‘I won't accept defeat next time’ Tim Merlier angry with Philipsen after Classic Brugge-De Panne sprint clash

'If I’d push through, someone would have gone over the barriers' says Soudal sprinter
Classic Brugge-De Panne: Jasper Philipsen takes sprint win

Tim Merlier squeezed into second as Danny van Poppel takes third
As it happened: 2024 Classic Brugge-De Panne

Philipsen defends his title against Jakobsen, Merlier, Démare, Groenewegen and more

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Classic Brugge-De Panne overview
Date	Wednesday March 20, 2024
Start location	Brugge, Belgium
Finish location	De Panne, Belgium
Distance	199.1km
Previous edition	2023 Classic Brugge-De Panne

Classic Brugge-De Panne: Jasper Philipsen takes sprint win

The Classic Brugge-De Panne began in 1977 as a three-day stage race and served as the final tune-up for the Tour of Flanders. However, in 2018 was transformed into a one-day Spring Classics event and switched its mid-week spot on the calendar with Dwars door Vlaanderen, which then took over as the final tune-up for the long-standing Ronde. While a Women’s WorldTour one-day race was added for a second day of racing in the transitional year, he men’s race was upgraded to the WorldTour in 2019.

Under the new format, Italian Elia Viviani (QuickStep Floors) won the 202.4km race, setting a tone for bunch finishers and the top sprinters in the world. The next year Dutch speedster Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) took the top honours. In 2020, the event moved to late October and became the final WorldTour race on the COVID-19-pandemic-altered calendar, Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck-QuickStep) riding solo to the victory. Back to its spring position in 2021, Sam Bennett continued the winning streak in a bunch sprint for Deceuninck-QuickStep on Veurnestraat.

In 2022, Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) won the Classic Brugge-De Panne in a photo finish ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) at the end of the day across the flat roads of Belgium. Last year, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted from the break of four to take the victory in a cold, rainy and windy day of racing. Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) took second and Yves Lampaert (Soudal-QuickStep) third