Bruges entered the Tour of Flanders' story properly in 1998, when the race's start moved to its Markt square — a change that restored a seaside passage to the route while keeping the traditional finale over the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg. The city held that role until the finish itself relocated to Oudenaarde in 2012.
That relationship hasn't ended: the 111th Tour of Flanders, in spring 2027, will once again start from the Markt — a return the city is already building its cycling calendar around.
In the meantime, Bruges' own race carries a longer and more tangled history: founded in 1977 as the three-day Driedaagse De Panne, it became the one-day Classic Brugge–De Panne in 2018, then the Ronde van Brugge in 2026 — Eric Vanderaerden's five wins in the old stage-race era remain the record, unmatched through every rebrand since.
Beyond race day, Bruges' medieval centre and surrounding West Flemish countryside — flat, canal-lined, dotted with the castles nobility once retreated to from the city — make it a natural, low-stress base between the sharper climbing further south in the Flemish Ardennes and the open coastal roads to the west.
