The Classic Brugge–De Panne is a

road cycling race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

in Belgium in late March. Since 2018 it is raced over two days with a men's race on Wednesday and a women's race on Thursday. Both races start in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

and finish in the seaside resort of

De Panne De Panne (; ) is a town and a municipality located on the North Sea coast of the Belgian province of West Flanders. There it borders France, making it the westernmost town in Belgium. It is one of the most popular resort town destinations within ...

. The race is considered a ''" sprinters classic",'' with many editions finishing in a sprint finish. The women's event is included in the

UCI Women's World Tour The UCI Women's World Tour is the premier annual female elite road cycling tour. , the tour includes 27 events in Europe, Asia and Oceania – with one-day races such as Strade Bianche Donne and Paris–Roubaix Femmes, stage races such as Wo ...

; the men's race was part of the

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and ove ...

as a 1.HC event, but was promoted to the

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 ...

as a 1.WT event in 2019.

History

Three Days of De Panne

The Three Days of De Panne was created in 1977 as a three-day cycling event in the week leading up to the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

, in late March or early April. The first day was usually a hilly stage starting in De Panne and finishing in the

Flemish Ardennes The Flemish Ardennes (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Vlaamse Ardennen'') is an informal name given to a hilly region in the south of the province of East Flanders, Belgium. Highest summit is the Hotondberg (151 m). Main characteristics of the region ar ...

. The second day held a long flat stage back to the Flemish coast, with a finish in

Koksijde Koksijde (; ; ) is a town and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Belgium. It is located on the North Sea coast in the southwest of the Flanders, Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises apart from Koksijde, the v ...

. The third day consisted of two stages that both started and finished in De Panne, of which the final stage was an individual time trial. Raced from Tuesday to Thursday, it was the last Flemish race ahead of the Tour of Flanders and was considered a desirable preparation for the main event on Sunday.

Eric Vanderaerden Eric Vanderaerden (born 11 February 1962) is a Belgian retired road cyclist. He was a considerable talent, winning the prologue time trial of the Vuelta a España in his debut year of 1983. During the 1983 Tour de France he also won the prologue ...

, a strong sprinter and time triallist, won the race five times in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The race director had been

Bernard Van de Kerckhove Bernard Van de Kerckhove (8 July 1941 – 15 September 2015) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer from 1962 to 1971. The highlights of his career were stage win in the 1964 Tour de France, which resulted in him wearing the yellow jersey ...

; after his death in 2015, the "Bernard Van de Kerckhove trophy" was created, given to the best young rider (U23) in the race.

Three Days of Bruges–De Panne

Since 2018, the Three Days of De Panne is raced under a new format following a calendar switch with

Dwars door Vlaanderen ''Dwars door Vlaanderen'' ('Across Flanders') is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI Wor ...

. The race comes one week earlier, in the week following

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

, and the men's event has morphed into a one-day race on Wednesday. The Flemish Ardennes roads and the concluding time trial were abandoned in favour of a route entirely in the province of

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 ...

. The iconic

Kemmelberg The Kemmelberg (, ) is a hill formation in Flanders, Belgium. It is located less than a kilometre from the village of Kemmel, part of the municipality of Heuvelland in the province of West Flanders. The Kemmelberg is the highest point in the pro ...

and several cobbled sectors have a more prominent part in the new course. In order to continue the multi-day format, a women's event was inaugurated on the day after the men's race. Both races start in

and have two finishing circuits in and around

. The women's race is part of the

, cycling's top tier professional competition.

Jolien D'Hoore Jolien D'hoore (born 14 March 1990) is a Belgian former track and road cyclist, who rode professionally between 2007 and 2021 for the , , , and teams. D'hoore is a 29-time national track champion as well as a four-time national road champion a ...

won the first running of the women's Three Days in a sprint. Six of the eight editions of the women's race have finished in a sprint finish, with the race considered a ''" sprinters classic".''

Winners

Men's race

, - , colspan=4 align=center, ↓ "Three Days of De Panne" ↓ , - , colspan=4 align=center, ↓ "Three Days of Bruges–De Panne" ↓ , - , colspan=4 align=center, ↓ "Classic Brugge–De Panne" ↓

Multiple winners

Wins per country

Women's race

Multiple winners

Wins per country

Notes

References

External links

CyclingNews.com coverage
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Classic Brugge-De Panne Sport in West Flanders Cycle races in Belgium Recurring sporting events established in 1977 1977 establishments in Belgium UCI Europe Tour races De Panne Sport in Koksijde UCI World Tour races