He went into the race as the favourite for a sprint finish and fulfilled this role with flying colours: Jordi Meeus opened his victory account for the 2026 season at the Belgian classic Le Samyn, winning by a bike length. It was the tenth victory of the season for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe.
After a good 200 kilometres on a circuit from Quaregnon to Dour, not far from the French border, it was the 27-year-old Belgian who left his competitors in the greatly reduced field standing. The last kilometre on the slightly undulating profile also brought with it a few more per cent of incline. In addition, there were several short cobbled sections to complete on each lap.
The Opening Weekend with the Omloop, Kuurne and Samyn was a big goal for me. And I am very happy to be going home with a victory from these three races.
It’s not easy to win as the favourite, but my legs felt good. That was actually the case throughout the whole season. I think I had a little more to offer than the results of the previous races showed, so I’m very happy that I was able to put in a good sprint today.
— Jordi Meeus
I am very happy for Jordi. He started his season with a few second places and good results in recent weeks. Finally, he has achieved his victory. The other riders in the team also performed really well today. We had two rookies here, both of whom rode a pretty good race. For Michiel Mouris, it was his first professional race and his first ride over 200 kilometres.
Our plan was pretty clear: Gianni Vermeersch was involved in every single move and tried to make the race as tough as possible. And for the sprint we had Jordi.
— Shane Archbold
