Le Samyn was Quick-Step Floor's race to lose, and they didn't. Niki Terpstra jumped and cleared the final three-man breakaway, and muscled his way around the day's gruelling, cobbled circuit before finishing with his second victory in Dour.
It was a case of classic tactics as Quick-Step's Philippe Gilbert, also in the final move, as he backed lone rival Damien Gaudin (Direct Energie) into the unfortunate position of having to perform a futile chase only to finish third as Gilbert rode around him on the run-in to the finish line for second place.
"I am very happy, but must say we suffered today with every kilometer, because the cold made use spend a lot of energy," Terpstra said. "It wasn't easy to race in these conditions, but fortunately it worked out well for us at the end of the day. We knew the break was strong and the responsibility was on us, so that's why we attacked in the crosswinds from afar.
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"We went full gas and turned everything into an elimination race, with more and more guys getting tired and dropped. The team rode a textbook race, Philippe was perfect in the finale and we just made use of our numerical advantage, so that I could get away and take this beautiful win."
The peloton had a chance to stretch its legs during Belgium's 'opening weekend' with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, where Quick-Step Floors came up empty-handed. And so, perhaps out of sheer frustration, they came out swinging mid-week for Le Samyn's 200km race between Quaregon and Dour.
The parcours was unforgiving, featuring four bergs in the first half. It was tough enough for an early split with Gaudin, Maxime Daniel (Fortuneo), Tom Devriendt (Wany Groupe-Gobert), Quentin Jauregui (AG2R-La Mondiale), Johan Le Bon (Vital Concept), Casper Pedersen (Aqua Blue), Franklin Six and Alex Kirsch (WB Aqua Sport) clearing the field.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/le-samyn-2018/results
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