Leopard starts season in Belgium and Croatia

Le Samyn (UCI 1.1)
02.03 | Quaregnon - Dour | 205,4 km

It is not easy to start your season at a race like Le Samyn, as this one has it all. Cobbles, short steep climbs, tough opposition, Belgian roads and, above all, a very motivated peloton. Le Samyn is a UCI 1.1 race, is part of the Bingoal Cycling Cup and has no less than seven UCI Pro Teams at the start. The race starts in Quaregnon and has its finish line 205 kilometers later in Dour. The local lap in Dour is a very difficult one, because of for example the Côte de la Roquette and the cobbles of the Rue du vert Pignon. Whoever wants to battle for the victory here should be not afraid to dig very deep.

Who are riding?
Loïc Bettendorff (LUX), Colin Heiderscheid (LUX), Arthur Kluckers (LUX), Jarno Mobach (NED), Cedric Pries (LUX) & Tim Torn Teutenberg (GER) - DS: Markus Zingen (GER) & Gaëtan Pons (LUX)

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Trofej Umag & Trofej Porec (UCI 1.2)
03.03 | Umag - Umag | 154 km
07.03 | Porec - Tar | 156 km

After eight years, Leopard Pro Cycling returns to Croatia for the Trofej Umag and Trofej Porec. Back then, the team came back with two twelfth places, now the team is looking for more. The Trofej Umag is a UCI 1.2 race that takes place entirely in the Umag surroundings as the course consists of seven laps of 22 kilometers each. There are some altitude meters in this local lap, but for the well-trained riders this is nothing to be afraid of. It is likely that the race will be decided in a sprint finish. Four days later, the Trofej Porec is a little bit less predictable, which has been proven in recent years when there sometimes were bunch sprint finishes, but sometimes there were also many smaller groups crossing the line. Whatever it will be this year, this also UCI 1.2 race offers plenty of opportunities to make the difference in and around the finish town of Tar.

Who are riding?
Louis Coqueret (FRA), Patrick Haller (GER), Miguel Heidemann (GER), Edvin Lovidius (SWE), Jan Maas (NED) & Filip Maciejuk (POL) - DS: Jan Brockhoff (GER)

Photographer
(c) Fellusch