Groenewegen rockets to victory in Bredene Koksijde Classic

Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) sprinted to his second victory of the 2026 season in a sprint finish at the Bredene Koksijde Classic.

After the breakaway was caught with less than two kilometres remaining, the sprint was launched, and it was Groenewegen who proved to be the quickest, finishing ahead of Pascal Ackermann (Jayco AlUla) and Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL)

It marks the Dutchman’s second victory of the season with the Unibet Rose Rockets, after he won the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana. It’s also the first 1.Pro level win for the Unibet Rose Rockets team since its formation in 2023.

Beginning in the coastal city of Ostend, 203.4 km of action awaited the riders, with a series of climbs in the middle, including the Baneberg, Monteberg and Kemmelberg.

After a flurry of attacks, six riders were in front with 50 km remaining. These included Cedric Beullens (Lotto-Intermarché), Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Michiel Coppens (Beat CC p/b Saxo), Gil Gelders (Soudal Quick-Step), Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) and Jelle Vermoote (Tarteletto-Isorex).

There was a crash in the peloton with 24 km remaining involving Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility), one of the contenders for the expected sprint finish.

The Norwegian was able to quickly remount, and a few kilometres later, with two laps remaining, the breakaway held 45 seconds over the peloton, with Blikra in the chase with an Uno-X teammate.

Vermoote was the first rider to lose contact with the breakaway with 15km remaining. Heading onto the bell lap, the peloton had the breakaway in sight on the long home straight, with the advantage trimmed to 18 seconds.

Another sprint contender, Milan Menten (Cofidis), suffered a mechanical with 9km remaining, a far from ideal time.

Meanwhile, the breakaway was holding the peloton well with their advantage at 13 seconds with 5km remaining, though the odds were still in favour of those behind. 

With 3.2km remaining, with the peloton hot on their tails, Pedersen launched one final attack and opened up an advantage over his companions as they scrambled to try and latch onto the Dane’s wheel. Beullens managed to jump across and launched a counterattack

There was another crash inside 2km to go in the peloton, before the catch was made to Beullens and Pedersen with just 1.6km remaining. 

Lidl-Trek led the race under the flamme rouge, before Unibet Rose Rockets hit the front. Groenewegen was in fourth wheel heading into the final corner, and when the sprint was launched by defending champion Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek), the Dutchman hit the front, and nobody could match him. 

“It was a really fast finale,” the Dutchman reflected after the race. “In the sprint, everyone was stressed and tired, but the communication with my team was good.”

“In the end, we found the right opportunity and the right moment to launch our lead out. We know the corners here well, and I remembered from a few years ago that I went at 300 metres to go, but Mozzato still beat me. That’s why I went at 200 metres this time, and that was enough.”

“You always feel like riders are coming from behind when you’re sprinting at the front, but today I was the fastest in a fair sprint,” he concluded.