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2021 Le Samyn (1.1), Belgium

53rd edition: Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Le Samyn Podium history | 2020 edition | 2022 edition | Photos | map

Quaregnon - Dour, 205.4 kms

Tim Merlier

Tim Merlier takes the race. Photo News picture.

Weather at the finish city of Dour at 2:15 PM, local time: 17C (62F), sunny, with the wind from the south at 8 km/hr (5 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the report from 3rd-place Andrea Pasqualon's Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux team.

The peloton enjoyed the bright spring sun at the start of the GP Le Samyn (1.1, 2/03) in Quaregnon. It was only on the way back from the Pays des Collines that an early breakaway of five riders was formed. Despite the very nice weather circumstances, the peloton was very nervous. Danny Van Poppel was involved in a crash, but soon returned to the leading position in the peloton. Together with his brother Boy Van Poppel, he was part of the new 24 rider breakaway when the peloton split on the second passage on the cobbles of the Côte de la Roquette. After the next passage on this difficult and technical cobble section, with 35 kilometer to go, a group with Aimé De Gendt and Andrea Pasqualonmanaged to join them.

The final was very attractive, but even a last attempt of five riders with Danny Van Poppel and Mathieu van der Poel didn't succeed. In the slight sloping streets of Dour, Tim Merlier was the fastest at the end of the 205 kilometer race with 20 cobble sections, ahead of Rasmus Tiller and Andrea Pasqualon. The Italian sprinter achieved the first podium of the season for the team. Taking into account the two successive 2nd places of Aimé De Gendt in 2019 and 2020, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux has been successful in the Walloon opening classic for the past three years.

Andrea Pasqualon:
“It's nice to show the colors of the team in the Walloon opening race. Both for the riders and staff as for the sponsors, the GP Le Samyn is a special day. The team performed very well today and we did what we had to do to take the victory. With Danny on the attack in the final kilometers, and Aimé bringing me into a perfect position with 200 meter to go, everything went perfectly. I felt good and tried my best, but two guys were stronger. My crash in Omloop het Nieuwsblad, the hard opening weekend and some difficult nights definitely had an influence on my freshness today. Maybe those were the percents I was lacking to take the victory. But I'm happy that we're on a good way! Also the next weeks some special races are coming up for me with the Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-San Remo!”

Complete Results:

Photos

205.4 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.899 km/hr

1	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	4hr 34min 29sec
2	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	s.t.
3	Andrea Pasqualon	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux	s.t.
4	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
5	Hugo Hofstetter	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
6	Amaury Capiot	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
7	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
8	Dimitri Claeys	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
9	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
10	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
11	Jordi Warlop	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
12	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
13	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
14	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	s.t.
15	Fabio Van Den Bossche	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
16	Victor Campenaerts	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
17	Olav Kooij	Jumbo-Visma Development	s.t.
18	Daan Hoole	SEG Racing Academy	s.t.
19	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
20	Thimo Willems	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
21	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
22	Lorrenzo Manzin	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
23	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux	s.t.
24	Gijs Van Hoecke	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
25	Søren Wærenskjold	Uno-X	s.t.
26	Tim Declercq	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
27	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux	s.t.
28	Florian Sénéchal	Deceuninck-Quick Step	@ 5sec
29	Mark Cavendish	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
30	Martijn Budding	Beat Cycling	s.t.
31	Jarno Mobach	Leopard Pro	@ 7sec
32	Stan Dewulf	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
33	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	@ 9sec
34	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X	s.t.
35	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	@ 12sec
36	Cédric Beullens	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
37	Mathieu van der Poel	Alpecin-Fenix	@ 16sec
38	Jasper Philipsen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
39	Jan-Willem Van Schip	Beat Cycling	@ 53sec
40	Maurice Ballerstedt	Jumbo-Visma Development	s.t.
41	Antoine Raugel	Groupama-FDJ	1:05
42	Tom Wirtgen	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
43	Kobe Goossens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
44	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
45	Carlos Barbero	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
46	Jannik Steimle	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
47	Bert Van Lerberghe	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
48	Joey Rosskopf	Rally Cycling	s.t.
49	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux	s.t.
50	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
51	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:25
52	Taco van der Hoorn	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux	s.t.
53	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:38
54	Stan Van Tricht	SEG Racing Academy	s.t.
55	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
56	Marius Mayrhofer	Development Team DSM	s.t.
57	Frederik Backaert	B&B Hotels	s.t.
58	Jonas Van Genechten	B&B Hotels	s.t.
59	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	2:41
60	Bert De Backer	B&B Hotels	s.t.
61	Alvaro Hodeg	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
62	Erik Resell	Uno-X	s.t.
63	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	2:44
64	Damien Gaudin	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
65	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	4:40
66	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r-Citroën	4:42
67	Luuc Bugter	Beat Cycling	s.t.
68	Rait Ärm	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
69	Stijn Steels	Deceuninck-Quick Step	4:43
70	Colin Heiderscheid	Leopard Pro	5:09
71	Wessel Krul	SEG Racing Academy	s.t.
72	Hugo Page	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
73	Rory Townsend	Canyon DHB Sungod	s.t.
74	Justas Beniusis	Lviv Cycling Team	s.t.
75	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
76	Dries De Pooter	SEG Racing Academy	s.t.
77	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	s.t.
78	Axel Van Der Tuuk	Jumbo-Visma Development	s.t.
79	Marijn Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
80	Milan Paulus	SEG Racing Academy	s.t.
81	Andreas Goeman	Tarteletto-Isorex	s.t.
82	Rick Pluimers	Jumbo-Visma Development	s.t.
83	Mick Van Dijke	Jumbo-Visma Development	s.t.
84	Marten Kooistra	Beat Cycling	s.t.
85	Gianni Marchand	Tarteletto-Isorex	s.t.
86	Tim Torn Teutenberg	Leopard Pro	s.t.
87	Markus Pajur	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
88	Stanislaw Aniolkowski	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
89	Colin Joyce	Rally Cycling	s.t.
90	Julien Duval	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
91	Szymon Sajnok	Cofidis	s.t.
92	Pierre Barbier	Delko	s.t.
93	Andreas Stokbro	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
94	Leon Heinschke	Development Team DSM	s.t.
95	Nicholas Dlamini	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
96	Alexandar Richardson	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
97	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
98	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	s.t.
99	Anthony Jullien	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
100	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	s.t.
101	Ludwig De Winter	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux	s.t.
102	Christophe Noppe	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
103	Reinardt Van Rensburg	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
104	Marc Sarreau	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
105	Luca Mozzato	B&B Hotels	s.t.
106	Julien Trarieux	Delko	s.t.
107	Yves Coolen	Beat Cycling	s.t.
108	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
109	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux	s.t.
110	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
111	Jonas Rickaert	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
112	Laurenz Rex	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
113	Jelle Wallays	Cofidis	s.t.
114	Julien Morice	B&B Hotels	s.t.
115	Kenny De Ketele	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
116	Nickolas Zukowsky	Rally Cycling	s.t.
117	Stephen Bassett	Rally Cycling	s.t.
118	Florian Maître	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
119	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
120	Jacob Scott	Canyon DHB Sungod	5:18
121	Matthew Bostock	Canyon DHB Sungod	7:14
122	Magnus Sheffield	Rally Cycling	10:15
123	Pier-Andre Cote	Rally Cycling	s.t.
124	Paul Penhoët	Groupama-FDJ	15:12
125	Finn Fisher-Black	Jumbo-Visma Development	s.t.