Solid performance at Le Samyn

At the start in Quaregnon, the Leopard riders knew exactly what was to come. The first long classic race of the season and over 200 kilometers in weather conditions that could have been much better. Just past noon, the official start to the 50th edition of Le Samyn was given and after one hour of racing the breakaway group was yet to form. When approaching the hills in the first part of the race, three attackers went up the road, without a Leopard outfit amongst them.

Raindrops started to cover the sunglasses and the trio in front was easily caught by the peloton. New attacks took place and the high pace caused the main bunch to split several times. From this point on, the race stormed to the finish line in Dour. Here, Deceuninck - Quick-Step's Sénéchal took the win. Unfortunately, Leopard Pro Cycling was not able to mix in in the battle for the victory, although the team showed good signs for things to come.

Markus Zingen, Team Manager: "All in all we did a very solid performance on this high level. For us it was the first long classic race of the year. You can see that most pro teams in this race already are well into their season, whilst it is race two for us. However, we managed to race offensive and we missed not much for a good result with Jan and Alexander. Of course, it's not a top result, but you can sense that the team is strong. This hard race will help us to perform even better in the upcoming weeks."

Results Le Samyn (UCI 1.1)
33. Jan Maas (NED) + 1'23"
42. Alexander Krieger (GER) + 1'31"
47. Jack Burke (CAN) + 2'38"
48. Mario Spengler (SUI) + 2'38"
59. Gaëtan Pons (LUX) + 3'39"
76. Colin Heiderscheid (LUX) + 3'39"
DNF. Pit Leyder (LUX)