Classic Brugge-De Panne 2021

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Sam Bennett wins Classic Brugge-De Panne

Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) claimed the first one-day WorldTour victory of his career in the Classic Brugge-De Panne.

The Irishman topped Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) who hit out first, with Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) settling for third.

Bennett's win was Deceuninck-QuickStep's second Classic of the season after Davide Ballerini won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

"It's super important to get this win," Bennett said. "Being in a Belgian team with Belgian sponsors, we want to perform on home soil. For myself, personally, it's my first one-day WorldTour race - something I've been chasing for many years and I'm happy to get it here today."

Unlike in 2020, the weather was relatively calm and there was no selection in De Moeren where last season the race was ripped apart by high crosswinds.

The peloton came into the final kilometres all together, having to negotiate a tricky series of turns and narrowing roads, tram tracks and traffic furniture. Deceuninck-Quickstep led the way into the final turn with 800m to go but Philipsen hit out first, wrongly thinking there was a tailwind in the finishing straight.

Bennett, smartly perceiving a slight headwind, waited a few heartbeats longer before unleashing his victorious sprint.