Today, racing returns to Belgium with the Classic Brugge-De Panne and its 19.6 flat kilometers, with victory most likely coming after a sprint featuring the best sprinters of the moment.

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After departing from Markt in Brugge, men and women will face routes of 195.6 and 152.7 kilometers respectively. There are no climbs to overcome along a route as flat as a billiard table, and the only difficulty might come from crosswinds. The weather forecast doesn't predict rain, but the danger will be at De Moeren, where there's always the risk of echelons forming in case of crosswinds.

If sprinters manage to pass De Moeren unscathed, a group sprint would be the only possible conclusion of the race. Passing through Nieuwpoort, the peloton will then arrive at Sint-Idesbald, where the first of three (for men) or two (for women) local laps will begin, each measuring 42.9 kilometers. As always, the finish line is on Zeelaan in De Panne, where last year Jasper Philipsen and Elisa Balsamo were victorious. The first sprint will actually take place on the wide Kerkstraat, where positioning well before the final right turn onto Zeelaan in De Panne is crucial. 400 meters from the finish, riders will turn right towards the finish line.

Last year's sprint was won by Jasper Philipsen, but after his crash last week at Nokere Koerse and a disappointing Milan-Sanremo, the number one favorite becomes Tim Merlier. The European champion has secured six victories, starting with the AlUla Tour, then the UAE Tour, and finishing at Paris-Nice.

Among the favorites is also Jonathan Milan, who performed excellently at Tirreno-Adriatico. The Lidl-Trek rider is considered one of the best sprinters in the World Tour, and a victory at Classic De Panne could be an excellent calling card for his entire spring season. Another rider who could win today is Olav Kooij, who will be the lead rider for Visma-Lease a Bike at De Panne. Dylan Groenewegen cannot be excluded from a possible victory, just like Fabio Jakobsen.

Also at the start are Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), two riders who demonstrated great initiative at the beginning of the season at Tour Down Under. Continuing with potential winners, we must include Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) who have shown excellent form in recent weeks.

To conclude, in the sprint, others who might do well include Gerben Thijssen, Arne Marit (Intermarchè-Wanty), Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Emirates XRG), Arnaud Démarre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Matteo Malucelli and Max Kanter (XDS Astana), Hugo Hofstetter (Israel Premier Tech), Arnaud De Lie and Elia Viviani (Lotto, racing together for the first time), Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ), Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL), Alexander Kristoff and Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), Alberto Dainese (Tudor) and Pierre Barbier (Wagner Bazin WB).

START LIST

Alpecin - Deceuninck
1. PHILIPSEN Jasper
2. GAZE Samuel
3. GHYS Robbe
4. HOLLMANN Juri
5. KIELICH Timo
6. RICKAERT Jonas
7. VAN DEN BOSSCHE Fabio

Team Visma | Lease a Bike
11. KOOIJ Olav
12. BEHRENS Niklas
13. CAMPENAERTS Victor
14. MCLAY Daniel
15. VAN BELLE Loe
16. VAN DER SANDE Tosh
17. VERMOTE Julien

Soudal Quick-Step
21. MERLIER Tim
22. BASTIAENS Ayco
23. LAMPAERT Yves
24. LAMPERTI Luke
25. VAN LERBERGHE Bert
26. VANGHELUWE Warre
27. ČERNÝ Josef

Lidl - Trek
31. MILAN Jonathan
32. CONSONNI Simone
33. DECLERCQ Tim
34. KIRSCH Alex
35. MOSCA Jacopo
36. TEUTENBERG Tim Torn
37. THEUNS Edward

Intermarché - Wanty
41. PETIT Adrien
42. ARTZ Huub
43. REX Laurenz
44. THIJSSEN Gerben
45. VAN DER HOORN Taco
46. VAN HOECKE Gijs
47. VAN SINTMAARTENSDIJK Roel

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
51. WELSFORD Sam
52. MACIEJUK Filip
53. MOSCON Gianni
54. MULLEN Ryan
55. VAN DIJKE Mick
56. LAZKANO Oier
57. VAN POPPEL Danny

UAE Team Emirates - XRG
61. VERMEERSCH Florian
62. LAENGEN Vegard Stake
63. BJERG Mikkel
64. BARONCINI Filippo
65. HERREGODTS Rune
66. MOLANO Juan Sebastián
67. MORGADO António

Movistar Team
71. NORSGAARD Mathias
72. AULAR Orluis
73. MORO Manlio
74. SERRANO Gonzalo
75. CIMOLAI Davide
76. GARCÍA CORTINA Iván
77. MILESI Lorenzo

EF Education - EasyPost
81. ALBANESE Vincenzo
82. DOULL Owain
83. MIHKELS Madis
84. ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack
85. SWEENY Harry
86. TODOME Yuhi
87. WALKER Max

Groupama - FDJ
91. BARTHE Cyril
92. DAVY Clément
93. JACOBS Johan
94. RUSSO Clément
95. LE HUITOUZE Eddy
96. PENHOËT Paul
97. WALLS Matthew

Bahrain - Victorious
101. BAUHAUS Phil
102. BRUTTOMESSO Alberto
103. ERŽEN Žak
104. VAN MECHELEN Vlad
105. SKERL Daniel
106. ERMAKOV Roman
107. ARNDT Nikias

Team Jayco AlUla
111. GROENEWEGEN Dylan
112. DONALDSON Robert
113. O'BRIEN Kelland
114. REINDERS Elmar
115. WALSCHEID Max
116. GAMPER Patrick
117. KRIJNSEN Jelte

Team Picnic PostNL
121. JAKOBSEN Fabio
122. ANDRESEN Tobias Lund
123. LEIJNSE Enzo
124. MÄRKL Niklas
125. VAN DEN BERG Julius
126. VAN UDEN Casper
127. WELTEN Bram

Arkéa - B&B Hotels
131. DÉMARE Arnaud
132. GRONDIN Donavan
133. LOZOUET Léandre
134. MOZZATO Luca
135. SCOTSON Miles
136. EPIS Giosuè
137. THIERRY Pierre

Cofidis
141. FRETIN Milan
142. ALLEGAERT Piet
143. IZQUIERDO Clément
144. KNIGHT Oliver
145. RENARD Alexis
146. ROBEET Ludovic
147. TOUZÉ Damien

XDS Astana Team
151. BALLERINI Davide
152. GAZZOLI Michele
153. FEDOROV Yevgeniy
154. TONEATTI Davide
155. KANTER Max
156. MALUCELLI Matteo
157. ROMELE Alessandro

Israel - Premier Tech
161. PICKRELL Riley
162. BOIVIN Guillaume
163. CÔTÉ Pier-André
164. HOFSTETTER Hugo
165. RAISBERG Nadav
166. SCHWARZMANN Michael
167. VAN ASBROECK Tom

Lotto
171. DE LIE Arnaud
172. DE BUYST Jasper
173. GIDDINGS Joshua
174. TAMINIAUX Lionel
175. DE SCHUYTENEER Steffen
176. VEISTROFFER Baptiste
177. VIVIANI Elia

Uno-X Mobility
181. KRISTOFF Alexander
182. BLIKRA Erlend
183. FREDHEIM Stian
184. HVIDEBERG Jonas Iversby
185. RESELL Erik Nordsæter
186. WÆRENSKJOLD Søren
187. WALLIN Rasmus Bøgh

Team Flanders - Baloise
191. CRABBE Tom
192. DE VYLDER Lindsay
193. VERCOUILLIE Victor
194. DENS Tuur
195. GERITS Vince
196. HESTERS Jules
197. VANDENBRANDEN Noah

Team TotalEnergies
201. BONIFACE Lucas
202. BOULAHOITE Rayan
203. DAUPHIN Florian
204. JEANNIÈRE Emilien
205. MANZIN Lorrenzo
206. MARCEROU Nicola
207. SOUPE Geoffrey

Wagner Bazin WB
211. BARBIER Pierre
212. DESAL Ceriel
213. LAMBRECHT Michiel
214. RENARD-HAQUIN Henri-François
215. REYNDERS Jens
216. VAN ROOY Kenneth
217. WEEMAES Sasha

Tudor Pro Cycling Team
221. DAINESE Alberto
222. FROIDEVAUX Robin
223. HEMING Miká
224. KLUCKERS Arthur
225. KOLZE CHANGIZI Sebastian
226. MIKUTIS Aivaras
227. ZIJLAARD Maikel