Tsatevich wins Le Samyn
By Cycling News published
Russian beats Boeckmans and Petit
Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) claimed victory at Le Samyn after holding off the peloton in Dour on Wednesday, while Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil-DCM) beat Adrien Petit (Cofidis) to second place.
Tsatevich showed considerable strength on the deceptively difficult rise to the finish line at Dour. When Sébastien Chavanel (Europcar) tried to spring a surprise by opening his effort early inside the final 500 metres, the Russian was swiftly onto his wheel. When Chavanel began to flag, Tsatevich came around him and had more than enough in the tank to hold off the peloton closing behind.
"The team gave me a chance to try today, the whole race was done around me and I am thankful for that,” Tsatevich said afterwards. “In the final part of the race I said to the team that I am ok and can try, so, my teammates did everything possible to help me and to provide an ideal position in the finish. I was waiting for the mass sprint, but a rider from Europcar attacked before it. I took his wheel and was able to save the energy. In the last meters I started my sprint to win.”
The day’s racing was animated by an early break featuring Elias Van Breussegem (Doltcini-Flanders), Luke Rowe (Sky) and Thomas Sprengers (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise). The trio opened a lead of 5 minutes at one point, before the peloton reacted in earnest. Rowe was the final survivor of the move, but he was swept up with 12km to race.
At that point, a bunch finish seemed inevitable, but Rowe’s teammate Geraint Thomas was keen to try his luck, first attacking as part of a four-man move with Ian Stannard, and later forcing his way clear alone. The in-form Welshman threatened to upset the odds, but the work of a number of teams, including FDJ, saw him pegged back before the finish.
Unfortunately for FDJ, their sprint hopeful Arnaud Démare had his hopes thwarted by a late puncture and the scene was set for an extremely open bunch finish, where Tsatevich seized the initiative and reaped the rewards.
“I am happy that I was able to realize the wish of the team and win today,” he said. “I came to Belgium a little bit earlier than the other members of Katusha, so I had some more days to train. That was one of key moments for today’s success.”
1 | Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha | 5:05:19 |
2 | Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
3 | Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
4 | Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
5 | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN-Qhubeka | |
6 | Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
7 | Scott Thwaites (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura | |
8 | Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka | |
9 | Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling | |
10 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha | |
11 | Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Accent Jobs-Wanty | |
12 | Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) To Win-Josan Cycling Team | |
13 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar | |
14 | Niels Vandyck (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
15 | Maxime Le Montagner (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
16 | Maxime Daniel (Fra) Sojasun | |
17 | Julien Duval (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
18 | Blaz Jarc (Slo) Team NetApp-Endura | |
19 | Michael Van Staeyen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
20 | Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post-Chainreaction | |
21 | Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha | |
22 | Thomas Vernaeckt (Bel) Doltcini-Flanders | |
23 | Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ | |
24 | Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
25 | Markus Eichler (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura | |
26 | Julien Stassen (Bel) Wallonie-Bruxelles | |
27 | Tim De Troyer (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty | |
28 | Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
29 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
30 | Marc De Maar (AHo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
31 | Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Doltcini-Flanders | |
32 | Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
33 | Clément Koretzky (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
34 | Laurent Evrard (Bel) Wallonie-Bruxelles | |
35 | Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Sky Procycling | |
36 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
37 | Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Team Europcar | |
38 | Gaetan Bille (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
39 | Renaud Dion (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
40 | Martin Reimer (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka | |
41 | Jérémie Galland (Fra) Sojasun | |
42 | Davide Frattini (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
43 | Jonathan Dufrasne (Bel) Wallonie-Bruxelles | |
44 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ | |
45 | Timofey Kritskiy (Rus) Katusha | |
46 | Clément Lhotellerie (Fra) Colba-Superano Ham | |
47 | Egidijus Juodvalkis (Ltu) Crelan-Euphony | |
48 | Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
49 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling | |
50 | Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol | |
51 | Benjamin Le Montagner (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
52 | Anthony Ravard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
53 | Alphonse Vermote (Bel) An Post-Chainreaction | |
54 | Christophe Laborie (Fra) Sojasun | |
55 | Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
56 | Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
57 | Roger Kluge (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura | |
58 | Antoine Demoitie (Bel) Wallonie-Bruxelles | |
59 | Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha | |
60 | Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
61 | Gael Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
62 | Jack Wilson (Irl) An Post-Chainreaction | |
63 | Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:00:45 |
64 | Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
65 | Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
66 | Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
67 | Kenny Robert van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
68 | Steven Caethoven (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty | |
69 | Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) MTN-Qhubeka | |
70 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | |
71 | Julian Kern (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale | |
72 | Sam Bennett (Irl) An Post-Chainreaction | |
73 | Gert Joeaar (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
74 | Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar | |
75 | Morgan Lamoisson (Fra) Team Europcar | |
76 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
77 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling | |
78 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
79 | Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura | |
80 | Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
81 | David Boucher (Fra) FDJ | |
82 | Jonathan Breyne (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
83 | Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Crelan-Euphony | |
84 | Yu Takenouchi (Jpn) Colba-Superano Ham | |
85 | Florent Delfosse (Bel) Color Code-Biowanze | |
86 | Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Katusha | |
87 | Rony Martias (Fra) Sojasun | |
88 | Jean-Albert Carnevali (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
89 | Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale | |
90 | Justin Van Hoecke (Bel) Wallonie-Bruxelles | |
91 | Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Sojasun | |
92 | Jean-Lou Paiani (Fra) Sojasun | |
93 | Florent Mottet (Bel) Color Code-Biowanze | |
94 | Florent Barle (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
95 | Sander Helven (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
96 | Loïc Desriac (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
97 | Sander Armee (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
98 | Cyrille Patoux (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
100 | Erick Rowsell (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura | 0:03:11 |
101 | Pierre-Luc Perrichon (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
102 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar | |
103 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) Team Europcar | |
104 | Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:03:40 |
105 | Olivier Pardini (Bel) Verandas Willems | 0:03:52 |
106 | Boy van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:05:40 |
107 | Loic Pestiaux (Bel) Color Code-Biowanze | 0:06:06 |
108 | Andrew Ydens (Bel) T.Palm-Pôle Continental Wallon | 0:06:15 |
109 | Rudy Kowalski (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
110 | Ronan McLaughlin (Irl) An Post-Chainreaction | 0:06:46 |
111 | Quentin Hoper (Bel) Color Code-Biowanze | |
112 | Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
113 | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
114 | Thomas Wertz (Bel) Color Code-Biowanze | |
115 | Olivier Poppe (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
116 | Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ | |
117 | Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ | |
118 | Giovanni De Merlier (Bel) To Win-Josan Cycling Team | |
119 | Steven Doms (Bel) To Win-Josan Cycling Team | |
120 | Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura | |
121 | Sergio Ferrari (Bel) Verandas Willems | 0:08:51 |
122 | Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha | |
123 | Kevin De Jonghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
124 | Jérôme Gilbert (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty | |
125 | Darijus Dzervus (Ltu) Doltcini-Flanders | |
126 | Johann Van Zyl (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka | |
127 | Will Routley (Can) Accent Jobs-Wanty | |
128 | Victor Fobert (Fra) Colba-Superano Ham | |
129 | Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol |

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
after your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to Cyclingnews. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Giro d’Italia’s Montagna Pantani celebrates the myth but overlooks the man
Race’s visit to Valico di Santa Cristina conjures up mixed memories -
Oliveira Parks wins women's payout at Stetina's Carson City Paydirt
Top female rider donates part of winnings to Moriah 'Mo' Wilson fundraiser -
Cyclingnews' digital subscription - the next chapter
New Editor Peter Stuart explains our plans for the future -
Hindley ready for Giro d’Italia mountains showdown
'I’m 100% here to win. I’m not here to put socks on centipedes' says Australian