After the ‘Opening Weekend’, the peloton will begin the semi-classic period in Belgium, consisting of many non-World Tour cobbled classics. The first of which is Le Samyn, a race with plenty history, notable winners, and with Wout van Aert at the start line this 3rd of March. We take a look at its startlist.

The event was first held in 1968 and has been a benchmark for classics specialists for decades, serving the Belgian crowd favourites many times. Since the start of the 21st century a lot of meaningful names have won here such as Magnus Bäckstedt, Robbie McEwen, Philippe Gilbert, Arnaud Démare, Niki Terpstra… It is a race that both suits the sprinters and classics specialists, an interesting dynamic, and so we have both types of riders in the palmarès.

This decade, every single edition has been won in a sprint – two of them from small groups however. Hugo Hofstetter, Tim Merlier, Matteo Trentin, Milan Menten and Laurenz Rex were all winners; whilst last year it was last-minute addition Mathieu van der Poel who opened his season here and took a victory over Paul Magnier.


Download the startlist in A4. Team Visma | Lease a Bike headline the race this year round with Wout van Aert at the start line followed by former European Champion Christophe Laporte, both big favourites. The World Tour is also represented with Alpecin-Premier Tech; Soudal – Quick-Step; NSN Cycling Team (Hugo Hofstetter); Groupama – FDJ United; Team Picnic PostNL; Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe (Jordi Meeus & Danny van Poppel) and Lotto-Intermarché.Startlist Le Samyn 2026 

Alpecin – Premier Tech 1 Thijssen, Gerben 2 Rickaert, Jonas 3 Dillier, Silvan 4 Price-Pejtersen, Johan 5 Sénéchal, Florian 6 Geens, Jonas 7 Dehairs, Simon Soudal – Quick-Step 11 Rex, Laurenz 12 Bastiaens, Ayco 13 Svrček, Martin 14 Vangheluwe, Warre 15 Desal, Ceriel 16 Tricht, Stan Van 17 Lerberghe, Bert Van TotalEnergies 21 Dauphin, Florian 22 Boulahoite, Rayan 23 Gachignard, Thomas 24 Thierry, Pierre 25 Marcerou, Nicola 26 Tesson, Jason 27 Vadic, Baptiste NSN Cycling Team 31 Hofstetter, Hugo 32 Kogut, Oded 33 Watts, Kiaan 34 Pirinen, Miko 35 Tricht, Floris Van 36 Verbrugghe, Jens 37 Asbroeck, Tom Van Groupama – FDJ United 41 Barthe, Cyril 42 Fontaine, Titouan 43 Gruel, Thibaud 44 Huens, Axel 45 Milan, Matteo 46 Penhoët, Paul 47 Agnoletto, Blake Team Visma – Lease a Bike 51 Aert, Wout van 52 Kerckhove, Matisse Van 53 Belle, Loe van 54 Hagenes, Per Strand 55 Laporte, Christophe 56 Mattio, Pietro 57 Taillieu, Aldo Team Picnic PostNL 61 Biesterbos, Frits 62 Berg, Julius van den 63 Scheldeman, Xander 64 Flynn, Sean 65 Jakobsen, Fabio 66 Haquin, Henri-François 67 Roosen, Timo Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 71 Meeus, Jordi 72 Marit, Arne 73 Drizners, Jarrad 74 Poppel, Danny van 75 Magagnotti, Alessio 76 Mouris, Michiel 77 Vermeersch, Gianni Lotto – Intermarché 81 Grisel, Matys 82 Beullens, Cedric 83 Braet, Vito 84 Ørn-Kristoff, Felix 85 Schuyteneer, Steffen De 86 Grignard, Sébastien 87 Sintmaartensdijk, Roel van Unibet Rose Rockets 91 Reinders, Elmar 92 Vries, Hartthijs de 93 Bloem, Joren 94 Feldmann, Karsten Larsen 95 Groenewegen, Dylan 96 Kopecký, Tomáš 97 Kubiš, Lukáš Team Flanders – Baloise 101 Huysmans, Nolan 102 Lambrecht, Michiel 103 Thonnon, Senne 104 Torney, Artuur 105 Haute, Milan Van den 106 Vandenbranden, Noah 107 Vanhoof, Ward Cofidis 111 Aniołkowski, Stanisław 112 Biermans, Jenthe 113 Page, Hugo 114 Renard, Alexis 116 Teuns, Dylan 117 Maas, Jan Modern Adventure Pro Cycling 121 Boardman, Samuel 122 Christian, Sean 123 Caudell, Ezra 124 McDonald, Brody 125 Oliver, Ben 126 Pickrell, Riley 127 Stewart, Mark EEW-VDK Cyclingteam 131 Wal, Rik van der 132 Bouma, Jelle 133 Uptegrove, Ed 134 Schulten, Chiel 135 Bronswijk, Mike 136 Visser, Guillaume 137 Huitema, Jasper VolkerWessels Cycling Team 141 Abma, Elmar 142 Bolle, Bert 143 Claeys, Robbe 144 Crockett, Finn 145 Dobbelaere, Born De 146 Paardekooper, Thijmen 147 Woets, Mattanja BEAT CC pb Saxo 151 Dekker, David 152 Appel, Stijn 153 Maas, Marijn 154 Kerckhaert, Jochem 155 Kroonen, Max 156 Coppens, Michiel 157 Sintmaartensdijk, Daan van Tarteletto – Isorex 161 Dupont, Timothy 162 Lauryssen, Yorben 163 Moonen, Zeno 164 Santy, Arne 165 Harteel, Jelle 166 Petegem, Axandre Van 167 Vermoote, Jelle Elite Fondations Cycling Team 171 George, Alfred 172 Rouiller, Loris 173 Blum, Elia 174 Sommer, Jan 175 Jean, Victor 176 Darbellay, Valentin 177 Bögli, Noah Team Lotto Kern-Haus Outlet Montabaur 181 Huppertz, Joshua 183 Rottmann, Jonathan 184 Jablonski, Ole 185 Behrens, Eike 186 Grupp, Louis Van Rysel Roubaix 191 Arnes, Daniel 192 Avoine, Kévin 193 Heremans, Joppe 194 Oosterlinck, Joes 195 Raugel, Antoine 196 Tendon, Arnaud 197 Théot, Killian St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93 201 Bénéteau, Lucas 202 Bouquet, Axel 203 Berger, Antoine 205 Delacroix, Théo 206 Lecroq, Jérémy 207 Niekerk, Morné van Bahrain Victorious 211 Segaert, Alec 212 Borgo, Alessandro 213 Bruttomesso, Alberto 214 Eržen, Zak 215 Govekar, Matevž 216 Stannard, Robert 217 Dunwoody, Seth Atom 6 Bikes – Cycleur de Luxe – Auto Stroo Team 221 Dhaeye, Enrico 222 Gullhav, Kristoffer 223 King, Matthew 224 McKay, James 225 Nielsen, Magnus 226 Radcliffe, George 227 Rigole, Brian Aarco 231 Baguelin, Jocelyn 232 Dockx, Gilles 233 Hannes, Victor 234 Lowagie, Arthur 235 Staes, Gibbe 236 Broek, Axel Van den 237 Zabelinskiy, Bogdan Color Code – Alu Center 241 Desmarets, Julien 242 Melotte, Matteo 243 Noirhomme, Arnaud 244 Wertz, Hugo 245 Marx, Louis 246 Cardinal, Nathan 247 Jacques, Lucas