Leopard's Heiderscheid and Haller strong at Le Samyn
Leopard Pro Cycling is back home after Le Samyn. As expected, the race turned out to be a tough one on difficult Walloon roads and against strong opposition.
The race summarized
Patrick Haller was able to show the Leopard outfit as he was part of the breakaway, which consisted of six riders. Because of a nervous peloton and the difficult roads ahead, the front group was already caughted by a first part of the bunch at about eighty kilometers from the finish in Dour. In this group, Leopard Pro Cycling's Colin Heiderscheid was present amongst all race favorites. If Leopard had stayed clear from techincal issues and crashes, at least one other rider had been up there as well. Nevertheless, the pace remained very high throughout the day, mainly thanks to the hard work of the Deceuninck-Quick Step team. In the last part of the race, attacks took place and eleven riders managed to stay clear. Heiderscheid was able to stay in the first chasing group and sprinted in the end to position 21, 39 seconds behind race winner Hugo Hofstetter of Israel Start-Up Nation. It's a sign of great things to come.
Results
1. Hugo Hofstetter - Israel Start-Up Nation
21. Colin Heiderscheid (LUX) + 0'39"
72. Arthur Kluckers (LUX) + 10'10"
87. Emil Lindgren (SWE) + 10'10"
89. Filip Maciejuk (POL) + 10'10"
93. Jan Maas (NED) + 10'10"
94. Patrick Haller (GER) + 10'10"
DNF. Misch Leyder (LUX)
Next race?
08.03 | GP Lillers (1.2) | France
Photographers
(c) Serge Waldbillig & JMarc Hecquet
Colin Heiderscheid
"I am really happy about today's race, which really started once we entered the final circuit. From there on it was a really fast race, but I was able to almost always remain in a good position. By doing so, I could save energy and altough I gave it all I had in the sprint, the tank was really empty. All in all, position X is not bad for only the second race of this season."
Patrick Haller
"Today we wanted to be in the breakaway and I saw the opportunity when the group went. Although we worked hard in the front, the big teams had all under control. First, I was able to stay with Colin in the first group, but then I had a mechanical and later a puncture, so my chance to come back was over. I am happy for Colin that he finished in a good 21st place. For myself, I am happy that I was able to show my strength in the break, which makes me already looking forward to the next races."
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