CyclistRonde van Brugge 2026 preview: Route, favourites, how to watch and start listBetween the hills and cobbles, the sprinters have a moment of serenity this week with the newly-named Ronde van Brugge. Set to take place on Wednesday 25th March (men) and Thursday 26th March (women), this Belgian Classic will offer the fast men and women a shot at glory in the WorldTours quickest Classic.Although it may seem like a new kid on the block, the Ronde van Brugge has changed name and format more times than you can shake a stick at it. It started life in 1977 as a three-day race known as the Driedaagse De Panne, then transitioned to a one-day race in 2018 under the Brugge-De Panne guise. In 2026, itll be known as the Ronde van Brugge for the first time.Owing to the new name, the route now focuses on the tourist hotspot of Bruges, mixing the old city centre with the cobblestone roads surrounding urban Bruges. A sprint is likely, but a sprinkling of pav could animate the race in its new form.While the parcours is completely different to the seaside finale adopted by Brugge-De Panne, the sprinters are keen to return to Brugge this week, with Jasper Philipsen, Lara Gillespie, Elisa Balsamo and Arnaud De Lie among the starters. Related Posts A history of cycling in 6 objects at the Koers Museum, Flanders Volta a Catalunya 2026 preview: Route, favourites, how to watch and start list Cycling Spring Classics 2026: Race dates, Monuments, cobbles and live TV guide Ronde van Brugge 2026 key informationXavier PereyronDate: Mens Wednesday 25th March; Womens Thursday 26th MarchStart: Brugge, BelgiumFinish: Brugge, BelgiumDistance: Mens 202.9km; Womens 143.8kmTelevision coverage: TNT Sports, Sporza, Max, FloBikesPrevious winners: Mens Juan Sebastin Molano (UAE Team Emirates XRG); Womens Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)Ronde van Brugge 2026 routeBoth races will begin in Brugess historic Markt. From there, theyll make a big detour to the south of Bruges, passing through Torhout and Beernem. As they navigate the eastern outskirts, the peloton will cross the cobbled sector of Brieversweg. This 1.8km-long street looks relatively simple for Classics standards, but itll still test the groups legs.The final half of both races take place on a smaller circuit covering Brugess eastern and northern periphery. The men will cover two laps of the 60km loop, while the women will do one lap. This means the mens route will include 5.4km of cobbles in comparison to the womens tamer 3.6km.The arrival into Bruges is straightforward, with the sprint expected near the Ezelpoort. This takes the men;s race to a total distance of 202km, with just 400m elevation gain, and 143km for the women.Ronde van Brugge 2026 favouritesLuc Claessen/Getty ImagesDont let the cobbles fool you, the Ronde van Brugge is definitely one for the sprinters. Since weve moved slightly inland, the crosswinds will also play less of a role than usual.Jasper Philipsen will start as the out-and-out favourite in 2026. A two-time winner of this race when it finished in De Panne, Philipsen is one of the fastest finishers in the world and he boasts a well-drilled leadout train at his Alpecin-Premier Tech squad. While the start of the season appeared rocky for the Belgian, he looked strong last week, having bounced back to win Nokere Koerse in a hectic bunch sprint.Dylan Groenewegen has been smashing the one-day races as of late. Just last week, he claimed two one-day wins at Koksije Classic and the GP Jean-Pierre Monser, triumphing in a bunch sprint at both. His Unibet-Rose Rockets squad will be highly motivated to keep this momentum going, and maybe even claim a first WorldTour victory.As for other names, Pavel Bittner of Picnic-PostNL is a reliable finisher, even if his 2026 record lacks a victory. Luke Lamperti was on cracking form a fortnight ago, which suggests hell have the legs to contest a podium finish in Belgium on Wednesday. Arnaud De Lie will also be eagre to get a big result ahead of his big Flemish objectives.Cyclists ratings: Mens race: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck): Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet-Rose Rockets): Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto): Milan Fretin (Cofidis), Luke Lamperti (EF Education-EasyPost), Sren Wrenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility): Madis Mihkels (EF Education-EasyPost), Laurenz Rex (Soudal-QuickStep), Tom Crabbe (Flanders-Baloise), Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana), Jenthe Biermans (Cofidis)The start list for the womens race is still to be confirmed. We will update the favourites once we have more information.Ronde van Brugge 2026: How to watchThe Ronde van Brugge races are only available to watch in the UK and Ireland onTNT Sports 2. If youre tuning in online, the race will be on HBO Max, the service that has taken over Discovery+.In North America, the races will be available on FloBikes and HBO Max. For local free-to-air coverage, Flemish channel VRTs Sporza is your best bet.If the races arent being broadcast in your country, or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your devices location to access content that is normally geo-blocked.Read more:How to watch cycling for less in the UKRead more:Which countries can watch cycling for free in 2026Ronde van Brugge 2026: UK TV timesMens race: Wednesday 25th MarchTNT Sports online:14:15-16:55 GMTTNT Sports 2: 14:15-17:00 GMTWomens race: Thursday 26th MarchTNT Sports online:14:15-16:45 GMTTNT Sports 2: 14:00-16:45Ronde van Brugge 2026 start listsData powered by FirstCycling.comData powered by FirstCycling.comThe post Ronde van Brugge 2026 preview: Route, favourites, how to watch and start list appeared first on Cyclist.