and decided to go solo with 7.5 kilometers to go through a wet corner in the village of Dudzele. The move forced a strong chase and the group split again under the pressure of Max Walscheid of Lidl-Trek. Ballerini was caught and all of the little gaps were stitched back together but everyone looked like they were on their last legs.
XDS-Astana took control of the group but Walscheid sent an attack after a good run to instantly snap the elastic. XDS-Astana were forced to react and managed to bring Walscheid back with 1,800 meters to go. Jayco AlUla, Groupama-FDJ United, and Alpecin-Premier Tech were all visible at or near the front as the lead out for the sprint was forming. Between 1 kilometer and 500 meters to go, the group was a bit cagey with no teams strong enough to string out the group. Gleb Syritsa of XDS-Astana took up the pace with Philipsen slotted in on his wheel. Syritsa peeled off with 300 meters to go, making Philipsen a sitting duck on the front. He looked around, hoping for help, but no one came and had no choice but to start his sprint. Groenewegen had the punch to come around the outside to get on Philipsen's wheel. He sat in the slip stream for a second before making one last kick. Philipsen was fading at this point and Groenewegen came passed and hit the line first to give the Unibet Rose Rockets their first ever World Tour race win as a team. Philipsen hung on for second place with Max Kanter of XDS-Astana in for third.