Headbutts, crashes, yellow cards, injuries, repentant race directors – Wednesday’s wildly controversial edition of Brugge-De Panne had it all, and probably more.
European champion Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) required stitches, Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto) was rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung and broken rib, and Giro d’Italia hopeful Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) was left with heavy abrasions after at least four crashes decimated the finish of Wednesday’s one-dayer.
Sprint contenders Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Alexander Kristoff (Uno X Mobility), and race-winner Juan Molano (UAE Emirates-XRG) were lucky to keep it upright through five kilometers of pure carnage.
However, rather than leaving the race with broken bones or winner’s trophies, Milan and Kristoff took home yellow cards and 500 CHF fines.
Race footage shows the strapping speedsters exchanging headbutts and shoulder barges as they blasted toward the line in the reduced bunch.
The race jury later sanctioned them both for “obstruction by a rider or vehicle in order to prevent or delay the movement of another rider or vehicle.”
Michael Swartzmann (Israel-Premier Tech) was also hit with yellow for “decelerating during a sprint and endangering other riders.” pic.twitter.com/up14BC1T0m — Robje (@PutzeysRobbe) March 26, 2025 Riders rail at route design: ‘There has to be something that can be changed’ Those are only the headlines from a breathless, brutal final of a race that had been celebrated as “The Super Bowl of the Sprinters.”Questions are now being asked about the suitability of the extra-sensory urban run toward the line in central De Panne.A series of narrowings and pinch-points […]
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