After receiving a perfect leadout, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) surged to victory at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and claimed his first victory of 2025. Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished second and Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-PremierTech) was third in a bunch sprint.
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne information
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, a one-day race in Belgium, comes one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and together the races form the Opening Weekend of the Belgian Classics season.
While Omloop het Nieuwsblad uses much of the course for the Tour of Flanders, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne only skirts the numerous bergs that pepper the Flemish Ardennes. The course uses the Tiegemberg, Berg ten Houte, Kruisberg/Hotond, Cote du Trieu and Kluisberg but a flat final 61km tips the race in favour of the sprinters.
The race starts in Kortrijk in 2025 and finishes in Kuurne.
In 2024, Wout van Aert won the race from a small breakaway, beating Tim Wellens and Oier Lazkano.
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne history
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne was first held in 1945 and is now about to hold its 74th edition.
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Valère Olivier was the first winner and Belgians have gone on to dominate the race, with a total of 53 home winners. Of them, the decorated Tom Boonen holds the record of three victories, in 2007, 2009, and 2014.
The late February date has often seen wintery conditions, and the race has had to be cancelled on three occasions: 1986, 1993, and 2013. That makes it 73 editions in the past 76 years, but there have in fact been 74 winners, with Alfred De Bruyne and Leon Van Daele sharing the honours in 1961 after a close finish that the officials were unable to call.
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2025 route
Map for the 2025 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
The race organisers for Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne will use a similar 196.8km route as was used last year, with the course around Kuurne tackling some of the most popular climbs of the Spring Classics.
There are 13 climbs along the route, the last of which, the Kluisberg, comes with 58.8km to go, leaving plenty of room for sprinters to rejoin if they're dropped.
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