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Pfeiffer Georgi solos to Classic Brugge-De Panne Women victory - live coverage

Team DSM Classic Brugge De Panne

DSM lead the front group at Classic Brugge-De Panne Women (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Classic Brugge-De Panne Women 2023 Map

(Image credit: Classic Brugge-De Panne Women 2023)
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Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of Classic Brugge-De Panne!

The riders are just getting ready for the neutral roll-out at 12.30 CET.

It's a pretty windy morning in Bruges, meaning echelons could be on the cards today.

It's a long day out today: 163.1km in total.

Here's the latest startlist as the riders get away for the neutralised start:

Quite a few names missing this morning: most notably Lotta Henttala, who hasn't started this morning through sickness.

And yes, that is SD Worx with just three riders supporting Lorena Wiebes.

The rain held off, right until the race started!

We should be about 5 minutes from the official start now. 

A few more DNS's to note: Trofeo Binda winner Shirin van Anrooij and Movistar's Floortje Mackaij are both sitting out today. 

It's a little way away yet, but the sections to keep an eye on for crosswinds are the parts of the circuit that go through De Moeren.

163KM TO GO

Though this race is usually 

Here's the view from the roll-out:

After a brief downpour, the sun has come out now in Belgium. 

In the first part of the race, which goes south-west from Bruges to Veurne, the winds will be strong but mainly head on.

Can Lorena Wiebes make it work with just three teammates today?

Just as the rain started falling in Bruges!

Sounds like a relatively calm start to the race.

If the headwind is as strong as reported, it's no wonder the peloton are starting off relatively slow.

10km done and all is together.

Heading towards a section that could be a bit more wind-exposed in a few kilometres.

Nearly 20km completed and still no attacks to speak of.

This is the 6th edition of the women's Brugge-De Panne, which started in 2018.

Of course that would be 2021 when Grace Brown got away and stayed away to win solo in De Panne.

We're behind on the slowest predicted schedule today - it has been a particularly slow-paced start.

20KM COMPLETED

The peloton is somewhat stretched out now - the pace is building.

And there's a split!

Hard to say who is where on each side of this split...

About 25km in now.

The race has split more - there's three groups now.

Again we're not quite sure who is where in these groups, hopefully we will have some news soon.

30km completed now.

Sounds like the race is back together now, but a lot of riders will have had to put in quite a bit of work already today.

Getting a sense of how tough those splits were - that's Lorena Wiebes working on the front already. 

125KM TO GO

It's still a strong headwind the riders are facing, hence being on a slightly slower pace than expected. 

Over an hour of racing complete now.

Mechanical problem for Julie De Wilde (Fenix-Deceuninck).

CRASH IN PELOTON

The race seems to have paused completely, not just neutralised. 

Riders from quite a few teams were involved in the crash, which seems to have happened near the front of the bunch. 

Marta Bastianelli and Lisa Klein reportedly among those involved in this crash.

Good news - racing is back underway.

Some images from the stoppage:

Two abandons so far from that crash: Letizia Paternoster (Jayco-AlUla) and Ilse Grit (Proximus-Alphamotorhomes-Doltcini)

50KM COMPLETED

CRASH IN PELOTON

Eight riders involved in this crash, including Lizzie Holden (UAE Team ADQ) and Jade Wiel (FDJ-SUEZ).

It's a real combination of things causing a tetchy peloton here - the roads are narrow and wet, the wind is blowing, there's tension heading towards the loops and the previous crashes will have left a lot of riders feeling nervous. 

You'd hope this was the last of the crashes, but we haven't even hit the worse crosswinds sections yet, so let's hope to get through them safely.

All is together in the bunch as we head towards Veurne.

Tiril Jorgensen (Coop Hitec Products) is another crash victim - the team says she is okay but her bike is not in good condition. 

The wind is keeping the peloton strung out. 

Minke Bakker (Duolar-Chevalmeire) is the latest confirmed abandon. 

We should be into the two local laps now - under 100km to go.

The peloton is just passing the finish line for the first time now.

95KM TO GO

The peloton are letting Docx go here, but perhaps thinking that she won't have much of a chance on her own.

Not a huge amount of team organisation in the peloton.

It's 20 seconds advantage for Docx currently, but the pace is definitely upping in the peloton. 

The wind is still strong out in Belgium, it's not affecting things too much right now but it will in the more exposed areas.

And that's Mieke Docx caught by the peloton. 

SD Worx are really taking things up here.

Trek-Segafredo are coming up to the front now.

Elisa Balsamo beat Lorena Wiebes into second at last year's race - one of the rare times the Italian has won a head-to-head between the two - but Wiebes would argue a broken spoke impeded her in that sprint. 

A shot from that crash earlier.

85KM TO GO

Canyon-SRAM are taking things up now.

It's a constant battle at the front of the peloton here, with everyone trying to stay in position before the almost constant corner and pinch points.

Bike change for Elisa Balsamo - the Italian champion is back and riding pretty quickly but will need to get back into the bunch now. 

Balsamo has just rejoined the peloton.

About 10km away from the exposed De Moren section now.

Some splits forming at the back here.

The winds are already showing their effects now.

Echelons are starting to form!

The sprinters are having to do a lot of work themselves to stay in the front currently. 

A lot of riders have been dropped out the back - two distinct groups - but it's still quite a large peloton up front.

A moment of calming now as we're in a less windy section.

And with that lull, group two has rejoined the peloton.

The third group has also got back on.

Another crash here - an Israel Premier Tech Roland rider is in the ditch.

It's Thị Thật Nguyễn who just got squeezed off the road, but she's back riding now.

Another crash in the peloton - riders are just getting squeezed and caught out in this tense bunch.

Romy Kasper, Fien Delbaere and Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka all affected.

About to hit De Moeren and the peloton is really stretched out as the pressure builds.

It's DSM and Trek-Segafredo who are working to make this really hard up front.

The pace is super high but we're not seeing too many echelon splits just yet. 

And we're on the De Moeren section!

Almost as soon as we turn onto this straight the echelons start forming.

Balsamo and Wiebes are safely in the front group of around 15 riders, though neither have much team support. 

Marta Bastianelli is on the wrong side of these splits, and Charlotte Kool also seems to be missing from the front group - though Pfeiffer Georgi and another DSM rider are up there for the team.

The front group now have 15 seconds on the first chase group. 

This ten-rider group is really pushing on here, though they have only 16 seconds on a fairly large chase group led by UAE Team ADQ. 

The third group on the road is now a minute and a half down.

50KM TO GO

The gap is going out slightly - it's 30 seconds as the leaders cross the finish line. 

The question is whether these riders will co-operate or start attacking each other when we hit the win again.

It remains only UAE Team ADQ who are working in the second group, and not really making any inroads on the leaders. 

The group is growing out now in the leaders' favour.

With DSM, Fenix-Deceuninck and Canyon-SRAM all having two riders in the front 10, there is a good amount of cohesion and co-operation.

40KM TO GO

Doesn't look like Consonni is having much luck in bridging this gap.

36KM TO GO

And here's visuals on the leading ten: 

With the energy definitely sapping from the chase, it looks like this group of ten has  good chance of going to the line.

A bit of discord in the chasing group.

30KM TO GO

Quite calm in the lead group - riders are drinking and taking gels in preparation for the finale. 

Almost two minutes now for the leaders.

25KM TO GO

The final De Moeren section finishes with around 10km to go, so the attacks may come quite close to the line.

Jastrab and Georgi from DSM have been working well on the front of this group.

20KM TO GO

It's maybe surprising that a group as strong as this was just allowed to go, but it proves just how hard it can be to chase down breaks.

The question is, which riders will attack?

We're just a couple of kilometres from the start of De Moeren now.

15KM TO GO

Echelons views from earlier in the race - what a sight! 

Georgi is pushing her lead out to 24 seconds in her attempt to win Brugge-De Panne

Georgi caught the breakaway by surprise with this move.

She reacted off the back of her teammate Jastrab's initial attack and gained an instant gap as the sprinters all looked at each other, no one wanting to burn matches by taking up the chase.

Georgi has been on the cusp of a major victory this year and it looks like she is about to take the win at Classic Brugge-De Panne.

Read our recent in-depth feature - On the cusp of a breakthrough – No more mistaking Pfeiffer Georgi

This was tactical brilliance from Team DSM's Georgi and Jastrab, the only team with two riders in the breakaway at the late stages of this race.

Pfeiffer Georgi takes a solo victory at Classic Brugge-De Panne!

It was her biggest win as a pro rider.

The sprint for second place is about to happen as Amalie Dideriksen leads the chase group into the run-in to the finish.

Lorena Wiebes launches her attack at 300 metres out but Elisa Balsamo has thrown her bike at the line in what looks like a photo-finish for second place.

It's Balsamo who takes second on the line, beating Wiebes to second. 

It's a very happy Pfeiffer Georgi at the finish, after a strong ride from the team.

There's something full circle about winning here for Pfeiffer Georgi.

Jastrab and Bossuyt rounded out the top-5 on the line, after strong rides for DSM and Canyon-SRAM respectively. 

Here's your confirmed top 10:

After crashing heavily in the finale, we're still waiting for updates about Alice Barnes and Julie De Wilde.

Here's that winning moment!

And the throw to the line between the two favourites, who had to settle for podium spots today. 

Elisa Balsamo is still waiting for a big one-day win this year - this time last year she won Trofeo Binda, Brugge-De Panne and Gent-Wevelgem on the trot - but she didn't seem too disappointed about her runner-up finish today.

Everyone in the group knew they couldn't go to the line with Wiebes and Balsamo, but it was only DSM who successfully pulled off another tactic.

If you missed any of the action today, head over here for our full report.

Julie De Wilde is heading to hospital after crashing in the finale. We expect Alice Barnes to be doing the same after what was a heavy crash, but there is no official update yet.

And here's the podium shot!

Not long until the WorldTour resumes with Gent-Wevelgem this Sunday.

That's all from me!