The Tour of Bruges fully caters to sprinters. The flat course in and around the West Flemish provincial capital offers the fastest riders in the peloton an excellent opportunity to shine at WorldTour level on Wednesday, March 25 (men) and Thursday, March 26 (women). Safety is the top priority along the course. The finish line is set on the outskirts of the city, on the wide Gulden-Vlieslaan.
Unlike most spring classics, the Tour of Bruges deliberately opts for a perfectly flat course. The route of the brand-new race, the successor to the Classic Brugge-De Panne, features two large loops: a southern loop through Torhout, Wingene, and Beernem, and a northern loop via the picturesque towns of Damme, Koolkerke, and Dudzele in the Bruges region. A passage through Oostkamp connects both loops.
The northern loop includes part of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships time trial course, which finished in Bruges, including several fast kilometers along the Damse Vaart. The Brieversweg, the only cobbled section of the course, is also on the northern loop. The men will ride this loop three times and the southern loop once, for a total of 202.9 km. The women will ride both loops once, totaling 143.7 km.
With a team presentation and unofficial start on the Markt, the historic city center of Bruges is the beating heart of the race. The finish is located on the city’s outskirts on the Gulden-Vlieslaan, just a stone’s throw from ’t Zand, where the podium ceremony will take place afterward. Thanks to the looped route, spectators will be able to see the riders pass by multiple times, both along the course and at the finish. The men will cross the finish line twice before the final sprint, the women once.
SAFETY IS THE TOP PRIORITY
The Gulden-Vlieslaan was carefully selected by the organizers Golazo and vzw Koninklijke Veloclub Panne Sportief (KVCPS), in close consultation with the city of Bruges. Safety is the top priority. The sprint preparation – the final 10 km of the race – will take place on obstacle-free roads, and the Gulden-Vlieslaan itself is a wide avenue. In the final 200 meters, inflatable “finish barriers” from Safe Cycling will be installed. All other known safety tools from Safe Cycling, such as LED totems and crash cushions, will also be deployed at the finish and along the course, along with a large team of mobile marshals. A safety analysis of the course will also be conducted by the organizers and shared with all participating teams two weeks before the race.
TOP PARTICIPANT FIELD
The Tour of Bruges is part of the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour, welcoming the best teams in the world. On the men’s side, 16 UCI WorldTeams will participate: Alpecin-Premier Tech, Bahrain-Victorious, Decathlon CMA CMG, EF Education-Easypost, Groupama FDJ United, Ineos Grenadiers, Lidl-Trek, Lotto-Intermarché, Movistar Team, NSN Cycling Team, Soudal Quick-Step, Team Jayco Alula, Team Picnic PostNL, UAE Team Emirates XRG, Uno-X-Mobility, and XDS Astana Team. These will be joined by six UCI ProTeams: Cofidis, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, Burgos-Burpellet-BH, Team Flanders-Baloise, TotalEnergies, and Unibet Rose Rockets.
On the women’s side, 18 teams will start, including 14 UCI Women’s WorldTour teams (AG Insurance-Soudal Team, Canyon//Sram Zondacrypto, EF Education-Oatly, FDJ United-Suez, Fenix-Premier Tech, Human Powered Health, Lidl-Trek Women, Liv-Alula-Jayco, Movistar Team, Team Picnic PostNL, Team SD Worx-Protime, Team Visma-Lease a Bike, UAE Team ADQ, and Uno-X-Mobility) and 4 UCI ProTeams (Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi, Volkerwessels Cycling Team, Lotto Intermarché Ladies, and ST Michel-Preference Homme-Auber93).
For most teams, rider line-ups are not yet final. Alpecin-Premier Tech has already confirmed a team built around Jasper Philipsen, two-time winner of the Classic Brugge-De Panne, ten-time stage winner in the Tour de France, and 2024 Milan-Sanremo champion. Two other Belgian sprinters – both recent winners in preparatory southern races – are also confirmed for March 25 in Bruges: 24-year-old Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and 20-year-old Tom Crabbe (Team Flanders-Baloise).
SPECIAL OLYMPICS
Naast de absolute top van het profwielrennen bij de mannen en vrouwen komen ook Special Olympics-renners naar Brugge om te koersen. In addition to the elite men’s and women’s fields, Special Olympics athletes will compete in Bruges. They will race on Wednesday, March 25 at the Gulden-Vlieslaan finish area, shortly after the men’s start. The Tour of Bruges will mark the opening of the Special Olympics cycling season, with Golazo once again as a partner.
“TWO DAYS OF THRILL AND SPECTACLE”
Dirk De fauw, Mayor of Bruges: “With the new Tour of Bruges, we strengthen our image as the city of cycling. Such major sporting events also bring opportunities in tourism and the economy. The route covers a large part of our city: Sint-Andries, Sint-Kruis, Dudzele… The Tour of Bruges will be a celebration for every citizen, both in the historic city center and in the surrounding districts.”
Bruges Alderman for Sports Olivier Strubbe: “The Tour of Bruges will be a top sporting event. I dare to call it the ‘unofficial world championship for sprinters.’ The fastest women and men in the international peloton rarely have the chance to compete in a one-day UCI WorldTour race. Bruges confirms its name as the city of cycling and offers cycling fans from home and abroad two days of excitement and spectacle.”
PRACTICAL INFORMATION TOUR OF BRUGES
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
UCI World Tour (Men Elite):
• 10:45 – Team buses (‘t Zand)
• 11:15 – Team presentation (Markt)
• 12:45 – Start Tour of Bruges (Markt)
• 14:45 – 1st passage (Gulden-Vlieslaan)
• 16:00 – 2nd passage (Gulden-Vlieslaan)
• 17:15 – Finish (Gulden-Vlieslaan)
• 17:30 – Podium ceremony (‘t Zand)
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Special Olympics:
• 13:15–14:15 – Special Olympics race (Gulden-Vlieslaan)
Thursday, March 26, 2026
UCI Women’s World Tour (Women Elite):
• 11:30 – Team buses (‘t Zand)
• 12:00 – Team presentation (Markt)
• 13:30 – Start Tour of Bruges (Markt)
• 15:45 – 1st passage (Gulden-Vlieslaan)
• 17:10 – Finish (Gulden-Vlieslaan)
• 17:30 – Podium ceremony (‘t Zand)
