Molano wins Brugge - De Panne with a 400m sprint, several crashes in last stretch

The Classic Brugge - De Panne is considered the first race of the second phase of the Flemish spring: after this race, the significant classics follow each other in rapid succession, such as the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday. But the race does not quite fit into that list: no cobblestones, no climbs, and therefore no cobbled climbs. The race from Bruges to De Panne covers only 195 kilometers with a total elevation gain of 981 meters, making it a race for sprinters. The only challenge along the way is the wind, which has played a significant role in the past.

From the start in the West Flemish capital, five riders chose to break away despite the challenging course. The best-known name in the breakaway was António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates - XRG). The young Portuguese was joined by Victor Vercouille (Flanders - Baloise), Michiel Lambrecht (Wagner Bazin WB), and the Unibet Tietema Rockets duo Hartthijs de Vries and Joren Bloem. They cycled together for 3 minutes, but as expected, the sprinters' teams gave them little slack, resulting in a fast race.

The wind remained calm, so it was a typical sprinter's classic. The fast riders knew their work was cut out for them, but Fabio Jakobsen would not be among them. The fast man from Picnic PostNL abandoned the race at the first passage of the finish line, as did Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike). The Belgian was not completely fit for the start and could not continue. Jakobsen had already reported to the team car and said in advance that he was 'not good enough to win.'

Despite the flat course and limited wind, it was not an easy day in the lovely Flemish sunshine. Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step kept the pace very high, causing the five in front to lose more and more time. By the time they crossed the finish line for the second-to-last time, the gap was less than a minute. It seemed to be over quickly, but the men in front continued to work well together and made the pacemakers work for their money.

But with 15 kilometers to go, that cooperation ended. De Vries broke away and successfully got rid of Morgado. The rider from Friesland then set off alone in search of success. The fast rider put up a good fight and had 25 seconds left with 6 kilometers to go. But then the sprinters showed themselves, and the pace picked up. It also became more nervous, causing men like Alberto Dainese (Tudor) and Juri Holmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to hit the asphalt. Later, Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) also hit the ground: chaos in the final kilometers.

De Vries was finally caught with 2 kilometers to go so that we could prepare for a sprint. But the chaos was not over yet: once again, there were a bunch of riders on the asphalt. The entire Cofidis team, including Milan Fretin, was among them. In the final kilometer, it was even worse: Tim Merlier and 20 others went down. About 15 rode on to the finish line, where Juan Sebastian Molano attacked with 450 meters to go. In a long sprint, he beat Milan by a slight margin.