Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) has nabbed his first pro win at a highly-entertaining edition of Le Samyn.
The race was nearly won by his teammate, Tim Declerq, who countered an attack with two kilometres remaining and looked, briefly, to have a winning gap.
Roompot-Charles pulled it all back together for Lars Boom, and in doing so pulled Sénéchal back to the front of the race. The sprint came down to Sénéchal, Aimé De Gendt (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), and an isolated Niki Terpstra (Direct Energie), and Sénéchal was clearly the fastest.
“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 said.
“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 can rewatch Le Samyn 2019 HERE.
Le Samyn 2019 results (Quaregnon – Dour):
| 1 | Florian Senechal (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 4:38:20 |
| 2 | Aime De Gendt (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 3 | Niki Terpstra (Direct Energie) | ,, |
| 4 | Lars Boom (Roompot-Charles) | ,, |
| 5 | Pieter Serry (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +01” |
| 6 | Stijn Vandenbergh (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 7 | Tim Declercq (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +06” |
| 8 | Elmar Reinders (Roompot-Charles) | +08” |
| 9 | Jesper Asselman (Roompot-Charles) | +14” |
| 10 | Remy Mertz (Lotto Soudal) | +19” |
