The Classic Bruges-De Panne one-day race should have been something like the unofficial sprinters' world championships. Many top stars were at the start. However, the finale was overshadowed by numerous crashes, so that in the end only a small group of riders were left in contention for victory. From this group, Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) launched his sprint extremely early and tore a hole between himself and his rivals. Top favourite Jonathan Milan (Lidl - Trek) roared up to the Colombian with a considerable surplus of speed, but was ultimately unable to catch him. The two German pros Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain - Victorious/4th place) and Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team/6th place) also achieved top results.
Narrow roads, many falls
Prior to this, a series of crashes had thinned out the peloton in the finale. The last of these occurred shortly after the Flamme Rouge on a tapered section of the road and meant that only around 20 riders were left in the first group sprinting for victory on the labyrinthine "home straight".
Even Molano was visibly relieved to have come through unscathed in the winner's interview. "This final is very, very dangerous and fast. I was in a good position after the last corner. I rode a very long sprint and looked around. Nobody was behind me, then I went full throttle."
Results Classic Bruges-De Panne 2025
Classic Brugge-De Panne ME: Bruges - De Panne
Classic Brugge-De Panne ME 2025: Classic Brugge-De Panne ME, Bruges - De Panne
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 04:07:23 |
| 2 | Lidl - Trek | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | EF Education - EasyPost | +00:00:00 |
| 4 | Bahrain - Victorious | +00:00:00 |
| 5 | Uno-X Mobility | +00:00:00 |
| 6 | XDS Astana Team | +00:00:00 |
How the Classic Bruges-De Panne 2025 went
Five riders broke away after the start and formed the breakaway group of the day: António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), Victor Vercouillie (Team Flanders - Baloise), Michiel Lambrecht (Wagner Bazin WB), Joren Bloem and Hartthijs de Vries (both Unibet Tietema Rockets). The peloton, led by Lidl - Trek and Team Visma | Lease a Bike, gave the quintet a maximum lead of around three minutes.
On the final 42.9 kilometre circuit, which was completed three times, there were several attempts to open up a wind edge. However, wind speeds of around 20 km/h were not enough to create a race-deciding edge situation. With 15 kilometres to go, de Vries broke away from his rivals at the front and tried to go it alone. The Dutchman initially benefited from a lull in the peloton, where the sprinters' teams were chasing each other, which increased his lead to around 40 seconds.
Crash chaos overshadows final of Classic Bruges-De Panne 2025
Team Soudal Quick-Step took control in the finale and pulled away in the peloton. The four former companions of de Vries were caught nine kilometres before the finish. Shortly after the five-kilometre mark, there was a first crash in the peloton, in which several sprinters and the German Juri Hollmann (Alpecin - Deceuninck) were involved. A few seconds later there was another crash: this time several riders from Intermarché - Wanty went down. Two and a half kilometres before the finish, de Vries was caught. This actually cleared the way for a bunch sprint. But the crashes continued on the narrow and winding roads at the finish. First of all, a few pros from the Lotto team around their top sprinter Arnaud De Lie were hit and then, shortly after the one thousand metre mark, another 15 or so riders went down at the very front of the peloton. Among them was Tim Merlier, Soudal Quick-Step's hope for victory.
Milan can no longer intercept Molano
Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) took heart at the 450 metre mark on the narrow and very winding finishing circuit and sprinted off. Behind him, everyone looked at each other - because of the lack of sprinters - and waited - too long. Jonathan Milan (Lidl - Trek) tried to close the gap to Molano with a show of strength in the final metres, but was unable to get past the Colombian, who took his first win of the season.
