Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) made it three for three in one week, winning the Ronde van Brugge in a much-reduced bunch sprint over Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) just days after taking out the Bredene Koksijde Classic and GP Jean-Pierre Monseré.
Philipsen, who lost most of his teammates in the crosswind chaos of the final 10 kilometres, was boxed in until Gerben Thijssen finally ushered him to the front with 300 metres to go, but it was too early. Groenewegen slotted onto his wheel and then dashed past to victory. Max Kanter (XDS Astana) finished third.
The victory was yet another major success for Unibet Rose Rockets, Groenewegen's new team, and their sprint coach Marcel Kittel.
"It's quite a good week so far in Belgium," Groenewegen said.
It's also typical Belgium weather - it was a really hard race with the wind not only, we had some rain, so it was quite hard finish."
The 32-year-old had to overcome a puncture which took some time to resolve, leaving him riding the flat tyre for several kilometres.
"We managed to stay calm, and did a really good job in the end. [Lead-out man Elmar Reinders] brought me in a good position, then Philipsen went quite early and I could just follow him and pass him."
Philipsen was caught out by a split in the lead group in the final three kilometres and had to chase back on, but admitted he had to start his sprint too soon.
"Of course, it was after a very hard race. It was full gas from the start, actually, and then we all made it the moment where the wind could play a role. Unfortunately, couldn't take a win, but I think in general, we did a good race."
How it unfolded
The rebranded Ronde van Brugge, formerly known as the Classic Brugge-De Panne, was rerouted after numerous mass crashes in 2025 and transformed into a large circuit, measuring 202.9 kilometres in length.
Due to strong winds and the anticipation of echelons, the race was mostly a fast group ride with no breakaway until fatigue and wind combined, leading to successful echelons that finally broke the race apart with 80 kilometres to go.
As the race started to split, a crash in the midst of the lead group took down Jason Tesson (TotalEnergies), Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), and Abram Stockman (Unibet Rose Rockets), reducing its size further. However, Groenewegen, winner of the Bredene Koksijde Classic last week, was firmly in the 14-man first group.
The lead peloton grew to 30 as another group chased back on, with defending champion Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) making it in.
With 63km to go, Groenewegen punctured but kept riding on a very flat tyre until the bunch came through the line for one lap and 59 kilometres to go. Meanwhile, the chase group was almost a minute behind.
The wind shifted into the chasers' favour with 50km to go, with TotalEnergies driving the pace and closing in within 15 seconds, just as an attack came from Lidl-Trek's Edward Theuns from the lead peloton.
With 42km to go, the two groups rejoined in the tailwind, and there was a respite for a few kilometres until the next section of crosswinds, into which UAE Team Emirates-XRG led the way.
There were no more echelons, but on a stretch of cobbles with 31km to go, crashes involving a number of riders, including Molano, further reduced the peloton.
Pressure from Decathlon, Tudor, Unibet and Bahrain Victorious in a crosswind section with 9km to go shattered the group yet again, with Philipsen briefly caught out and without any teammates.
With 7km to go, Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana) attacked and opened up a solid gap, but Lidl-Trek and Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) launched a successful chase, splitting the first five, then ten riders off the front.
However, the lead group came back together for the bunch sprint until Max Walscheid (Lidl-Trek) tried to pre-empt it with an attack with 2.5km to go, but he too was back in the fold one kilometre later.
Philipsen found a couple of teammates but was out of position as Groupama-FDJ United led under the red kite. Philipsen managed to find his way to the front for an early sprint, but he had Grownewegen on the wheel, and the Dutchman snatched the win.
Results
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