The Classic Brugge-De Panne was disrupted by a shocking series of crashes inside the final five kilometres, injuring numerous riders including pre-race favourite, European champion Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep).
Merlier's team blamed the wrecks on the lack of wind to break up a peloton filled with the sport's top sprinters and nearly every team in the fight in addition to narrow, twisting roads before the finish line in De Panne.
