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 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]
Eric Vanderaerden(pictured at the 1993 Tour de France) won the Three Days of De Panne five times, relying on strong sprint and time trialling abilities.
^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]