Unlike in previous years, the 196-kilometer spring classic Le Samyn was decided in a sprint. The Belgian Maxime Vantomme (Roubaix Lille Metropole) had the best legs, beating out last year's Russian winner Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) and the Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr). Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) finished eighth.
The race was extremely active beforehand. With seventy kilometers to go, Omega Pharma-QuickStep pushed the pace and for a few kilometers it looked like the team might pull off the same feat as they did at the weekend in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. This time Julian Alaphilippe, Andy Fenn, Iljo Keisse, Peter Vakoc, Martin Velits and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck failed to keep the field at a distance. Together with their escape companions, they were arrested again after almost twenty kilometers.
Another driver from the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team, Thomas De Gendt, tried to take advantage of this situation. Along with Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-La Mondiale), he was able to pull out a lead of almost 40 seconds before the field both rolled back up.
Twenty kilometers before the finish, a ten-man lead group, in which the German Julian Kern (Ag2R-La Mondiale) was also driving, sped off. But this group was not unlucky either. The last attack of the day was made by Tsatevich's teammate Vladimir Isaichev. His escape ended about 500 meters from the target.
Result
1. Maxime Vantomme (Roubaix Lille Metropole) 4:36:20
2. Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) 0:00:00
3. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) 0:00:00
4. Erwann Corbel (Brittany-Seche Environnement) 0:00:00
5. Kristian Sbaragli (MTN-Qhubeka) 0:00:00