Laurenz Rex sprints to victory at Le Samyn 2024 after photo-finish finale with Antonio Morgado

Laurenz Rex has sprinted to victory at 2024 Le Samyn after a crash-filled day on the Belgian cobbles and a very close, photo-finish finale with Antonio Morgado.

With the race beginning to split apart early, there were already groups all over the road after just one lap of the cobbled circuit.

As Uno-X Mobility turned up the pressure at the front of the peloton though, things all came back together with just under 50km to go. A counter attack soon formed though, with Pavel Bittner, Thomas Gachignard and Jonas Rickaert breaking free from the peloton.

At the back of the peloton though, disaster struck for pre-race favourite, Arnaud De Lie. Firstly a puncture and then a slip of the wheel saw him hit the deck. Bittner was the last of the trio to survive out front but with 12km to go, he too was swallowed up by the small group of riders that remained in the peloton. 

Into the final kilometre and the bunch was still all together, meaning a reduced sprint was inevitable. In the rush for the line, there was a thrilling finale with an incredibly close finish. After multiple looks back at the images of the sprint, victory was awarded to Laurens Rex.