Multiple crashes in 5 kilometers - Juan Sebastián Molano wins apocalyptic finale to Classic Brugge-De Panne
Cycling
This year's Classic Brugge-De Panne had what was perhaps the most chaotic finale possibly imaginable. Most of the main favourites crashed in the final 5 kilometers, as there were several falls that effectively cut the peloton to around 20 riders by the time of the final sprint. There, Juan Sebastián Molano took a strong win after a very early sprint.
The pan-flat race hosted many and most of the world's very best sprinters, and with the wind not blowing very hard today, a regular bunch sprint was expected and very hard to prevent. Five riders formed the day's breakaway featuring a surprising António Morgado, Hartthijs de Vries, Jorem Bloem, Michiel Lambrecht and Victor Vercouillie gave the day some much deserved action.
The group collaborated well and held on despite the very high average speed on the day, and with 15 kilometers to go De Vries launched his own move to go solo off the front. The Unibet Tietema Rockets rider resisted the surging peloton very well, and inside the final 5 kilometers crashes began to happen in the peloton involving several riders.
The Dutchman was absorbed by the peloton with just over 2 kilometers to go, seconds later there was yet another mass crash taking out within others Milan Fretin and Arnaud De Lie, cutting the peloton into around a mere 40 riders. It became a pure game of survival as inside the final kilometers there was yet another mass crash in what remained of the peloton, where at least Tim Merlier went down.
Juan Sebastián Molano, within the absolute chaos, launched his sprint with 450 meters to go, quickly getting a gap as he did not have a response. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider's bold tactic worked to perfection as he took advantage of the hesitation from a few other sprinters, and after a brutally long sprint the Colombian took what might be the biggest victory of his career. Jonathan Milan was second on the day, the fastest in the sprint but not able to catch Molano.
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The finale of this race was an absolute mess, and the last crash that took out 1/2 of the field was caused when a double width road very suddenly funneled into a single lane, and riders had nowhere to go. I find it amazing how some of these courses get approved in the first place. So much for the UCI's campaign for improved rider safety, because if they actually cared, the organizers wouldn't have been allowed to run the finale on this parcours.
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- agreed. flanders is a beast. i like tadej, but i’m full on rooting for mathieu next sunday.OCexile29-03-2025
- Indeed, strong as ever on the flat, maybe stronger on climbs. There are very few records within reach for contemporary riders (Cabendish had to extend his career to get his and took twice as long as Merckx to equality), this would be one that would be very hard to take away.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- I thought newspeak was condensing any statement into the smallest number of pertinent words.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- flanders is mvdp’s favorite race and he’s one win away from being the lone record holder with 4 wins. i’d be very surprised if the gap that pogačar opened in him there 2 years ago wasn’t THE major focus of all his training. and when mathieu has a goal, he turns himself inside out to achieve it. we’ll see next week if he got there, but i’d agree with van avermat’s assessment of van der poel’s fitness.OCexile29-03-2025
- It’s almost like newspeak. It’s classics season, Pogacar’s main rival has always been van der Poel. Then grand tour season will begin, and we will pivot mid sentence and Pogacar’s main rival will have always been Vingegaard. What a season this promises to be. Let’s hope they stay healthy (and Vingegaard gets past the concussion).RidesHills29-03-2025
- Great that he’s decided to do Flanders though his weight remark is irrelevant, Mads is proportionately heavier and MVDP has the same weight but is around 10cm shorter.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- Yeah, looks slow up there.Jumpyjohn28-03-2025
- lol His aim was well off! MVP was well past him before the guy decided to spit.Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025
- But you know that’s what makes this website live ;-)Mistermaumau28-03-2025
- I hope he stays upright too and I hope that in this years Paris Roubaix we get a proper good old fashioned man against man race. Can't wait!Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025