The E3 Harelbeke (currently after the sponsor E3 Saxo Bank Classic, formerly E3 BinckBank Classic and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen) is a classic Belgian one-day road cycling race and is held annually in spring usually at the end of March as part of numerous other classic races (after Quer durch Flandern and before Gent-Wevelgem the Tour of Flanders and the Schelde Prize). The E3 Harelbeke was first held in 1958, when the E3 motorway (now the A14) was built between Harelbeke and Antwerp. The motorway was the inspiration for the name of the race.

At the 64th edition of the traditional race on 25 March 2022, the Belgian Wout van Aert won after 204 kilometres ahead of the Frenchman Christophe Laporte and the Swiss Stefan Küng.

For the fifth time, the Brugge-De Panne cycling classic (also called Three Days of Bruges-De Panne) for women took place. It started on 24 March 2022 under the label Exterioo Women’s Classic. The length of the course was 162.8 kilometres. While the race was relatively relaxed with some breakaway attempts, it became chaotic towards the end. First there was a mass crash 17 kilometres and then another one three kilometres before the finish. In the end, only 50 riders reached the finish.

The winner was Elisa Balsamo from Italy from Team Trek-Segafredo ahead of Lorena Wiebes from the Netherlands from Team DSM and Marta Bastianelli also from Italy from Team Alé BTC Ljubljana / UAE Team ADQ.

The Brugge-De Panne Spring Classic (officially: Oxyclean Classic Brugge-De Panne) is a one-day road cycling race for professional cyclists held in West Flanders since 1977. From 1977 to 2020 it was called Driedaagse van De Panne (Three Days of De Panne).

In the World Tour one-day race in 2022 under the name “Minerva Classic Brugge-De Panne” on 23 March 2022, the Belgian Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) won in a bunch sprint after 208 kilometres ahead of the Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange – Jayco) and the Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa Samsic). German Max Walscheid (Cofidis) came in fourth.

Strade Bianche is one of the most famous one-day classics for cyclists. Formerly known as the Monte Paschi Eroica, the professional race always takes place in spring in Tuscany, mostly around Siena. In 2015, the race was also organised for women for the first time (Strade Bianche femminile) and the following year it was included in the newly introduced UCI Women’s WorldTour.

On 5 March 2022, the eighth edition of the Strade Bianche Women Elite Eolo took place over 136 kilometres from Siena to Siena (Piazza del Campo). In the process, Lotte Kopecky of Team Sd Worx from Belgium narrowly trumped two-time winner (2019 and 2020) Annemiek Van Vleuten (Movistar Team Women) after 3 hours, 59 minutes and 14 seconds (average speed: 34.109km/h). The Dutchwoman finished second ahead of Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Team Sd Worx), who raced to the finish ten seconds after the two.

The Strade Bianche is one of the most famous one-day classics for cyclists. Formerly known as the Monte Paschi Eroica, the professional race always takes place in spring in Tuscany, mostly around Siena. The cycling race does not have a long history, the first staging took place only in 2007 in October, the second in March 2008. Since then, however, the professionals have kept the date in spring free in their racing calendar just before the big spring cycling classics. No wonder, the route of 180 kilometres is very spectacular and leads over more than 50 kilometres of gravel roads, which are called strade sterrate (unpaved roads) or strade bianche (white roads, after the colour of the gravel gravel most often used) in Italian.

This year’s 16th edition of the Strade Bianche took place on 5 March 2022. The winner was Czech Tadej Pogacar of Team UAE Team Emirates. He completed the 184km from Siena to Siena (Piazza del Campo) in first place in 4 hours 47 minutes and 49 seconds with an average speed of 38.358km/h after breaking away from his pursuers in the gravel section “Monte Sante Marie” 50 kilometres from the finish. 37 seconds after Pogacar, Alejandro Valverde of the Movistar team crossed the finish line. Third place went to Kasper Asgreen of the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) 46 seconds after the winner.

Selected photos from the Belgian cycling one-day classic Omloop van het Hageland (German: Umlauf des Hageland) in Tielt-Winge for women. Since 2005, the race has been held annually in the Hageland region, province of Flemish Brabant, in Belgium.

This year, the classic Omloop van het Hageland for women took place one day after the Omloop Het Niewsblad on 27 February 2022. The starting point was Tienen and the finish Tielt Winge. The winner was Marta Bastianelli from Italy, ahead of Emma Norsgaard from Denmark and Floortje Mackaij from the Netherlands.

Selected photos from the Belgian one-day classic Omloop Het Niewsblad for women in East Flanders. Since 2006, an international women’s race has also been part of the Omloop Het Niewsblad event. This year, the classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for women took place on 26 February 2022. The starting point was Ghent. The route was 130 kilometres to Ninove.

Like two years ago, this year’s winner was Annemiek Van Vleuten from the Netherlands after a powerful and long sprint, making her the record holder. She reached the finish line ahead of her compatriot Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes.

We have exclusively photographed the Track Team Brandenburg. Our photographer Arne Mill has portrait photos of all the cyclists.

With them, among others: Emma Hinze, Lea Sophie Friedrich, Sandra Hainzl, Selma Lantzsch, Anton Höhne, Nik Schröter, Clara Schneider, Carl Hinze, Paul Groß, Danny Werner, Maximilian Dörnbach.

Portrait photos of the team in the background are also in the portfolio: Steffen Blochwitz, Stephanie Gaumnitz, Alexander Harisanow, Uwe Schönau