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Classic Brugge-De Panne 2025 preview: Route, favourites, how to watch and start list
Beginning in 1977 as a three-day race on the men’s calendar, Brugge-De Panne transitioned into a one-day Classic in 2018 and was upgraded to WorldTour level the following year. The first edition of the women’s Brugge-De Panne also ran in 2018.
The races begin in Bruges and head to a circuit just over 40k in length. The course is susceptible to heavy wind, but the race usually comes down to a bunch sprint in De Panne.
In 2024, Jasper Philipsen rode to his second consecutive victory, outsprinting Soudal-QuickStep’s Tim Merlier. Elisa Balsamo won the sprint in the women’s race ahead of Charlotte Kool of DSM.
Classic Brugge-De Panne 2025 key information
Date: Men’s – Wednesday 26th March; Women’s – Thursday 27th March
Start: Brugge, Belgium
Finish: De Panne, Belgium
Distance: Men’s – 195.6km; Women’s – 152.7km
Television coverage: TNT Sports, Sporza, Max, FloBikes
Previous winners: Men’s – Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck); Women’s – Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
Classic Brugge-De Panne 2025 route
Both the men and women’s pelotons will cover the same very flat route through northern Flanders from Brugge to De Panne, and they’ll do the same circuit too.
The men will cover three laps of the 42.9km loop, which is one kilometre shorter than last year, while the women will do two laps.
Brugge-De Panne 2025 favourites
With its flat profile and long finishing straight, Brugge-De Panne is definitely one for the sprinters. Tim Merlier will want to avenge his close defeat to Philipsen in 2024 as the duo line up once more, although Philipsen arrives off the back of a crash at Nokere Koerse last week that he seemed to still be suffering the effects of at Milan-San Remo at the weekend. Beyond those two, there’s an impressive field of sprinters set to take to the start this year including Jonathan Milan, Biniam Girmay and Olav Kooij, who was second behind Philipsen in 2023.
In the women’s race in 2024, DSM drilled it on the front for Charlotte Kool but ultimately came up short. She returns this year to right those wrongs, but will have to face strong competition from reigning champion Balsamo plus former teammate Lorena Wiebes, fresh from her Milan-San Remo victory.
Cyclist‘s ratings: Women’s race
- ★★★★★: Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
- ★★★★: Charlotte Kool (Picnic-PostNL), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
- ★★★: Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez), Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ)
- ★★: Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto)
- ★: Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto), Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility), Marta Lach (SD Worx-Protime)
Cyclist‘s ratings: Men’s race
- ★★★★★: Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
- ★★★★: Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike)
- ★★★: Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), Arnaud Démare (Arkéa B&B Hotels), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla)
- ★★: Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility)
- ★: Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty), Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling)
Classic Brugge-De Panne 2025: How to watch
The 2025 Classic Brugge-De Panne races are only available to watch in the UK and Ireland on TNT Sports, Sporza in Belgium, Max in the USA, FloBikes in the USA or Canada for just the men’s race, and Staylive for the men’s race and a replay of the women’s race elsewhere (check which countries here).
If the race isn’t being broadcast in your country or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your device’s location to access content that is normally geo-blocked. One such VPN provider is ExpressVPN, which is well reviewed, helps users to find free to watch cycling, and costs start from around £5 per month.
- Read more: How to watch cycling for less in the UK
- Read more: Which countries can watch cycling for free in 2025?
Classic Brugge-De Panne 2025: UK TV times
Men’s race: Wednesday 26th March
TNT Sports online: 14:15-16:50 GMT
TNT Sports 3: 14:00-16:30 GMT
Women’s race: Thursday 27th March
TNT Sports online: 14:15-16:40 GMT
TNT Sports 3: 14:00-16:30
Classic Brugge-De Panne 2025 start lists
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
Classic Brugge De Panne: Men’s previous winners
2024: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
2023: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
2022: Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix)
2021: Sam Bennett (Deceuninck Quick-Step)
2020: Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck Quick-Step)
2019: Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma)
2018: Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors)
Classic Brugge De Panne: Women’s previous winners
2024: Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
2023: Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM)
2022: Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo)
2021: Grace Brown (Team BikeExchange)
2020: Lorena Wiebes (Team Sunweb)
2019: Kirsten Wild (WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling)
2018: Jolien D’Hoore (Mitchelton-Scott)
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