Flemish Cycling Week
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The Flemish Cycling Week (Dutch:Vlaamse Wielerweek) or simply Flemish Week, is a series of five road cycling races held in Flanders in late March and early April. The series in fact spans two weeks. It has begun with Tour of Bruges since 2018 and ends 11–12 days later with the Tour of Flanders, which is the most important race of the series.[1][2] Tour of Flanders is the oldest of the five races, first held in 1913. Tour of Bruges (formerly Three Days of De Panne and Classic Brugge–De Panne) is the youngest event, first held in 1977.
Since 2004, the races have begun to hold women's editions on the same day – as of 2026[update], four of the five races hold women's races, all part of the UCI Women's World Tour.
Events
[edit]Since 2018, the series has consisted of five one-day races for men:[3][4]
- Tour of Bruges, on Wednesday of the week before the Tour of Flanders. Known as Three Days of De Panne until 2017 and held as stage race from Tuesday to Thursday in the same week as the Tour of Flanders. From 2018, it was held as a one-day race called Classic Brugge–De Panne.
- E3 Saxo Bank Classic, on Friday or Saturday of the week before the Tour of Flanders. Previously known by other names, including E3 Harelbeke.
- Gent–Wevelgem, on Sunday before the Tour of Flanders
- Dwars door Vlaanderen, until 2017 held on Wednesday of the week before the Tour of Flanders, since 2018 in the same week
- Tour of Flanders, the final race of the series. First held in 1913, it is most prestigious of the five races, as one of the cycling monuments.
Originally the Brabantse Pijl was part of the Flemish Cycling Week as it was run the Sunday before the Tour of Flanders, but in 2010 it was rescheduled to a later date, because the race course was more suitable for riders participating in the Ardennes classics. The gap in the calendar was filled by Gent-Wevelgem, which used to be held on the Wednesday after the Tour of Flanders.
Winners (since 1990)
[edit]From 1990 till 2009
[edit]
From 2010 till 2017
[edit]
From 2018
[edit]In 2018, multi-stage race Three Days of De Panne was rebranded as one-day race Classic Brugge–De Panne and moved to mid-March.[5] From 2026, it rebranded as Tour of Bruges.
Women's races
[edit]Since 2004, the races have begun to hold women's editions on the same day – as of 2026[update], four of the five races hold women's races, all held as part of the UCI Women's World Tour.
- Tour of Bruges, held on Wednesday of the week before the Tour of Flanders. A women's race was first held in 2018 under the Classic Brugge–De Panne name, and has been part of the UCI Women's World Tour since 2018.[6]
- Gent–Wevelgem, on Sunday before the Tour of Flanders. A women's race was first held in 2012, and has been part of the UCI Women's World Tour since its inception in 2016.[7]
- Dwars door Vlaanderen, held on Wednesday of the Tour of Flanders. A women's race was first held in 2012, and has been part of the UCI Women's World Tour since 2026.[8]
- Tour of Flanders, the oldest of the four races, hosting a women's race from 2004. It has been part of the UCI Women's World Tour since its inception in 2016.[9]
A women's edition of E3 Saxo Bank Classic was held between 2022 and 2023 under the name Leiedal Koerse, but the 2024 edition was cancelled due to financial issues.[10]
References
[edit]- ↑ Axelgaard, Emil. "E3 Harelbeke preview, 27.03.2015". Cycling Quotes. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
- ↑ "Spring Classics: How to win cycling's hardest one-day races". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
- ↑ Jucobin, Raphaël (24 March 2026). "Flemish Cycling Week begins: where are races taking place?". Brussels Times. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ↑ Westerby, John (2023-03-30). "Beer, cobbles, a million fans – welcome to Belgian road cycling's 'Holy Week'". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ↑ "Excitement builds in Flanders as the 'Super Bowl of Flemish cycling' begins this week". The Brussels Times. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
- ↑ Mitchell, Mathew (2026-03-05). "A brief history of Women's Ronde van Brugge". ProCyclingUK. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ↑ Mitchell, Mathew (2026-03-08). "A brief history of Gent-Wevelgem Women". ProCyclingUK. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ↑ Mitchell, Mathew (2026-03-11). "A brief history of Dwars door Vlaanderen Women". ProCyclingUK. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ↑ Mitchell, Mathew (2026-03-15). "A brief history of Tour of Flanders Women". ProCyclingUK. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ↑ Weislo, Laura (2024-01-19). "Women's E3 Saxo Classic called off as organisers fear financial hit". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
