Klemme Wins Le Samyn

first win for Leopard-Trek Leopard-Trek has been waiting since the beginning of the season for one of their riders to show off that plain white front of the jersey as he crosses the line.

That wait finally came to an end Wednesday afternoon when Dominic Klemme threw his arms up in the air after crossing the line 1st at Le Samyn for his first win of the season and his team's first win ever.

Klemme launched his own solo attack in the final 2 kms to catch another solo rider (Kevin Ista) who attacked just before Klemme did.

Both riders jumped from the "mini-peloton" (which was down to less than 20 riders) and it was a 2 man duel to the finish. Klemme proved the fresher of the two and overtook Ista in the final km before cruising to victory. Ista was just able to hold on to 2nd, just 1 second ahead of a charging group lead by Klemme's Leopard-Trek teammate Robert Wagner.

The real story of the day had to be Bjorne Leukemans, who spent most of the day away by himself before finally being caught in the final 7 kms. For a while he looked like he was clear but the rigors of being in front all day finally took their toll on him and he was caught by the small bunch chasing.

This is obviously a huge win for Leopard, who had come so close multiple times with Bennati in Qatar and Oman. It's nice to finally have that first one out of the way heading into the larger spring classics and eventually the summer Grand Tours. Leopard-Trek has ambitions to be one of the most successful first year teams ever (and why not with the team they have) but you have to lay the foundation with a few wins in the spring.

Results

1. Dominic Klemme

2. Kevin Ista -8

3. Robert Wagner -9

5. Yauheni Hutarovich -9

8. Sebastien Chavanel -11

22. Bjorne Leukemans -44

35. Romain Feillu -3:36