Klemme takes first win for Leopard Trek

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Dominic Klemme gave Leopard Trek its first win of the season, attacking in the final kilometre to win the GP Le Samyn. The 24-year-old German caught and easily passed Kevin Ista (Cofidis) who finished second. Robert Wagner took third, to give Leopard Trek two of the three top spots.

"I'm super happy," Klemme said. "I had cramps in the final kilometres, but I knew I had to hang in there because everyone was half dead back in the chase.

"I wasn't sure my attack was going to last until the finish line, but the top of the climb was visible, so I could see the finish all the time. I was super motivated to win this one for us."

The last third of the race was dominated by Vacansoleil-DCM's Björn Leukemans, who took off on a solo ride for over 50 km, only to be caught with about six km to go.

The wind played a role throughout the day, as the field broke up into a number of groups. Three Leopard Trek riders led a chase group which tracked down the leaders, but everything came together again with 60km to go.

After 111 km, the peloton started four laps of a 20km finishing circuit which included two climbs, the Cote Montignes sur Roc and the Cote d'Audregnies. Björn Leukemans (Vacansoleil-DCM) took off in the lead. There were multiple attacks out of the peloton, with Leopard Trek being very active for the whole race.

Leukemans crossed the finish line with two laps to go with a 40 second gap over a chase group which had finally formed, with the peloton having fallen back to nearly two minutes.

The Belgian kept powering along, building up his lead with every kilometre. The chase work didn't work well together and eventually fell apart.

At the penultimate crossing of the finish line, Leukemans still had 55 seconds over this nearest chasers, with the next group at 1:55. The peloton was 2:30 down. The Belgian tried hard but with six km to go, he was finally caught.

With two km to go, Ista jumped into the lead, hoping to avoid a sprint. He took his lead into the final km, with Klemme giving chase ahead of the field.

Klemme caught and passed Ista and never looked back, soloing over the finish line for the first-ever win of the newly founded team.