Merlier beats Groenewegen in Classic Brugge-De Panne photo finish

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Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) claimed his third victory of the season at the Classic Brugge-De Panne, edging Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) at the finish line by millimetres in an agonisingly close sprint finish to end the 208-kilometre race.

The Belgian flew up the barriers in the closing metres, going head-to-head with his Dutch rival before prevailing by the finest of margins as Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) grabbed third just behind the duo.

"I launched quickly, and I was a bit lucky that the door didn't close," Merlier said after his victory. "I felt Groenewegen coming and had to 'snake' as we say, but in the end, it was just enough.

"The run-up to the sprint was actually indescribable. If they would show pictures of that... I'm glad I got to the finish safely. I knew the dangerous parts. A fresh peloton is always dangerous, of course.

"We're not allowed on the bike path, but sometimes you just can't do anything else when you have to swerve. That makes it extra dangerous, because you want to get off as soon as possible.

"Scheldeprijs is also coming up, but I'm quite satisfied with the season I've already ridden. It's my third win already and I'm quite proud of that."

QuickStep-AlphaVinyl had, unsurprisingly taken control at the head of the peloton inside the final kilometre of the race but come the final dash to the line their man Mark Cavendish was caught out of position, detached from lead-out man Michael Mørkøv.

At the front, 20-year-old Olav Kooij launched the sprint, going long as he hit the front with 250 metres left to run. That move proved a mistake, though, as the Jumbo-Visma rider was swamped closer to the line, with Merlier sneaking past against the barriers as Groenewegen jumped to the middle of the road.

The pair hit the wind at 150 metres to go and were barely separable to the line, the finish too close to call by the naked eye. Bouhanni came around the outside of Groenewegen but had only just missed the prime time to go, coming in less than a wheel length down on the top two.

Just behind the podium finishers, Max Walscheid (Cofidis) let out a road of frustration as he finished half a bike length off the win in between Merlier and Groenewegen. Kooij took fifth place ahead of Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ).

How it unfolded

Following Opening Weekend at the end of February, the 46th edition of the Classic Brugge-De Panne (well, its fifth as a one-day Classic), marked the start of the spring Northern Classics 'proper'.

The 165-rider peloton at the start in Bruges would face 207.9 kilometres of more or less pan-flat roads en route to De Panne. A Classic without cobbles or hills, the riders would instead face the prospect of possible crosswinds on the way to the coast and on the three closing laps around De Panne.

A three-man jumped away from the peloton very early on in the stage during the quick start. Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Dimitri Peyskens (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauzen-WB), and Jens Reynders (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) were the men in question, and they were immediately let go.

The break very quickly built a gap of two minutes as the sprinters' teams bluffed over who would take over the pacemaking. After around a half an hour of racing, they were seven minutes up the road before QuickStep-AlphaVinyl's Iljo Keisse relented and went to work at the front of the peloton.

Luckily for the peloton, and sadly for viewing fans, the possible wind never struck the race, with most of the afternoon passing without much incident. Instead, the riders could a clear sky, sunshine and temperatures of 17-18°C out on the road.

Inside the final 100 kilometres, that seven-minute gap had been brought back to a more manageable three minutes as QuickStep controlled the situation along with Bora-Hansgrohe and Alpecin-Fenix.

At 60km to go, the breakaway burst into life as the trio of riders approached the day's only intermediate sprint, with Reynders leaping from the rear of the group to cross the line first. The prize, brought by race sponsor Minerva, a lifetime supply of e-bikes.

The feed zone followed, with riders taking on sustenance ahead of a certain fast finish in De Panne, while the bell rung for the final lap of the race shortly afterwards as the riders passed the 44-kilometre to go mark.

There, the break's advantage was already down to 50 seconds, still with a long distance to go. The peloton would let the trio hang out front for a while yet, not ready to make the final catch until closer to the finish.

At 35km to go, Peyskens, sensing the end of the move was near, went solo at the head of the race, splitting up the breakaway as he sought a bit more TV time for his team. Reynders made it across as Battaglin faded back to the peloton, but a few kilometres later it was all over.

The peloton made the final catch at 31 kilometres to go, with Alpecin-Fenix and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl leading the way for their sprinters Tim Merlier and Mark Cavendish. Two kilometres later, a crash near the rear of the peloton held several riders up, with Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Niki Terpstra (TotalEnergies), and Jelle Wallays (Cofidis) among those caught out before chasing back on.

As the pace and nerves ramped up on the way to the final, there was another crash as Movistar's Max Kanter and Johan Jacobs went down after a nasty collision with a race marshal.

Heading into the final 20 kilometres, Lotto Soudal (Arnaud De Lie) and Groupama-FDJ (for Arnaud Démare) moved up to wrest control at the front, though a number of other major sprint squads would flow to the front over the following kilometres, too.

BikeExchange-Jayco (for Dylan Groenewegen) led the way into the final 10 kilometres as the battle for position saw riders hopping onto bike paths and around marshals and road furniture in order to move up in the group.

At the rear of the peloton, riders were losing contact due to the high speeds at the front as the likes of Lotto Soudal, Bahrain Victorious and Cofidis also joined the battle for positions. Luckily, there were no major incidents on the run-in until the 1.5-kilometre mark.

There, exiting a corner in 10th position, Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) was left with nowhere to go on the outside by a Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB rider. The German couldn't stay upright as he scraped the metal barrier and hit the deck hard, his race over. Just behind, Lotto Soudal's Arnaud De Lie somehow managed to stay upright with a superb piece of bike handling.

Into the final kilometre it was Alpecin-Fenix rider Jonas Rickaert driving the pace at the head of the peloton, peeling off before QuickStep-AlphaVinyl took it up with Jannik Steimle and Bert Van Lerberghe.

Once their job had been done, it was Kooij who took over to launch the final dash from the line a long way out. To his right, it was Merlier who sped through to take the win by a tiny margin on the line.