The 2017 Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields was a

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...

one-day race that took place on 26 March. It was the 79th edition of

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

and the twelfth event of the

2017 UCI World Tour The 2017 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road bicycle racing, road cycling events throughout the 2017 in men's road cycling, 2017 men's cycling season. It was the ninth edition of the ranking system launched by the Un ...

. After winning

E3 Harelbeke E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 ki ...

two days prior to Gent–Wevelgem,

Greg Van Avermaet Greg Van Avermaet (born 17 May 1985) is a retired Belgian professional cyclist. Considered one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Van Avermaet was a specialist of the classic cycle races, but has also won stages and the general cla ...

continued his run of good form with victory for the in a two-up sprint finish against his fellow Belgian Jens Keukeleire, riding for the team. The pairing had broken away from a select group of riders in the run-in towards Wevelgem. The podium was completed by world champion

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak former professional cyclist who competed in road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-c ...

(), as the peloton caught the select group in the closing metres.

Route

The race started in

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Lei ...

East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...

, from

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

. The route took the riders immediately into

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

, and after around of flat roads, they came near the coast at

Veurne Veurne (; , ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper and the settlements of , , ...

. After turning inland again, the race continued south towards the French border, and just after halfway, crossed onto French soil at the commune of

Boeschepe Boeschepe () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France, next to the Belgian border. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of th ...

, with the first of the race's ten climbs coming at the Mont des Cats. This was followed by the Kokereelberg, the Vert Mont, and the two Mont Noir ascents, via the Côte du Ravel Put and the Côte de la Blanchisserie. The riders then returned to Belgium and climbed the Baneberg, the Kemmelberg and the Monteberg. Gent-Wevelgem_2017_men

There was then a flatter section, looping through

Mesen Mesen (; , historically used in English) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. On 1 January 2006, Mesen had a total population of 988. The total area is ...

Ploegsteert Ploegsteert (; ; ) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Comines-Warneton, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the most westerly settlement of Wallonia. It is approximately north of the French border. Cr ...

and :nl:Nieuwkerke, Nieuwkerke. Within this loop was an addition for the 2017 race. On 24 November 2016, it was announced that the 2017 Gent–Wevelgem would honour the victims of World War I in the Flanders region and to commemorate the Christmas truce, by incorporating three semi-paved roads at the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing, in Ploegsteert Wood. The final two climbs were a repeat of the Baneberg–Kemmelberg combination; at the top of the final climb, of fairly flat roads remained to the finish in Wevelgem.

Categorised climbs and semi-paved roads

Teams

As Gent–Wevelgem was a 2017 UCI World Tour, UCI World Tour event, all eighteen UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team in the race. Seven UCI Professional Continental teams competed, completing the 25-team peloton. Race number 192 was unused as a mark of respect to Antoine Demoitié, who wore the number for before his death at the 2016 Gent–Wevelgem, 2016 edition of the race.

Result

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gent-Wevelgem, 2017 2017 UCI World Tour 2017 in Belgian sport Gent–Wevelgem, 2017 March 2017 sports events in Europe