Brugge-De Panne 2022 [LAST 10 KM]

March 23, 2022

Brugge-De Panne 2022 – Brugge – De Panne : 207,9 km

This one-day Classic, held entirely in the province of West Flanders, actually started out as a three-day race, hence the name ‘Driedaagase’ which means ‘three days’ in the native Flemish tongue. Despite the race taking place entirely in the province of West Flanders, it largely bypasses the fabled climbs and gruesome cobbled sectors that characterise the other Flandrian Classics held in the region. It’s the wind that often characterises this race, especially during the latter half when the peloton edge closer towards the coast and embark on a number of circuits around the finishing town of De Panne. The 2020 race was ravaged by the wind, making it one of the most attritional races of the entire season. Will we see the same thing again this year? Or will the weather gods look upon the riders fairly and allow another mass bunch sprint?

Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) claimed his third victory of the season at the Classic Brugge-De Panne, edging Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) at the finish line by millimetres in an agonisingly close sprint finish to end the 208-kilometre race.

The Belgian flew up the barriers in the closing metres, going head-to-head with his Dutch rival before prevailing by the finest of margins as Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) grabbed third just behind the duo.

“I launched quickly, and I was a bit lucky that the door didn’t close,” Merlier said after his victory. “I felt Groenewegen coming and had to ‘snake’ as we say, but in the end, it was just enough.

“The run-up to the sprint was actually indescribable. If they would show pictures of that… I’m glad I got to the finish safely. I knew the dangerous parts. A fresh peloton is always dangerous, of course.

“We’re not allowed on the bike path, but sometimes you just can’t do anything else when you have to swerve. That makes it extra dangerous, because you want to get off as soon as possible.

“Scheldeprijs is also coming up, but I’m quite satisfied with the season I’ve already ridden. It’s my third win already and I’m quite proud of that.”

QuickStep-AlphaVinyl had, unsurprisingly taken control at the head of the peloton inside the final kilometre of the race but come the final dash to the line their man Mark Cavendish was caught out of position, detached from lead-out man Michael Mørkøv.

At the front, 20-year-old Olav Kooij launched the sprint, going long as he hit the front with 250 metres left to run. That move proved a mistake, though, as the Jumbo-Visma rider was swamped closer to the line, with Merlier sneaking past against the barriers as Groenewegen jumped to the middle of the road.

The pair hit the wind at 150 metres to go and were barely separable to the line, the finish too close to call by the naked eye. Bouhanni came around the outside of Groenewegen but had only just missed the prime time to go, coming in less than a wheel length down on the top two.

Just behind the podium finishers, Max Walscheid (Cofidis) let out a road of frustration as he finished half a bike length off the win in between Merlier and Groenewegen. Kooij took fifth place ahead of Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ).

How it unfolded
Following Opening Weekend at the end of February, the 46th edition of the Classic Brugge-De Panne (well, its fifth as a one-day Classic), marked the start of the spring Northern Classics ‘proper’.

The 165-rider peloton at the start in Bruges would face 207.9 kilometres of more or less pan-flat roads en route to De Panne. A Classic without cobbles or hills, the riders would instead face the prospect of possible crosswinds on the way to the coast and on the three closing laps around De Panne.

A three-man jumped away from the peloton very early on in the stage during the quick start. Enrico Battaglin (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Dimitri Peyskens (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauzen-WB), and Jens Reynders (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) were the men in question, and they were immediately let go.

The break very quickly built a gap of two minutes as the sprinters’ teams bluffed over who would take over the pacemaking. After around a half an hour of racing, they were seven minutes up the road before QuickStep-AlphaVinyl’s Iljo Keisse relented and went to work at the front of the peloton.

Luckily for the peloton, and sadly for viewing fans, the possible wind never struck the race, with most of the afternoon passing without much incident. Instead, the riders could a clear sky, sunshine and temperatures of 17-18°C out on the road.

Inside the final 100 kilometres, that seven-minute gap had been brought back to a more manageable three minutes as QuickStep controlled the situation along with Bora-Hansgrohe and Alpecin-Fenix.

At 60km to go, the breakaway burst into life as the trio of riders approached the day’s only intermediate sprint, with Reynders leaping from the rear of the group to cross the line first. The prize, brought by race sponsor Minerva, a lifetime supply of e-bikes.

The feed zone followed, with riders taking on sustenance ahead of a certain fast finish in De Panne, while the bell rung for the final lap of the race shortly afterwards as the riders passed the 44-kilometre to go mark.

There, the break’s advantage was already down to 50 seconds, still with a long distance to go. The peloton would let the trio hang out front for a while yet, not ready to make the final catch until closer to the finish.

At 35km to go, Peyskens, sensing the end of the move was near, went solo at the head of the race, splitting up the breakaway as he sought a bit more TV time for his team. Reynders made it across as Battaglin faded back to the peloton, but a few kilometres later it was all over.

The peloton made the final catch at 31 kilometres to go, with Alpecin-Fenix and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl leading the way for their sprinters Tim Merlier and Mark Cavendish. Two kilometres later, a crash near the rear of the peloton held several riders up, with Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Niki Terpstra (TotalEnergies), and Jelle Wallays (Cofidis) among those caught out before chasing back on.

As the pace and nerves ramped up on the way to the final, there was another crash as Movistar’s Max Kanter and Johan Jacobs went down after a nasty collision with a race marshal.

Heading into the final 20 kilometres, Lotto Soudal (Arnaud De Lie) and Groupama-FDJ (for Arnaud Démare) moved up to wrest control at the front, though a number of other major sprint squads would flow to the front over the following kilometres, too.

BikeExchange-Jayco (for Dylan Groenewegen) led the way into the final 10 kilometres as the battle for position saw riders hopping onto bike paths and around marshals and road furniture in order to move up in the group.

At the rear of the peloton, riders were losing contact due to the high speeds at the front as the likes of Lotto Soudal, Bahrain Victorious and Cofidis also joined the battle for positions. Luckily, there were no major incidents on the run-in until the 1.5-kilometre mark.

There, exiting a corner in 10th position, Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) was left with nowhere to go on the outside by a Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB rider. The German couldn’t stay upright as he scraped the metal barrier and hit the deck hard, his race over. Just behind, Lotto Soudal’s Arnaud De Lie somehow managed to stay upright with a superb piece of bike handling.

Into the final kilometre it was Alpecin-Fenix rider Jonas Rickaert driving the pace at the head of the peloton, peeling off before QuickStep-AlphaVinyl took it up with Jannik Steimle and Bert Van Lerberghe.

Once their job had been done, it was Kooij who took over to launch the final dash from the line a long way out. To his right, it was Merlier who sped through to take the win by a tiny margin on the line.

Results :
1 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 4:45:41
2 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
4 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Cofidis
5 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
6 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
7 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis
8 Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
10 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
11 Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
12 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
13 Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team
14 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
15 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies
16 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel-Premier Tech
17 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
18 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
19 Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
20 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel-Premier Tech
21 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
22 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
23 Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-KTM
24 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
25 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel-Premier Tech
26 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
27 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
28 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
29 Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
30 Milan Fretin (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
31 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
32 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
33 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) TotalEnergies
34 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
35 Sam Welsford (Aus) Team DSM
36 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel-Premier Tech
37 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
38 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
39 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
40 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
41 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education-EasyPost
42 Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team
43 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
44 Sandy Dujardin (Fra) TotalEnergies
45 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:13
46 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team
47 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
48 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
49 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Jumbo-Visma
50 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:17
51 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:18
52 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
53 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
54 Campbell Stewart (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco
55 Stijn Steels (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
56 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
57 Markus Pajur (Est) Arkea-Samsic
58 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
59 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Arkea-Samsic
60 Bram Welten (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
61 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
62 Felix Groß (Ger) Uae Team Emirates
63 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
64 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Bahrain Victorious
65 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00:28
66 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
67 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Cofidis
68 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
69 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
70 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Lotto Soudal
71 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:37
72 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel-Premier Tech
73 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
74 Sasha Weemaes (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
75 Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
76 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
77 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM
78 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
79 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
80 Tom Bohli (Swi) Cofidis
81 Julius Johansen (Den) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
82 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
83 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:42
84 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00:45
85 Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:47
86 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
87 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM
88 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:49
89 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
90 Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange-Jayco
91 Maurice Ballerstedt (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
92 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
93 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
94 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel-Premier Tech 0:00:54
95 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-KTM
96 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Arkea-Samsic
97 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Arkea-Samsic
98 Alex Edmondson (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:01:04
99 Michael Gogl (Aut) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:07
100 Karl Patrick Lauk (Est) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:01:08
101 Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
102 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
103 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain Victorious
104 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
105 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) TotalEnergies
106 Jordi Warlop (Bel) B&B Hotels-KTM
107 Owain Doull (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost 0:01:10
108 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
109 Jules Hesters (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
110 Martin Urianstad (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
111 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
112 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
113 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
114 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Team DSM
115 Kelland O’Brien (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
116 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
117 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:17
118 Alexander Konychev (Ita) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:01:29
119 Niki Terpstra (Ned) TotalEnergies
120 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
121 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
122 Luca Colnaghi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
123 Adrien Petit (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
124 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis
125 Jonas Koch (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
126 Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost
127 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
128 Tuur Dens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
129 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
130 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
131 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
132 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
133 Kamil Gradek (Pol) Bahrain Victorious
134 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
135 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
136 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
137 Julien Vermote (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:50
138 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:03
139 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
140 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) EF Education-EasyPost 0:02:25
141 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
142 Luke Durbridge (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
143 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
144 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM
145 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
146 Lars Saugstad (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
147 Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:32
148 Jordi Meeus (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe
149 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirates
150 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel-Premier Tech 0:04:03
151 Daan Hoole (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
152 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:05:15
153 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
154 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:05:55
DNF Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) TotalEnergies
DNF Jelle Wallays (Bel) Cofidis
DNF Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Tim van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
DNF Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
DNS Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNS Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis
DNS Mikkel Honoré (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
DNS William Levy (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
DNS Julien Morice (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM