As it happened - Crosswind carnage at the Classic Brugge-De Panne

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 2023 Classic Brugge-De Panne!

We're around 20 minutes from the beginning of today's race and the neutral roll-out to start the day.

Today's 211km course is pan-flat from start to finish but the weather, in particular the wind, could have an effect.

It's currently raining up by the North Sea coast, where the race is held. The proximity to the sea also brings with it a high chance of wind, especially in the final.

Since the Classic Brugge-De Panne switched to its current one-day format in 2018, it has usually been one for the sprinters and should be again today.

In 2018, the route included a few climbs – including the Kemmelberg – but it still ended with a bunch sprint and a victory by Elia Viviani.

In 2019 it was the same story, with Dylan Groenewegen prevailing from a group of 27.

2020's pandemic-delayed race was the first edition of the race to feature no climbs or cobbled sectors. Instead, the wind played a major role, with only 49 finishers and Yves Lampaert scoring a solo victory.

Two years ago it was back to a sprint finish as Michael Mørkøv and Sam Bennett combined to deliver QuickStep's third win in four years.

Last time out saw the closest finish yet as Tim Merlier beat Dylan Groenewegen in a photo finish in the mass sprint.

Back to today's race and the peloton have started the neutral roll-out.

It's raining and windy at the start in Bruges.

Soudal-QuickStep are down to six today after Tim Declercq pulled out due to stomach problems.

It's the same story at Israel-Premier Tech, who have lost Sep Vanmarcke to illness before this morning's start.

The riders who are racing are still rolling through the neutral zone.

211km to go

Here we go! The race is underway.

Attacks from the start, including Louis Bendixen (Uno-X) and Thomas Bonnet (TotalEnergies), but the moves have been brought back.

205km to go

Johan Meens (Bingoal WB) and Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost) among the attackers now.

Bendixen also on the move along with Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-Samsic) and Jens Reynders (Israel-Premier Tech).

200km to go

The current situation:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-Samsic), Louis Bendixen (Uno-X), Jens Reynders (Israel-Premier Tech), Milan Fretin (Flanders-Baloise)

20 seconds down – Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost), Johan Meens, Louis Blouwe (Bingoal WB)

A minute down – peloton

The second group looks set to catch the leaders to make it seven out front, however.

The groups have now come together and we have a seven-man breakaway.

The time gap back to peloton is going down, though. Under half a minute now...

195km to go

The seven of the break are holding on. No catch yet.

Splits in the peloton!

185km to go

The peloton has split in two. 40 seconds to the breakaway.

Still 40 seconds for the breakaway.

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170km to go

The breakaway are still holding on to their small gap at the moment.

Now the peloton appears to be taking it easier as the time gap goes up.

160km to go

2:20 for the seven men in the breakaway now.

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Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) has crashed and is out of the race. One of the big favourites gone already!

150km to go

The breakaway reaches the finishing circuit in De Panne. Three big laps to come.

Another split in the peloton according to race radio. The pace is high and the break's advantage is down to just over a minute.

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140km to go

Reynders, Meens, and Blouwe have been dropped from the breakaway.

Four left up front now.

And now Reynders has made it back to the front. The Bingoal WB pair are back in the peloton, though.

1:20 for the break.

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Blouwe has abandoned the race after his time in the break ended.

130km to go

Sam Welsford (Team DSM) stops for a wheel change. The Australian is their hope for a bunch sprint today.

Meanwhile, the break's advantage drops below a minute again.

A 42.5kph average speed so far today.

We may have lost Sam Bennett already today but there are plenty of contenders for victory left in the peloton...

2019 winner Dylan Groenewegen leads Jayco-AlUla, while 2020 winner Yves Lampaert is part of Fabio Jakobsen's squad at Soudal-QuickStep.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) are also among the top contenders.

Elsewhere, look out for Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates), Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan), Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma), Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe), Alberto Dainese (Team DSM), and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious).

115km to go

Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar) and Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) have been caught up in a crash.

Bennett left the race due to illness, his team has reported.

Bike change for Jumbo sprinter Olav Kooij.

110km to go

Around 1:20 for the breakaway currently.

A look at today's breakaway riders.

105km to go

More splits in the peloton as the wind hits!

It looks like the break won't last much longer now. The pace is high at the moment.

100km to go

Yep, it's over for the breakway.

The wind has hit in the region near the French border named De Moeren, made up of marshy flatlands near the coast. The wind often strikes the peloton there.

Around 30-40 men in the front echelon at the moment.

40 seconds between the first two groups on the road!

96km to go

Two laps of the 48km finishing circuit left to run.

In the front group Fabio Jakobsen and Yves Lampaert are among five Soudal-QuickStep riders. Caleb Ewan is among four Lotto-Dstny riders.

Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Tim van Dijke (Jumbo-Visma), Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-Samsic), Casper van Uden (Team DSM), Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe), Simone Consonni and Max Walscheid (Cofidis) are other notable sprinty names up there.

Philipsen, Groenewegen, Cavendish, Gaviria, Ackermann, Kooij, Démare, Bauhaus, Dainese are all missing.

QuickStep also have Davide Ballerini, Jannik Steimle, and Bert Van Lerberghe in the front group.

A look at the lead echelon.

85km to go

Now a minute between the leaders and the chasers.

Horrible weather on this finishing circuit. It's raining and the winds have blown things apart.

Uno-X are currently leading the group.

Correction: Philipsen is among the front group. It has been hard to identify everyone in their full rain gear.

79km to go

Ballerini has a mechanical problem and drop from the lead group. Jakobsen isn't in there either.

So the sprinters in the front group are: Ewan, Philipsen, Theuns, Van Poppel, Van Dijke, Van Uden, Walscheid, Consonni, Mozzato.

Under 40 seconds to the chase group now.

73km to go

UAE Team Emirates and Jayco-AlUla are leading the chase at just over 30 seconds behind.

Van Poppel drops from the lead group with a puncture.

20 seconds now and the gap is going down.

68km to go

And now the front two groups are together.

Alpecin, QuickStep and Lotto up front in the regrouped peloton.

We don't have a list of names yet. The group is around 50-60 riders.

And now things are kicking off again as the pace ups and the wind hits. Some splits at the front!

It's still raining here, the wind is blowing and the roads are narrow and winding.

62km to go

Around 15 riders have split off the front here.

Alpecin-Deceuninck, Lotto-Dstny, Soudal-QuickStep, UAE Team Emirates all have riders driving the move. Jakobsen is up there.

Caleb Ewan is out the back of the chase group behind that front split.

Philipsen, Jakobsen, Molano in the front group.

Small groups lined out in echelons all over the road here.

57km to go

20 seconds between the lead groups.

We're getting very little information about the composition of this lead group.

QuickStep, Alpecin, UAE, Uno-X, Jumbo, Groupama, EF are all represented there.

Jakobsen, Philipsen, Molano and Ackermann are definitely in there.

Ewan is not.

Now almost 40 seconds between the groups.

Around 18-20 in the lead group.

Jakobsen has Lampaert, Ballerini and Van Lerberghe for company. Philipsen has Jonas Rickaert with him. 

Molano, Ackermann, Groenewegen, Démare, Mozzato, Theuns, Kooij, Consonni also in the group. Lotto have Frison and Beullens but no sprinter.

DSM leading the group behind as teams such as UAE and Alpecin interfere with the  chase.

50km to go

35 seconds between the groups.

The bell rings as the riders head through the finish line for the penultimate time. One lap to go.

Still a long way to go here and the gap isn't huge... Can the lead group stay away to the end?

Jakobsen has three teammates, Philipsen has one. Démare has Bram Welten with him while Ackermann has Molano.

Kooij, Theuns, Consonni, Groenewegen are alone, however.

A crash in the lead group! Luca Mozzato goes down.

Mozzato looked to have hit a bump in the road just as he was adjusting his sunglasses with one hand. Lucky for Consonni behind him to avoid piling into to his countryman. 

44km to go

And now there's a split in the lead group!

Welten stops with a puncture, so 18 left up front.

There's now a minute between the leaders and the chasers, who now have Mozzato and Welten with them.

The front group back together after that brief split.

Jonas Koch (Bora-Hansgrohe), Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and Stian Fredheim (Uno-X) are the other riders in that lead group along with the others already mentioned.

40km to go

1:10 for the lead group. The gap is growing.

The lead group at today's race – Theuns, Ackermann, Fredheim, Consonni at the front there.

Another split in the lead group as six get a gap at the front.

It quickly comes back together, though. 1:30 to the chasers.

36km to go

Bike change for Philipsen! Far from ideal for one of the favourites today.

Meanwhile the gap goes up to 1:50.

A bike change for Molano too.

Philipsen is back after the lead group didn't pile on the pace following his bike change.

All's fair when the race is on but it looks like the riders have put a bit of sportsmanship first there.

Molano chases back on among the cars.

Marijn van den Berg is the next to stop for a bike change!

Now Molano is back in.

Van den Berg is making his way back, too. Jakobsen has a word with his team car.

Some video from around 15km ago. Just look at those conditions...

32km to go

Van den Berg is back in the group.

And now Jonas Koch has stopped with a problem. He gets a rear wheel change and so he's held up far more than he would've been with a simple bike change...

That might be it for Koch.

30km to go

Almost two minutes for the leaders now.

All teams rotating through the front of the group to do their work.

27km to go

Koch is among the cars and making his way back. The pace still not super high at the front so he's able to get back in.

Groenewegen gives Van den Berg a hand in getting his rain jacket off.

24km to go

QuickStep, UAE and Alpecin taking charge in the lead group.

2:10 to the chasers. It looks certain that this lead group will fight for victory among themselves.

19km to go

Lampaert gets a bike change and the QuickStep DS Tom Steels slips over as he goes to hand the new bike over.

Still, it was a pretty quick change and Lampaert should get back on soon.

Ackermann still taking turns on the front here, though you'd think it would be Molano working for him at this point instead...

There have been plenty of bike and wheel changes recently but all 18 men are still up there in the lead group.

Ah, now Ackermann is off the back!

The pace has upped as the German dropped away.

15km to go

Philipsen, Lampaert and Kooij jump off the front and Frison tries to respond.

The Belgian makes it across and the four riders already have 15 seconds.

Lampaert, Philipsen, Kooij, and Frison away with 20 seconds now as various riders try to up the pace behind.

Lampaert will have to sit on here because he'd be easily beaten in a sprint finish.

Meanwhile, in the chase group they can have Jakobsen, Ballerini and Van Lerberghe rest because Lampaert is out front.

12km to go

It's up to Philipsen and Kooij to push this move on now.

25 seconds!

Will there be enough coordination behind to work to bring them back? Jakobsen moves to the front...

You feel that QuickStep will have to work to bring this move back if they want to win unless Lampaert can get away solo.

QuickStep are working in the chase now as Lampaert sits on.

They were in a great position with four men up front but have messed things up a bit here.

9km to go

27 seconds is the gap currently. It's not shifting.

Kooij, Philipsen and Frison all doing work at the front.

A few seconds coming off the gap here and there as QuickStep work to bring it down.

7km to go

Right now it's basically three (Philipsen, Kooij, Frison) who haven't done much work going up against two (Ballerini, Van Lerberghe) who have been on the front a lot.

Démare, Molano, Groenewegen dropping away from the chase group now.

6km to go

22 seconds is the gap as Groenewegen and Démare battle to get back.

Only around eight in the chase now as QuickStep continue to lead it.

5km to go

Ballerini still pushing hard ahead of Jakobsen as Jonas Rickaert tries to wave the TV moto off.

Van Lerberghe is off the back with Démare and Groenewegen after all his work on the front.

4km to go

17 seconds now.

Ballerini, Jakobsen, Rickaert, Molano, Beullens, Van den Berg, Fredheim the only men left in the chase.

3km to go

Still 18 seconds and it's hard to see the chasers getting back on.

Démare, Groenewegen and Van Lerberghe aren't getting back to the chase either.

Kooij, Philipsen, Frison, and Lampaert still out front all together.

1.5km to go

The gap remains at 20 seconds.

Is Lampaert going to launch an attack?

Lampaert hasn't taken a turn for over 10km here.

1km to go

Philipsen leads Kooij, Lampaert and Frison.

Frison attacks!

He barely gets past the head of the group, though.

Everyone will be dead tired at this point.

211km of racing in the high winds and heavy rain...

Frison on the front, Philipsen and Kooij behind him.

Lampaert sticks at the rear.

Frison opens it up at 200 metres to go!

Lampaert comes up the barriers around the outside.

Philipsen comes out of his wheel in an almighty struggle for the line.

Philipsen gets is at the death!

It looks like Kooij snuck through for second place ahead of Lampaert.

Philipsen's third win of the season and the 26th of his career.

Jakobsen trails in fifth place at around 20 seconds down.

The race profile may have been pan flat but the wind and the rain really made it a race to remember today. Action from 100km to go and groups all over the road before an elite breakaway contested the final.

Here's what Jasper Philipsen had to say after the finish...

"It was really difficult. It made a really hard race for everybody. It was good to be at the front and to race full gas to get warm. It was a nice race.

"This one was one for the sprinters and one for the guys who are strong on the flat. I think we had a really good team here today and it was nice to finish it off."

The group which broke away at 16km to go and contested the final.

The four attackers at the finish – Philipsen celebrates ahead of Kooij and Lampaert as Frison finishes further back.

You can check out the finale of today's race here...

Our brief race report is up now...

Classic Brugge-De Panne: Jasper Philipsen prevails on day of rain and misery

The third stage of the Volta a Catalunya has also finished.

Check out what happened in the Catalan stage race here.

Classics season is ramping up now, of course.

Tomorrow it's the Classic Brugge-De Panne Women, followed on Friday by the E3 Saxo Classic – a don't-miss 'mini-Flanders' features Van Aert, Van der Poel, Alaphilippe and Pogačar.

On Sunday it's time for the men's and women's Gent-Wevelgem. Next Wednesday brings the Dwars door Vlaanderen ahead of the big one – the Tour of Flanders and Tour of Flanders Women on Sunday. Scheldeprijs follows midweek before the Queen of the Classics at Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femmes.

Our reporters Patrick Fletcher and Barry will be on the ground from tomorrow up until the Tour of Flanders, meaning comprehensive reporting from E3, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars and Flanders.

We'll be providing live coverage of all men's and women's races through the spring Classics, too. Everything you need is here at Cyclingnews.

Check back here through the late afternoon and evening for news from a vintage edition of the Classic Brugge-De Panne.