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

Nieuwkerke Heuvelland () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Dranouter, Kemmel, De Klijte, Loker, Nieuwkerke, Westouter, Wijtschate and Wulvergem. H ...

. 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 Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

region and to commemorate the

Christmas truce The Christmas truce (; ; ) was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of the First World War around Christmas 1914. The truce occurred five months after hostilities had begun. Lulls occurred in the fighting a ...

, by incorporating three semi-paved roads at the

Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial in Belgium for missing soldiers of World War I. It commemorates men from the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers who fought on the northern Western Fr ...

, in

Ploegsteert Wood Ploegsteert Wood was a sector of the Western Front in Flanders in World War I, part of the Ypres Salient. It is located around the Belgian village of Ploegsteert, Wallonia. Intense fighting took place as part of the Battle of Armentieres betwe ...

. 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 Wevelgem () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Gullegem, Moorsele and Wevelgem proper. On January 1, 2006, Wevelgem had a total populatio ...

Categorised climbs and semi-paved roads

Teams

As Gent–Wevelgem was a

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

event, all eighteen

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

s 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 edition of the race.

Result

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gent-Wevelgem, 2017 2017 UCI World Tour 2017 in Belgian sport

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