Matteo Trentin wins Le Samyn

Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) won GP Le Samyn after he outsprinted the break on the uphill finale in Dour. The Italian's aggression helped to form the winning move at the beginning of the final lap of the finishing circuit, and he had the strength to fend off Hugo Hofstetter (Arkea-Samsic) and Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) in the sprint.

As ever, the GP Le Samyn was a race of attrition, with a sizeable peloton eventually being whittled down to its bare bones by the ebb and flow of attack and counter-attack on the cobbled sectors that punctuated the finishing circuit, and Trentin was present at every critical juncture.

Together with the prominent Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal), Trentin was wise to the danger when Oliver Naesen (AG2R Citroën) accelerated on the penultimate lap with 40km remaining, and he was wise to every move that threatened to drift off the front from that moment onwards.

After a group of 20 or so riders forged clear on that penultimate lap, Trentin helped to force to decisive move shortly after the bell, when he launched an acceleration that only Campenaerts, Hofstetter, De Bondt, Stan Dewulf (AG2R Citroën), Josef Cerny (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Bert Van Lerberghe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Loic Vliegen (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Hugo Hofstetter (Arkéa-Samsic), and Dries Van Gestel (TotalEnergies) could follow.

"The race was very hard and with the team we decided to try to form a break with a small group, because we knew Jakobsen is one of the best sprinters in the world," Trentin explained afterwards. "The group had 25 riders and then kept getting smaller. In the end, I think was maybe eight or nine riders, and everybody worked."

Some worked more than others. Trentin, mindful that he had outflanked both Jakobsen and Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix), realised that he was, together with Hofstetter, the fastest finisher in the front group by reputation, and he was generous in his efforts to ensure the move stayed away.

Trentin's forcing on the cobbles of the Côte de la Roquette with 14km remaining served a treble purpose. As well as extending the break's advantage to 35 seconds and ridding the group of Cerny, it also served to discourage any attacks on the cobbles.

Van Gestel looked to test Trentin's resolve on the smooth road that followed, attacking with 8.5km to go, but the Italian immediately shut him down and then proceeded to stretch out the front group on the cobbled Côte des Nonettes that followed.

Campenaerts and Vliegen were the next riders to try their luck, but once more Trentin brought order to the group and he resumed his by-now habitual position on the front as they tackled the cobbles at Belle Vue with 3km remaining.

The leaders still had 25 seconds in hand as they came off the cobbles, and Campenaerts launched one, final effort shortly afterwards, but it proved impossible to break clear. Attacks from Dewulf and De Bondt were similarly repelled, but the break's momentum stalled notably as they reached the final kilometre and began the final drag to the line.

Trentin had advertised his strength so obviously that his companions were now reluctant to tow him to the line, and the Italian found himself in the unenviable position of leading the escapees into the final bend, while the peloton was now suddenly thundering back into view.

In the closing 300 metres, Trentin resisted the temptation to open his sprint from distance, preferring to allow Van Gestel to launch his effort. After diving for the Belgian's wheel, Trentin eventually hit top speed within sight of the line. Hofstetter, winner of this race in 2020, closed rapidly in the final metres, but Trentin had enough to hold on for victory, while Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X) led the peloton home at 4 seconds.

"I knew Hofstetter had already won here and Van Lerberghe had a free ride because Jakobsen was behind, but I did my sprint in an intelligent way I think,' said Trentin. "I waited for somebody else to launch the sprint. I waited for Van Gestel and then after that, it was a good battle with Hofstetter."

How it unfolded

The race was animated in its opening phase by Sam Welsford (DSM), Nickolas Zukowsky (Human Powered Health), Jente Boons (BEAT Cycling), Kasper Saver (Minerva Cycling), Sander Lemmens (Tarteletto-Isorex) and Samuel Leroux (Go Sport-Roubaix), who escaped inside the opening 10km and established a lead in excess of 4 minutes before the peloton, and Uno-X in particular, began to claw back their advantage.

Rune Herregodts (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Stijn Daemen launched a game attempt to bridge across to the escapees shortly after the midway point, while the rising tension in the peloton was illustrated by the crash that saw Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Soudal) among the fallers.

The remnants of the break was eventually brought back on the penultimate lap of the finishing circuit, where AG2R, through Dewulf and Naesen, and Lotto Soudal were prominent in trying to force a selection.

Naesen's acceleration with 40km to go did just that, though a mechanical problem would force him out of the front group. 2021 winner Tim Merlier was present in front at this juncture, but the flurry of attacks would eventually whittle the head of the race down still further. With each new selection, Trentin's strength would become ever more apparent, and when he accelerated inside the final lap, he created the winning move.

The peloton never gave up the chase, however, and Merlier himself made a spirited fightback after he acrobatically evaded a crash in the final 10km, but there was enough cohesion among the leaders to ensure they stayed clear. On the drag to the line in Dour, Trentin provided a finish to match his show of strength across the final hour of racing.