Our Development program got their season underway today at the notoriously testing Le Samyn, known for its tricky cobbled sections and exposed roads. Upon leaving the neutralised zone the race was on and the pace didn’t let up for more than the opening hour of racing, with attack after attack flying from the bunch. The team rode strongly as a unit, rotating as a unit to make it into the moves, before Enzo Leijnse made it into the five-rider group that went clear after over 65 kilometres of action.

Leijnse’s group worked well together and extended their gap to almost 3 minutes and 30 seconds, but the peloton ensured that it didn’t grow out any further. As the kilometres and cobbled sections ticked by, Leijnse continued to impress out front as the breakaway fell to only four riders, as the impetus started to increase.

With around 40 kilometres to go a large group attacked from the peloton, joining Leijnse and his erstwhile breakaway companions. Leijnse dug in deep to stay with the group for as long as possible but after a hard day out on the attack, he had to let go of the wheels with around 30 kilometres to go. Behind, the rest of the team did a good job to position Casper van Uden and Marius Mayrhofer to the fore of the peloton but unfortunately the duo just didn’t have the legs to follow the stinging pace over the final cobble section as the new group out front formed, which ultimately fought it out for the race win.

“From the beginning on, it was a long and big fight for the breakaway with lots of jumping and attacking,” explained Leijnse after the race. “We did a good job with jumping and covering the attacks, and I managed to get in the break of the day in the end. Overall, it was a good day with lots of learning points to take with us towards the other races.”

Team DSM coach Bennie Lambregts continued: “I think the guys did a really good job in the first race of the season, especially against some strong opposition and a tough parcours. One of the goals was to be in the breakaway and Enzo did a good job to be in there for us after a lot of attacks from the guys early on. Onto the first cobbled stone section the guys did a good lead out in the peloton to that point, which was something we spoke about before the race so it was good to see them do it well. After that, the racing got really tough but in general I think it was a good job from the guys. They stuck to the plan and did everything for each other, which was really nice to see.”