Ensing wins Le Samyn des Dames

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Janneke Ensing (Ale Cipollini) claimed victory at Le Samyn des Dames after breaking away from the peloton as part of a six-rider group. Ensing beat Team Sunweb’s Floortje Mackaij and Lauren Kitchen (FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope) to take the title.

"Four victories in less than two months, these are incredible results," said a pleased Fortunato Lacquaniti, manager of Ale Cipollini, regarding the team's recent wins at Santos Women's Tour (stage 4), Cadel Evans Ocean Road Race, Setmana Ciclista Valenciana (stage 2) and now Le Samyn.

"We are competitive on all terrains with the strongest cyclists in the world, this 2018 could not start better than this. I'm very proud of the team, the staff and the management."

It was a horribly cold day for the riders as they set off from Quaregnon early on Tuesday morning with the mercury dipping as low as -4. On top of the cold, the riders would face a 103km course that included 12 sectors of cobbles over undulating terrain and two local laps before the finish in Dour.

The course was as selective as ever with a group of 30 riders surging clear over the cobbles of the local laps. The group broke up further after several attacks, including one from Mackaij that saw her gain 10 seconds on the chasers, and with just 25 kilometres remaining a more select breakaway began to form. In the end, six riders broke clear and it would prove to be the winning move.

Their lead was never big, growing only to as much at 40 seconds before it began to trickle down again, and over the final cobbled sector it was a measly 15 seconds. Nevertheless, the six riders held firm and it was former speed skater Ensing, who finished ninth in the 2017 edition, who came out on top in the rush for the line.

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