Classic Brugge-De Panne 2023

Jasper Philipsen victorious at Classic Brugge-De Panne on day of rain and misery

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted from the break of four to emerge victorious from a cold, rainy and windy day of racing at the 2023 edition of Classic Brugge-De Panne.

Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) took second and Yves Lampaert (Soudal-QuickStep) third, with Frederik Frison (Lotto-Dstny) taking fourth after his attack attempts were reeled back in. The group of four escaped from a select front group of survivors with 15km to go during a cross wind hit race of attrition.

For a fourth time in five seasons, the 2023 Classic Brugge-De Panne began a stretch of five Belgian-based WorldTour spring Classics across 12 days. 

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, the next season the men’s race was upgraded to the WorldTour.

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.

Last year, 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.