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2016 Grand Prix Cycliste Le Samyn (1.1), Belgium

48th edition: Wednesday, March 2, 2016

GP Le Samyn Podium history | 2015 edition | 2017 edition | Route map | Start list

Quaregnon - Dour, 202.6 kms

Niki Terpstra

Niki Terpstra becomes the first Dutchman in 13 years to win Le Samyn

The race: as told by race winner Niki Terpstra's Etixx-Quick Step team.

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The Dutch champion opened his 2016 account in Belgium, with a solo victory after an epic day in the saddle.

On a day which announced itself like a 19-century impressionist painting, with grim weather, rain and strong crosswinds, around 190 riders lined up at the start in Quaregnon for what turned out to be a survival test, which is something normal when it comes down to Belgian races. For many, it was a tough one, so they called quits before the race hit its half-point, while others kept on giving their all and continuing the fight in which they were engaged not only with their opponents, but also with the tough conditions.

Le Samyn was gruesome due to the weather, but also because of the course which included several climbs (one right at the finish) and 16 cobbled sectors, which took their toll during the race. This natural selection meant that many riders attacked and tried to leave everyone else behind, but even though the peloton was shattered, those solo actions didn't succeed, and with 30 kilometers to go, the front group still included around 15 men.

At the end of this day, the one to come out on top was Niki Terpstra, who was not only the strongest, but also the one who knew how to dose his effort and when to make the right move. The Dutchman forced a selection twice in the last 20 kilometers of the race, and no one could match his fierce accelerations. Then, as soon as he got a gap over Scott Thwaites (Bora-Argon 18) as a result of his monster attack, Terpstra rode in auto pilot mode and put 15 seconds between him and the Brit before the final pavé.

Soloing to the win, his first since last July's general classification at the Tour de Wallonie, Niki unzipped his rain jacket and showed the beautiful Dutch champion jersey which he took last year, in Emmen. In Dour, where the 48th edition of Le Samyn came to an end, the 31-year-old Terpstra scored the 16th victory of Etixx – Quick-Step since the start of the season.

"It was a really tough race, as we rode full gas from the beginning. The last 10 kilometers were the hardest of the entire race. I knew I had about 15 seconds on Thwaites and I had to continue pulling. To make things even more difficult, the last 3 kilometers had a headwind and an uphill part. The weather conditions made the race beautiful in a strange way. I am happy with this victory, as it gives me confidence and comes as a confirmation that my condition is good for the upcoming Classics", said Niki Terpstra after becoming the first Dutch rider in 13 years to win Le Samyn.

Complete Results: that's right, just 28 finishers

202.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.507 km/hr

1 Niki Terpstra Etixx-Quick Step 4hr 52min 52sec
2 Scott Thwaites Bora-Argon 18 +19sec
3 Florian Sénéchal Cofidis +37''
4 Loïc Vliegen BMC s.t.
5 Nils Politt Katusha +37''
6 Dylan Groenewegen LottoNL-Jumbo +44''
7 Sven Erik Bystrøm Katusha s.t.
8 Tim Declercq Topsport Vlaanderen +46''
9 Maarten Wynants LottoNL-Jumbo +48''
10 Tony Hurel Direct Énergie +1' 00''
11 Maxime Daniel Ag2r +3' 39''
12 Daniel McLay Fortuneo-Vital Concept +4' 21''
13 Sean De Bie Lotto-Soudal +5' 58''
14 Floris De Tier Topsport Vlaanderen +5' 59''
15 Gediminas Bagdonas Ag2r +6' 06''
16 Olivier Pardini Wallonie-Bruxelles +6' 15''
17 Sander Helven Topsport Vlaanderen s.t.
18 Twan Castelijns LottoNL-Jumbo s.t.
19 Ralf Matzka Bora-Argon 18 s.t.
20 Davide Martinelli Etixx-Quick Step s.t.
21 Marco Marcato Wanty-Groupe Gobert +6' 37''
22 Dimitri Claeys Wanty-Groupe Gobert +10' 36''
23 Martin Mortensen One Pro Cycling +10' 51''
24 Baptiste Planckaert Wallonie-Bruxelles s.t.
25 Yanto Barker One Pro Cycling s.t.
26 Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier FDJ +11' 09''
27 Adrian Kurek CCC Spraindi Polkowice +11' 33''
28 Stijn Steels Topsport Vlaanderen +11' 52''

2016 Le Samyn map

Le Samyn map

Le Samyn map

Startlist, March 2, 2016:

LOTTO-SOUDAL
1 ARMEE Sander
2 DE BIE Sean
3 DE GENDT Thomas
4 DOCKX Gert
5 FRISON Frederik
6 VAN DER SANDE Tosh
7 VERVAEKE Louis
8 WALLAYS Jelle
AG2R-LA MONDIALE
11 BAGDONAS Gediminas
12 BÉRARD Julien
13 BIDARD François
14 DANIEL Maxime
15 DENZ Nico
16 GRETSCH Patrick
17 KADRI Blel
BMC
21 GILBERT Philippe
22 BOHLI Tom
23 BURGHARDT Marcus
24 GERTS Floris
25 ROSSKOPF Joey
26 SENNI Manuel
27 VLIEGEN Loïc
ETIXX-QUICK STEP
31 ALAPHILIPPE Julian
32 CONTRERAS Rodrigo
33 MEERSMAN Gianni
34 TERPSTRA Niki
35 VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume
36 MARTINELLI Davide
37 WISNIOWSKI Lukasz
38 DE PLUS Laurens
FDJ
42 LECUISINIER Pierre-Henri
43 HOELGAARD Daniel
44 LE BON Johan
45 LE GAC Olivier
46 MANZIN Lorrenzo
47 OFFREDO Yohan
48 PINEAU Cedric
KATUSHA
51 BYSTROM Sven Erik
52 KOZONTCHUK Dmitriy
53 ISAYCHEV Vladimir
54 POLITT Nils
55 PORSEV Alexander
56 RESTREPO VALENCIA Jhonatan
57 TSATEVITCH Alexey
58 VOROBYEV Anton
LOTTO NL-JUMBO
61 BOUWMAN Koen
62 CASTELIJNS Twan
63 GROENEWEGEN Dylan
64 KEIZER Martijn
65 HOFLAND Moreno
67 VERMEULEN Alexey
68 WYNANTS Maarten
BORA-ARGON 18
72 DEMPSTER Zakkari
73 MATZKA Ralf
74 PFINGSTEN Christoph
75 POSTLBERGER Lukas
76 SCHILLINGER Andreas
77 SCHWARZMANN Michael
78 THWAITES Scott
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE
81 OWSIAN Lukasz
82 KIENDYS Tomasz
83 KUREK Adrian
84 CERNY Josef
85 LATON Eryk
86 STEPNIAK Grzegorz
87 MARYCZ Jaroslaw
88 MATYSIAK Bartlomiej
COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CRÉDITS
91 AHLSTRAND Jonas
92 BOUHANNI Rayane
93 CHETOUT Loïc
94 HOFSTETTER Hugo
95 JOEAAR Gert
96 SENECHAL Florian
97 VAN BILSEN Kenneth
98 PEREZ Anthony
DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM
103 COMBAUD Romain
104 GALTA Frederik Strand
105 GIRAUD Benjamin
106 LAAS Martin
107 LABORIE Christophe
DIRECT ENERGIE
111 ANDERSON Ryan
112 CARDIS Romain
113 CORNU Jérémy
114 GENE Yohann
115 HUREL Tony
116 MORICE Julien
117 PICHOT Alexandre
118 THÉVENOT Guillaume
FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT
121 BONNAMOUR Franck
122 BIDEAU Jean-Marc
123 MCLAY Daniel
124 LEDANOIS Kevin
125 CAM Maxime
127 FEILLU Brice
128 VALLEE Boris
ONE PRO CYCLING
131 WILLIAMS Peter
132 HOUSE Kristian
133 HUNT Joshua
134 BAYLIS Thomas
135 WILLIAMS Samuel
136 OPIE Chris
137 MORTENSEN Martin
138 BARKER Yanto
ROOMPOT ORANJE PELOTON
141 DUYN Huub
142 VAN EMPEL Etienne
143 VAN GOETHEM Brian
145 KERKHOF Tim
146 KREDER Michel
147 SLIK Ivar
TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE
151 DE TIER Floris
152 LIETAER Eliot
153 DECLERCQ Tim
155 HELVEN Sander
156 STEELS Stijn
157 VERGAERDE Otto
158 VAN MEIRHAEGHE Jef
WANTY-GROUPE GOBERT
161 MARCATO Marco
162 BAUGNIES Jérôme
163 CLAEYS Dimitri
164 DEMOITIE Antoine
165 DE HAES Kenny
166 JANS Roy
167 MCNALLY Mark
168 VAN MELSEN Kevin
WALLONIE BRUXELLES
171 PONS Gaetan
172 CHEVALIER Olivier
173 ISTA Kevin
174 PARDINI Olivier
175 STASSEN Julien
176 PLANCKAERT Baptiste
177 DE WINTER Ludwig
178 DUQUENNOY Jimmy
COLOR CODE-ARDEN'BEEF
181 MORTIER Julien
182 HEMROULLE Johan
183 LOY Antoine
184 MERTZ Rémy
185 PALM Martin
186 PICOUX Maximilien
187 SIX Franklin
188 TAMINIAUX Lionel
CRELAN-VASTGOEDSERVICE
191 BOUCHER David
192 DRUYTS Gerry
193 EIJSSEN Yannick
194 GEUENS Alexander
195 JACOBS Pieter
196 MEURISSE Xandro
197 ROBERT Frederique
198 STEVENS Timothy
VERANCLASSIC-AGO
201 BREYNE Jonathan
202 VAN DEN BRANDE Julien
203 BOUVRY Kenny
204 JULES Justin
205 LENNERTZ Sam
206 LELEU Antoine
207 PEYSKENS Dimitri
208 MAYER Yannick
VERANDAS WILLEMS
211 DHAENE Brecht
212 VAN ZUMMEREN Stef
213 VERSTRAETEN Jari
214 DE BONDT Dries
215 DE TROYER Tim
216 KRUOPIS Aidis
217 GHYSELINCK Jan
218 PREMONT Christophe
SUPERANO HAM-ISOREX
221 MANNAERTS Jelle
222 DONDERS Jelle
223 SUAREZ Kévin
224 LEIGH Andrew
225 BYRNE Dillon
226 VERWAEST Kevin
227 GARDEYN Gorik
228 TOUQUET Joren
3M
231 CAMMAERTS Edwig
232 DE VOS Gert-Jan
233 EVRARD Laurent
234 HAVIK Piotr
235 SLEURS Christophe
236 VAN DONGEN Ricardo
237 VINGERLING Michael
238 WILLEMS Kenny
AN POST-CHAINREACTION
241 WATSON Calvin
242 VEREECKEN Nicolas
243 WASTYN Emiel
244 BOVENHUIS Jasper
245 WILSON Jack
246 MCCONVEY Connor
247 STANNUS Jordan
248 SCOTT Jacob