Gent-Wevelgem

Gent-Wevelgem, officially named In Flanders Fields - from Middelkerke to Wevelgem since 2026, is a WorldTour one-day bike race held in late March across the flatlands and low hills of western Flanders, linking Ypres, the Kemmelberg, and the North Sea coast in a route shaped as much by weather as by terrain.

Gent-Wevelgem is the Flemish spring classic that stays out of the Flemish Ardennes. It crosses the windy plain of De Moeren near the coast, climbs the cobbled Kemmelberg and passes the First World War front around Ypres on its way to a flat finish in Wevelgem. Its official name is now In Flanders Fields – from Middelkerke to Wevelgem.

From Ghent to Middelkerke: where Gent-Wevelgem starts

Gustaaf Van Belle won the first Gent-Wevelgem in 1934. It began as an autumn race and moved to the spring in 1947. Wevelgem has crowned the winner every time since 1934, and the finish line is on the Vanackerestraat.

The start has been less settled. Ghent last hosted it in 2003, and from 2004 the riders left from Deinze, 15 kilometers outside the city. From 2020 to 2025 the race started in Ypres. In 2026 it moved to Middelkerke on the North Sea coast under a ten-year agreement, and the organizer, Flanders Classics, gave the men’s race its new name. It was the first change of name since 1934, and the 2026 race still counted as the 88th edition. “Naturally, Gent-Wevelgem will still be mentioned given its history,” said Tomas Van Den Spiegel, the chief executive of Flanders Classics.

Wind in De Moeren, cobbles on the Kemmelberg

De Moeren is a flat, open plain near Veurne that the race crosses before it reaches the hills. With a crosswind the peloton breaks into echelons there. In 2025 a first echelon of 32 riders formed on the plain. In 2022 and 2026 the wind was too light to split the race in De Moeren.

The Kemmelberg is the climb the organizers settled on as the one that makes the race. It is cobbled and is climbed three times, first from the Belvedère side, 400 meters at 10 percent, and the last time from the Ossuaire side, 800 meters at 9.7 percent. In 2026 the last ascent came 35.5 kilometers from the finish. From there the road to Wevelgem is flat, long enough for a small group to be caught and for a sprinter who was dropped on the hill to come back.

The Plugstreets and the In Flanders Fields name

Since 2017 the route has also used the Plugstreets, unpaved roads that cross First World War battlegrounds south of Ypres. The 2022 race had three of these sectors. In Flanders Fields was the race’s subtitle before it became its name, and the organizer has described the whole route, from De Moeren to the long straight road from Ypres to Wevelgem, as skirting the front line of a century earlier.

The 2022 race was flagged off at the Menin Gate in Ypres, where the names of nearly 55,000 Commonwealth soldiers of the First World War are cut into the walls. The 2026 route from Middelkerke still passed through Ypres after the last climb.

Who has won Gent-Wevelgem most often?

Seven riders have won three times and nobody has won four: Robert Van Eenaeme, Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, Mario Cipollini, Tom Boonen, Peter Sagan and Mads Pedersen. Van Eenaeme was the first, and his third victory was awarded more than a week after the race, when a newspaper photograph showed he had finished just ahead of Maurice Van Herzele, who had been declared the winner. Cipollini was given the 1992 race after Djamolidine Abdoujaparov was disqualified. Sagan won alone in 2013 and crossed the line on one wheel. Pedersen’s wins came in 2020, 2024 and 2025.

Luca Paolini and the storm of 2015

The 2015 race was run in rain and gusting wind. In De Moeren riders were blown off their bikes into the grass or the ditch, and about 50 were left in front when the race came off the plain. Of the 200 starters, 39 finished. Geraint Thomas was blown off the road later in the day, got back on and rejoined the chase.

Jürgen Roelandts spent much of the last third of the race alone in front and was caught with 17 kilometers to go. Paolini, 38 years old, had crashed twice and changed bikes. He left the other five riders in the front group about five kilometers from the finish and won by 11 seconds from Niki Terpstra and Thomas. “I don’t think I was the strongest but I played my cards,” he said afterward. It was the last win of his career.

Biniam Girmay’s sprint in 2022

Biniam Girmay went clear 24 kilometers from the finish with Christophe Laporte, Jasper Stuyven and Dries Van Gestel, soon after the last ascent of the Kemmelberg. Their lead fell to 20 seconds with 3.5 kilometers left, but the chase stalled. Girmay, 21, started the sprint with 250 meters to go and held off Laporte, with Van Gestel third. He was the first African winner of the race. “We just changed my plan a few days ago on Friday. We just came for a good result,” he said.

Laporte, Pedersen and Philipsen: three ways to win in Wevelgem

In 2023 Wout van Aert attacked on the second ascent of the Kemmelberg and only his teammate Laporte could follow. They built a lead of more than 2 minutes and crossed the line hand in hand, Laporte first.

In 2024 Pedersen beat Mathieu van der Poel in a two-rider sprint. In 2025 he reached the top of the Kemmelberg alone on its second ascent, with 55 kilometers to go, and stayed clear to Wevelgem, where Tim Merlier won the sprint for second.

The first race from Middelkerke, over 240.8 kilometers, ended in a bunch sprint. Van Aert attacked on the second ascent of the Kemmelberg with 57 kilometers to go, and after the last one he and Van der Poel were alone in front. The bunch caught them with one kilometer left, and Jasper Philipsen won the sprint from Tobias Lund Andresen and Laporte. The average speed of 46.9 kilometers per hour was the highest the race had seen.

This is the Flemish classic that refuses to follow a script. Unlike the Ronde or Roubaix, Gent-Wevelgem can end in a reduced bunch sprint, a solo breakaway, or a small group finish depending on wind, positioning, and nerve. The cobbled Kemmelberg, climbed three times, is the hardest of the hills, but the exposed roads near the coast and the French border create natural splitting points when the wind blows crosswise. It rewards tactical flexibility more than any single strength.