Le Samyn is an annual single-day
road bicycle race
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...
in Belgium, held usually in late February or early March. The event was created in 1968 as ''Grand Prix de
Fayt-le-Franc'', named after the former municipality where it started and finished. In 1970 it was renamed ''Grand Prix José Samyn'' as a tribute to
José Samyn, the race's first winner who died in a race accident in 1969.
Johan Capiot holds the record with three wins.
History
Since 2005, the race is included in the
UCI Europe Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale
The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and ove ...
as a
1.1 event. It is the first race of the season in
Wallonia
Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...
, held on the Tuesday after its Flemish counterpart,
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The race is run entirely in the province of
Hainaut, starting in
Quaregnon and finishing in
Dour. During the course, 16 sectors of cobbled roads are traversed, prompting Belgian media to call it ''The Little
Paris–Roubaix
Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...
''.
The 2005 edition was cancelled because snow had made the roads too dangerous.
Since 2012, a women's edition of the race, named ''Le Samyn des Dames'', is held on the same day as the men's race.
Winners
Men's race
Multiple winners
Wins by country
Women's race
Source
Multiple winners
Wins by country
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samyn
UCI Europe Tour races
Recurring sporting events established in 1968
1968 establishments in Belgium
Cycle races in Belgium
Women's road bicycle races
Le Samyn des Dames