Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. - Muhammad Ali

---

Les Woodland's book Tour de France: The Inside Story - Making the World's Greatest Bicycle Race is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right

Current racing:

• February 28: Trofeo Laigueglia

Upcoming racing:

• March 2: Strade Bianche
• March 3 - 10: Paris-Nice

Latest completed racing:

• February 27: Le Samyn
• February 19 - 25: UAE Tour
• February 22 - 25: O Gran Camiño
• February 25: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
• February 25: Faun-Drôme Classic
• February 24: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
• February 24: Faun Ardeche Classic
• February 14 - 18: Volta ao Algarve
• February 17 - 18: Tour de Alpes-Maritimes

---

Le Samyn team race reports

We posted the report from third-place Jenthe Biermans' Team Arkea-B&B Hotels with the results.

Here's the Le Samyn report from winner Laurenz Rex's Team Intermarché-Wanty:

This Tuesday 27th of February, Intermarché-Wanty won the first Walloon race of the season thanks to Laurenz Rex, winner of the 56th edition of Le Samyn.
The German speaking rider, sixth in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last Saturday, obtained his first professional success in the colours of the Walloon World Team at the end of a 200 kilometer race in the province of Hainaut, between Quaregnon and Dour.

Laurenz Rex wins Le Samyn. Getty photo

Surrounded by an exceptionally young team Intermarché-Wanty, with an average age of 21 with among others his brother Tim Rex and Huub Artz of the Continental Development Team Wanty-ReUz-Technord, the powerful Laurenz Rex won the sprint of the peloton and offered the team of Jean-François Bourlart the fourth success of 2024.

The young group of Intermarché-Wanty remained attentive for the numerous race movements during the four local laps, each of them containing the Côte de Nennettes and de la Roquette and three other flat and wet cobble sections.

After a crash involving Dries De Pooter and Madis Mihkels, Vito Braet and Rex started the final kilometers in the first group of strong riders and it was the Walloon who won thanks to a bike jump. Braet concluded the top 10, pursuing his series of nice results after two podiums earlier this month.

"With the performance team we decided to not add Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne to my programme this year in order to appear in perfect conditions at the start of Le Samyn on Tuesday. This choice paid off. Today it was my role to guide our young team and my teammates did a perfect job. This is a team victory, we always had the race under control. We never spilled energy but at the same time, always stayed attentive for race movements. We know that other teams had good cards in case of a sprint, so I also participated in the attacks.

"Despite everything, a united peloton headed towards Dour and I knew I had a chance in this sprint with strong riders." "This victory, my first in a professional race, is the best present for my team, for the confidence they put in me. And winning with my younger brother alongside me as a teammate, that makes it even better. Intermarché-Wanty is like my family. I find fulfilment in my role in the team, whether it is as a leader alongside our young riders like today or in the sprint train, I feel listened to and it is in this way that I am able to give the best of myself.  I'm now heading to Tirreno-Adriatico to pursue my road towards Paris-Roubaix, which remains my dream race." - Laurenz Rex

Here's the Le Samyn report from second-place Antonio Morgado's UAE team Emirates:

Antonio Morgado took his biggest result of the season with 2nd place at Le Samyn in a photo finish in Belgium today.

Here's another look at the sprint.

The Portuguese talent made the selection in a heavily reduced bunch on the narrow, cobbled roads between Quaregnon and Dour (204.3km), coming from very far back in the closing sprint to narrowly miss the win, which went to Laurens Rex (Intermarche Wanty).

Morgado: “It’s good, I’m glad I could get close to the win. I’m happy with my performance in the last few races and  I feel good which is important. I’m not a sprinter but with 2km to go we had a hard section of cobbles which fatigued the legs a bit and changed the nature of the sprint a little, so I just gave it all I could and I’m pleased with the result.”

And here's the Le Samyn report from Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL:

Casper Van Uden was our fastest finisher, with a top 20 after a hectic battle in Belgium. With an early breakaway caught with 60km of racing left, the final quarter of the race was fraught with attacks and counter-attacks as several key riders tried to make their move. Initially contributing to the chase, Pavel Bittner found himself with an advantage of 20" until an unfortunately timed puncture put an end to his efforts. John Degenkolb and Van Uden, safely at the front of the race, only had to navigate through the final cobbled sector before preparing for the final sprint. More attacks flew, however, and the fight had taken its toll in the legs, with Van Uden finishing in the first group on the road.

Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL DS, Pim Ligthart saw good potential in the teamwork on display, “We had a fair bit of bad luck with several bike and wheel changes, but the boys kept fighting and were really committed. They also found each other in the final but there was just nothing left in the legs so no result today but we can be happy with the teamwork that we’ve seen over the whole opening weekend. We’ll take the positives and bring them to the next races.”

Finally, here's the Le Samyn report from Laurence Pithie's Team Groupama-FDJ:

After an un-rewarded performance on Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, Laurence Pithie managed to come away with a result on Le Samyn this Tuesday. Active and attentive in the last hour of racing, the young New Zealander, riding for “La Conti” for the occasion, took eighth place in a sprint from a reduced peloton. His next race: Paris-Nice, starting on Sunday.

Laurence Pithie wins the 2023 Cholet-Pays Loire

After the opening in Flanders, the opening in Wallonia! Three days after the start of the Classics campaign on Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Le Samyn served as the first race of the year in the other part of Belgium this Tuesday. For the occasion, the “La Conti” Groupama-FDJ and not the WorldTour team was at the start, despite Laurence Pithie and Matt Walls lining up alongside their young teammates. The riders then had to tackle a few cobbled sectors and a handful of hills between Quaregnon and Dour on the traditional route: a 90-kilometre first section, then a circuit of 26 kilometres, including all the obstacles, to be done four times. The first half of the race allowed a breakaway of five men to escape and get a maximum lead of three minutes: Martijn Budding, Stijn Daemen, Enrico Dhaeye, Kévin Avoine and Miguel Ángel Fernández.

However, the peloton became more nervous from the very first lap of the circuit, and the first counterattacks occurred. At the same time, Laurence Pithie experienced some setbacks. “I had a mechanical problem after the first cobbled sector, it took me quite a long time to come back, and I used some energy there,” he confided. “When I was coming back, I also had to avoid all the crashes, but the guys did a very good job. They waited for me and helped me move up. It was a really crazy race.” “The work started early for our youngsters,” confirmed Frédéric Guesdon. “There were quite a few splits in the first lap, so they waited for Laurence and put him back in the race.”

Once back in the peloton, the “Kiwi” tried to ride cautiously while the bunch gradually reduced. Less than sixty kilometres from the finish, the morning breakaway was caught, and other attacks came. “It was a classic Belgian race, where you have to force yourself to ride in front,” added Frédéric. “There were accelerations, but the elimination was mainly done from the back. There wasn’t too much wind, and the weather was quite good, which can also explain the scenario. On the penultimate lap, we still had four guys in the first peloton, but Jens [Verbrugghe] crashed first, then Titouan [Fontaine] also with twenty kilometres to go. In the last lap, there was only Noah left with Laurence, but he was starting to struggle. Laurence therefore found himself on his own in the final, but he knows how to handle it and we weren’t too worried.”

In a peloton reduced to around thirty riders, the leader of “La Conti” managed to find his way through and even briefly accelerated eleven kilometres from the finish, following a cobbled sector. “I managed to have good positioning but there wasn’t much movement in the end of the race,” said Laurence. “It was quite controlled for the sprint.” Still in a good position in the day’s last two tricky sections, then also at the start of the slightly uphill road to the finish, the New Zealander was only trapped as the sprint set up. “I got boxed back with about two kilometres to go, I couldn’t move up and open my sprint,” he added. “That’s racing.”

Too far from the head of the peloton to hope for victory, Laurence Pithie still fought to the end to take eighth place. “It’s not too bad, but it could be better,” he said. “It’s a shame because when you look at his sprint, he’s far but doesn’t go backwards,” added Frédéric. “On the contrary, he was going back up. With better positioning, it was possible to do a bit better. Physically, he was capable of it. Anyway, this is promising for the future. It was only his second race in Europe. He was in the front on Sunday, he is eighth today, and perhaps had not fully recovered from his efforts on Kuurne. This bodes well for Paris-Nice.”

On Tuesday, the winner of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race also scored his tenth top-10 of the season. As for his young teammates, they suffered but also learned in Wallonia. “It was very interesting because we had a clear goal supporting Laurence,” concluded Frédéric. “It’s a race where they learned to ride for a leader, especially here where it’s important to stay in position. When we left, they were happy, and they wanted to come back. They weren’t discouraged by the race scenario, the crashes, the speed and the tension. They did not disappoint. I was even surprised by some, including Titouan who had never done a race that long. It’s good for the future.”

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary