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Classic Brugge-De Panne
Race details
Date	Late March
Region	West Flanders, Belgium
English name	Three Days of Bruges–De Panne
Local name(s)	Driedaagse Brugge–De Panne (in Dutch)
Discipline	Road race
Competition	UCI World Tour (men) ; UCI World Tour (women)
Type	Three day stage-race (until 2017); Single-day race (for men & women, since 2018)
Organiser	KVC Panne Sportief
Race director	Bernard Vandekerckhove
Web site	classicbruggedepanne.be
Men's race history
First edition	1977
Editions	48 (as of 2024)
First winner	Roger Rosiers (BEL)
Most wins	Eric Vanderaerden (BEL) (5 wins)
Most recent	Jasper Philipsen (BEL)
Women's race history
First edition	2018
Editions	7 (as of 2024)
First winner	Jolien D'Hoore (BEL)
Most wins	No repeat winners
Most recent	Elisa Balsamo (ITA)

The Classic Brugge–De Panne is a road cycling race in Belgium in late March. Since 2018 it is raced over two days with a men's race on Wednesday and a women's race on Thursday.^[1] Both races start in Bruges and finish in the seaside resort of De Panne.^[2]

The women's event is included in the UCI Women's World Tour; the men's race was part of the UCI Europe Tour as a 1.HC event, but was promoted to the UCI World Tour as a 1.WT event in 2019.^[3] The 2020 edition was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

History

Three Days of De Panne

The Three Days of De Panne was created in 1977 as a three-day cycling event in the week leading up to the Tour of Flanders, in late March or early April. The first day was usually a hilly stage starting in De Panne and finishing in the Flemish Ardennes. The second day held a long flat stage back to the Flemish coast, with a finish in Koksijde. The third day consisted of two stages that both started and finished in De Panne, of which the final stage was an individual time trial. Raced from Tuesday to Thursday, it was the last Flemish race ahead of the Tour of Flanders and was considered a desirable preparation for the main event on Sunday. Eric Vanderaerden, a strong sprinter and time triallist, won the race five times in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Three Days of Bruges–De Panne

Since 2018, the Three Days of De Panne is raced under a new format following a calendar switch with Dwars door Vlaanderen.^[1]^{[N 1]} The race comes one week earlier, in the week following Milan–San Remo, and the men's event has morphed into a one-day race on Wednesday.^[5] The Flemish Ardennes roads and the concluding time trial were abandoned in favour of a route entirely in the province of West Flanders. The iconic Kemmelberg and several cobbled sectors have a more prominent part in the new course.^[6]

In order to continue the multi-day format, a women's event was inaugurated on the day after the men's race.^{[N 2]} Both races start in Bruges and have two finishing circuits in and around De Panne. The women's race is part of the UCI Women's World Tour, cycling's top tier professional competition.^[7]^[8] Jolien D'Hoore won the first running of the women's Three Days in a sprint.^[9]

Winners

Men's race

Year	Country	Rider	Team
↓ "Three Days of De Panne" ↓
1977	Belgium	Roger Rosiers	Frisol–Thirion–Gazelle
1978	Belgium	Guido Van Sweevelt	IJsboerke–Gios
1979	Belgium	Gustave Van Roosbroeck	IJsboerke–Warncke
1980	Ireland	Sean Kelly	Splendor–Admiral
1981	Belgium	Jan Bogaert	Vermeer Thijs
1982	Netherlands	Gerrie Knetemann	TI–Raleigh
1983	Netherlands	Cees Priem	TI–Raleigh
1984	Netherlands	Bert Oosterbosch	Panasonic
1985	Belgium	Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke	La Redoute
1986	Belgium	Eric Vanderaerden	Panasonic
1987	Belgium	Eric Vanderaerden	Panasonic–Isostar
1988	Belgium	Eric Vanderaerden	Panasonic–Isostar
1989	Belgium	Eric Vanderaerden	Panasonic–Isostar
1990	Netherlands	Erwin Nijboer	Stuttgart
1991	Netherlands	Jelle Nijdam	Buckler–Colnago–Decca
1992	Netherlands	Frans Maassen	Buckler–Colnago–Decca
1993	Belgium	Eric Vanderaerden	WordPerfect–Colnago–Decca
1994	Italy	Fabio Roscioli	Brescialat–Ceramiche Refin
1995	Italy	Michele Bartoli	Mercatone Uno–Saeco
1996	Russia	Viatcheslav Ekimov	Rabobank
1997	Belgium	Johan Museeuw	Mapei–GB
1998	Italy	Michele Bartoli	Asics–CGA
1999	Belgium	Peter Van Petegem	TVM–Farm Frites
2000	Russia	Viatcheslav Ekimov	U.S. Postal Service
2001	Belgium	Nico Mattan	Cofidis
2002	Belgium	Peter Van Petegem	Lotto–Adecco
2003	Latvia	Raivis Belohvoščiks	Marlux–Wincor Nixdorf
2004	United States	George Hincapie	U.S. Postal Service
2005	Belgium	Stijn Devolder	Discovery Channel
2006	Belgium	Leif Hoste	Discovery Channel
2007	Italy	Alessandro Ballan	Lampre–Fondital
2008	Netherlands	Joost Posthuma	Rabobank
2009	Belgium	Frederik Willems	Liquigas
2010	Great Britain	David Millar	Garmin–Transitions
2011	Belgium	Sébastien Rosseler	Team RadioShack
2012	France	Sylvain Chavanel	Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
2013	France	Sylvain Chavanel	Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
2014	Belgium	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Omega Pharma–Quick-Step
2015	Norway	Alexander Kristoff	Team Katusha
2016	Netherlands	Lieuwe Westra	Astana
2017	Belgium	Philippe Gilbert	Quick-Step Floors
↓ "Three Days of Bruges–De Panne" ↓
2018	Italy	Elia Viviani	Quick-Step Floors
2019	Netherlands	Dylan Groenewegen	Team Jumbo–Visma
2020	Belgium	Yves Lampaert	Deceuninck–Quick-Step
↓ "Classic Bruges–De Panne" ↓
2021	Ireland	Sam Bennett	Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2022	Belgium	Tim Merlier	Alpecin–Fenix
2023	Belgium	Jasper Philipsen	Alpecin–Deceuninck
2024	Belgium	Jasper Philipsen	Alpecin–Deceuninck

Multiple winners

Wins	Rider	Editions
5	Eric Vanderaerden (BEL)	1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993
2	Michele Bartoli (ITA)	1995, 1998
	Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS)	1996, 2000
	Jasper Philipsen (BEL)	2023, 2024
	Peter Van Petegem (BEL)	1999, 2002
	Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)	2012, 2013

Wins per country

Wins	Country
24	Belgium
9	Netherlands
5	Italy
2	France Ireland Russia
1	Great Britain Latvia Norway United States

Women's race

Year	Country	Rider	Team
2018	Belgium	Jolien D'Hoore	Mitchelton–Scott
2019	Netherlands	Kirsten Wild	WNT–Rotor Pro Cycling
2020	Netherlands	Lorena Wiebes	Team Sunweb
2021	Australia	Grace Brown	Team BikeExchange
2022	Italy	Elisa Balsamo	Trek–Segafredo
2023	Great Britain	Pfeiffer Georgi	Team DSM
2024	Italy	Elisa Balsamo	Lidl–Trek

Multiple winners

Wins	Rider	Editions
2	Elisa Balsamo (ITA)	2022, 2024

Wins per country

Wins	Country
2	Netherlands Italy
1	Australia Belgium Great Britain Italy

Notes

^ Flanders Classics, organizer of Dwars door Vlaanderen, lobbied with UCI and was granted the date formerly held by the Three Days of De Panne. The organizers of the Three Days were granted the slot held by Dwars door Vlaanderen, but chose to shorten their race, as the next Flemish classic, E3 Harelbeke, is raced on a Friday.
^ Initially the Three Days organizers had another three-day concept in mind, with a two-day contest for men and one day for women. The event would kick off with a sprinters challenge on Tuesday, but this idea was abandoned due to a lack of teams' interest. However, organizers intend to return to a three-day format in the future.^[1]