Senechal wins Le Samyn
Another win for Deceuninck-Quickstep
Florian Sénéchal continued Deceuninck-QuickStep’s streak of success in the early Belgian races, winning the Le Samyn race with a well-executed sprint finish after a tactical and aggressive race.
It was the Frenchman’s first professional victory and the 14th victory of the 2019 season for Deceuninck-QuickStep.
Sénéchal was part of the decisive 10-rider attack that formed on the last lap and then won the sprint after teammate Tim Declercq was pulled back in sight of the line.
Lars Boom (Roompot-Charles) stated the sprint early but Sénéchal was able to match his speed and come past him before the finish line.
Aimé De Gendt (Wanty-Groupe-Gobert) finished second, with Niki Terpstra (Direct Energie) third after trying to split the group in the final kilometres.
Zdenek Stybar won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and then Bob Jungels won Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday. Deceuninck-QuickStep opted to rest its bigger name riders during the week, giving Sénéchal the chance to take his first victory after six years as a professional rider.
"In previous years I did too much too early but this time I really waited for the finale. My teammates worked all day and I owe them a lot. We really worked well. In the end, I had a good sprint, I felt strong, even if Lars Boom was also strong. But he went too early, and I came back," Sénéchal explained happily.
"Terpstra was really strong. I knew he's a shrewd rider and was waiting for the finale - Boom as well. I attacked on the final sector and the three of us went clear - the three strongest. Then it came back and Tim did an amazing job.
"You're never sure of yourself in a sprint, especially when it goes from so far out, but in the end, it was decided à la pédale and I'm super happy to win it."
The 198.4km race is held in the French-speaking of southern Belgium and includes a series of climbs on a loop north toward Flanders and then four laps of a 25km circuit that includes climbs, exposed roads and four sections of cobbles.
The weather was overcast and grey, with early rain adding to the difficulties.
Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale), Tom Dernies (Roubaix Lille Métropole) and Gianni Marchand (Cibel-Cebon) found the courage to form the early break with Deceuninck-QuickStep accepting responsibility to lead the chase in the hills and onto the four circuits.
Crashes on the cobbles caused some problems and splits in the peloton but they pulled back the early move. However, the riders were aggressive and another trio went away with 70km to go. Terpstra and his Direct Energie teammates were determined to leave their mark on the race and went on the attack in the crosswinds despite 60km to race. That reduced the front group to just 20 or so riders, with only another 20 getting back on.
Aimé De Gendt (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Pieter Serry (Deceuninck-QuickStep) were the next to attack, with other riders jumping across on the pave as the riders covered the 25km circuits and tasted the cobbles, concrete roads, exposed roads and narrow lanes that make Belgian races so special.
With a lap remaining, Elmar Reinders and Jesper Asselman (Roompot-Charles), Stijn Vandenbergh (AG2R La Mondiale), Rémy Mertz (Lotto-Soudal) and Tim Declercq (Deceuninck-Quick Step) joined De Gendt and Serry in what looked like the decisive move.
The Israel Cycling Academy team first tried to close the gap and then Terpstra and his teammates took charge of their destiny. After a high-speed surge, the Dutchman jumped across to the break on the Roquette section of cobbles. Only Boom and Sénéchal could stay with him, making for ten riders up front: Vandenbergh, Declercq, Serry, Sénéchal, Boom, Asselman, Reinders, Terpstra, Mertz and De Gendt.
With three riders from Roompot and three from Deceuninck-Quick Step, they were forced to drag the group along as the others tried different attacks. It was pure Belgian racing, with Terpstra tying to attack on the cobbles with Sénéchal quick to chase after him.
Sénéchal, Boom, and Terpstra exited the final sector of cobbles with a decent lead but De Gendt jumped across and then so did Declercq. Boom tried another surge on the climb back into Dour for the finish but was marked carefully. Declercq was given more space, as the others looked at each other and managed to open a gap. His move forced Deceuninck-Quick Step's rivals to chase and helped Sénéchal, who was confident of his sprint.
Declercq looked set to stay away as the flame rouge arrived but other riders came up from behind to help with the chase and he was suddenly within reaching distance.
Boom opened up the sprint as they passed Declercq and Terpstra made sure he was tucked on his wheel. However, the Dutchmen went too early and had too little in their legs. Sénéchal managed to match them and beat them before the line, taking an emotional first win of his professional career.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 4:38:20 |
2 | Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
3 | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Direct Energie | |
4 | Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles | |
5 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:00:01 |
6 | Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
7 | Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:00:06 |
8 | Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Charles | 0:00:08 |
9 | Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles | 0:00:14 |
10 | Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:19 |
11 | Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles | 0:00:54 |
12 | Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
13 | Jelle Mannaerts (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex | 0:01:02 |
14 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy | 0:01:10 |
15 | Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
16 | Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
17 | Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
18 | Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:01:17 |
19 | Tom Dernies (Bel) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole | |
20 | Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus | |
21 | Pim Ligthart (Ned) Direct Energie | 0:01:23 |
22 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
23 | Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
24 | Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel | |
25 | Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy | |
26 | Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | |
27 | Lawrence Naesen (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
28 | Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
29 | Josip Rumac (Cro) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
30 | Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
31 | James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol | |
32 | Sjoerd van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot-Charles | |
33 | Jan Maas (Ned) Leopard Pro Cycling | |
34 | Senne Leysen (Bel) Roompot-Charles | |
35 | Kevyn Ista (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles | |
36 | Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
37 | Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
38 | Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
39 | Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
40 | Alan Banaszek (Pol) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
41 | Roy Jans (Bel) Corendon-Circus | |
42 | Alexander Krieger (Ger) Leopard Pro Cycling | 0:01:31 |
43 | Stijn Devolder (Bel) Corendon-Circus | 0:01:36 |
44 | Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:01:51 |
45 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:02:02 |
46 | Timothy Stevens (Bel) Cibel | 0:02:21 |
47 | Jack Burke (Can) Leopard Pro Cycling | 0:02:38 |
48 | Mario Spengler (Swi) Leopard Pro Cycling | |
49 | Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Wallonie Bruxelles | 0:03:39 |
50 | Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes | |
51 | Jeroen Pattyn (Bel) Team Differdange Geba | |
52 | Gianni Marchand (Bel) Cibel | |
53 | David Boucher (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex | |
54 | Bert De Backer (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel | |
55 | Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
56 | Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
57 | Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
58 | Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
59 | Gaëtan Pons (Lux) Leopard Pro Cycling | |
60 | Lukas Spengler (Swi) Wallonie Bruxelles | |
61 | Emils Liepins (Lat) Wallonie Bruxelles | |
62 | Xavier Cañellas Sanchez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
63 | Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | |
64 | Joab Schneiter (Swi) IAM Excelsior | |
65 | Michiel Dieleman (Bel) Cibel | |
66 | Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Roompot-Charles | |
67 | Samuel Leroux (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole | |
68 | Dennis Coenen (Bel) Cibel | |
69 | Mihkel Räim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy | |
70 | Pierre Barbier (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole | |
71 | Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol | |
72 | Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole | |
73 | Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
74 | Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
75 | Bram Welten (Ned) Arkéa Samsic | |
76 | Colin Heiderscheid (Lux) Leopard Pro Cycling | |
77 | Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy | |
78 | Jordi Van Dingenen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex | |
79 | Julien Van Den Brande (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex | 0:04:43 |
80 | Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Gobert | 0:05:11 |
81 | Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | 0:06:07 |
82 | Joeri Stallaert (Bel) Corendon-Circus | 0:06:51 |
83 | Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie | |
84 | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie | |
85 | Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole | |
86 | Peter Williams (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling | 0:08:31 |
87 | Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:09:31 |
88 | Clément Russo (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
89 | Brian van Goethem (Ned) Lotto Soudal | 0:11:11 |
90 | Marco Tizza (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir | 0:11:51 |
91 | Quentin Guex (Swi) IAM Excelsior | |
92 | Dylan Page (Swi) IAM Excelsior | |
93 | Simon Pellaud (Swi) IAM Excelsior | |
DNF | Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus | |
DNF | Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie | |
DNF | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Davide Martinelli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
DNF | Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
DNF | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Marco Benfatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Leonardo Fedrigo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | |
DNF | Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Robert Thomas Wagner (Ger) Arkéa Samsic | |
DNF | Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
DNF | Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
DNF | Alan Riou (Fra) Arkéa Samsic | |
DNF | David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
DNF | Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
DNF | Mauricio Moreira (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
DNF | Justin Mottier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel | |
DNF | Julian Varley (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel | |
DNF | Jacob Relaes (Bel) Cibel | |
DNF | Lennert Teugels (Bel) Cibel | |
DNF | Thomas Deruette (Bel) Team Differdange Geba | |
DNF | Louis Deguide (Bel) Team Differdange Geba | |
DNF | Tom Thill (Lux) Team Differdange Geba | |
DNF | Tiago Da Silva (Lux) Team Differdange Geba | |
DNF | Ivan Centrone (Lux) Team Differdange Geba | |
DNF | Pit Leyder (Lux) Leopard Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Christophe Masson (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole | |
DNF | Thomas Vaubourzeix (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole | |
DNF | Isaac Mundy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes | |
DNF | Jacob Scott (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Alex Colman (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes | |
DNF | George Wood (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling | |
DNF | James Shaw (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Floris Gerts (Ned) Tarteletto-Isorex | |
DNF | Ylber Sefa (Alb) Tarteletto-Isorex | |
DNF | Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex | |
DNF | Ben Healy (Irl) Team Wiggins Lecol | |
DNF | Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol | |
DNF | Oliver Robinson (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol | |
DNF | Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol | |
DNF | Jacques Sauvagnargues (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol | |
DNF | Giacomo Ballabio (Ita) IAM Excelsior | |
DNF | Martin Schäppi (Swi) IAM Excelsior | |
DNF | Ben Hardy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel | |
DNF | Maarten van Trijp (Ned) Corendon-Circus | |
DNF | Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Cycling Academy | |
DNF | August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy | |
DNF | Stijn Steels (Bel) Roompot-Charles | |
DNF | Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
DNF | Emiel Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
DNF | Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
DNF | Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
DNF | Marc Fournier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel | |
DNF | Cedric Raymackers (Bel) Cibel | |
DNF | Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) IAM Excelsior | |
DNF | Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus | |
DNF | Maxence Moncassin (Fra) Amore & Vita-Prodir | |
DNF | Stijn De Bock (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes | |
DNF | Robert-Jon McCarthy (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes | |
DNF | Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes | |
DNF | Alex Paton (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes | |
DNF | Federico Nicolas Vivas (Arg) Amore & Vita-Prodir | |
DNF | Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel | |
DNF | Kaspars Sergis (Lat) Amore & Vita-Prodir | |
DNF | Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles | |
DNF | Viesturs Luksevics (Lat) Amore & Vita-Prodir | |
DNF | Jan-André Freuler (Swi) Amore & Vita-Prodir | |
DNF | Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir | |
DNF | Franklin Six (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles | |
DNS | Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNS | Wesley Mol (Ned) Team Differdange Geba | |
DNS | Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy | |
DNS | Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise |
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