PREVIEW | Le Samyn 2025 - Can Mathieu van der Poel win his return race?

On the 4th of March we've got another Belgian classic, one of the most popular outside of the World Tour competitions actually. Le Samyn has gathered a lot of reputation over the years, with good reason, as the sprinters and classics specialists battle out in an explosive circuit. We preview the race ahead.

The 198-kilometer race has a mostly flat first half and a final circuit where the race will be decided. There will be four laps of a circuit which has it's finale in Dour, which features four cobbled sectors and two small ascents. The uphill drag to the line will be equally as challenging. It's a race where tactics are very important and a lot of aggressive racing is expected, but often it comes down to a reduced group sprint.

With dry conditions and no wind, it will be hard for this race to go off the rails. Usually, it is one that ends in a sprint, albeit between riders who can climb and are used to the explosive racing. That does not fill all riders here and some sprinters will definitely get dropped before the final ascent.

We could see Mathieu van der Poel on the attack before the finish, absolutely. He comes here without pressure, a sprint isn't safe for him, and he's got nothing to lose really, he would want to test himself a bit in the cobbles which can make the race quite a bit harder (and giving the team's sprinters less pressure). Both Arnaud de Lie and Paul Magnier seem brilliant in this kind of terrain though and even in an attacked race they would be amongst those who can respond. Most teams will be looking to protect their fast men and then hope for the best in the tough uphill sprint.

*** Arnaud De Lie, Paul Magnier
** Mathieu van der Poel, Aaron Gate, Erlend Blikra
* Laurenz Rex, Luca Mozzato, Jenthe Biermans, Timo Kielich, Max Kanter, Pavel Bittner, Casper van Uden, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Jakob Soderqvist, Alec Segaert, Lukas Kubis, Hugo Hofstetter

Pick: Paul Magnier

How: Reduced bunch sprint.