Belgian sprint ace Jasper Philipsen won a bunch finish to claim the Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne classic on Sunday.
Philipsen was also third in Saturday’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad one-day race making the Alpecin man the form sprinter coming into the European season.
The two races that make up “opening weekend” both feature narrow roads, cobbled sections and hills and mark the start of the one- day classics in Belgium, northern France, the Netherlands and Italy.
Philipsen’s edged Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij of Visma and the Frenchman Hugo Hofstetter of Israel PT for his first win of the 2025 season.