# Le Samyn

Le Samyn is an annual single-day road bicycle race 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 as a 1.1 event. It is the first race of the season in Wallonia, 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.
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

| Year | Country | Rider | Team |
| 1968 | France | José Samyn | Pelforth–Sauvage–Lejeune |
| 1969 | Belgium | Herman Vrijders | Faema |
| 1970 | Belgium | Ronny Van de Vijver | Flandria–Mars |
| 1971 | Belgium | Julien Van Lint | Molteni |
| 1972 | Belgium | Marc Demeyer | Beaulieu–Flandria |
| 1973 | Belgium | Louis Verreydt | IJsboerke–Bertin |
| 1974 | Belgium | André Dierickx | Merlin Plage–Flandria |
| 1975 | France | Alain Santy | Gitane–Campagnolo |
| 1976 | Belgium | Dirk Baert | Carlos |
| 1977 | France | Michel Périn | Gitane–Campagnolo |
| 1978 | Belgium | Herman Van Springel | Marc Zeepcentrale–Superia |
| 1979 | Netherlands | Adri Schipper | Marc Zeepcentrale–Superia |
| 1980 | Belgium | Gery Verlinden | IJsboerke–Warncke Eis |
| 1981 | Belgium | Pol Verschuere | Capri Sonne |
| 1982 | Belgium | Jos Jacobs | Vermeer Thijs |
| 1983 | Netherlands | Jacques Van Meer | Fangio–Tönissteiner |
| 1984 | Belgium | Daniel Rossel | Tönissteiner–Lotto |
| 1985 | Belgium | Ronny Van Holen | Safir–Van de Ven |
| 1986 | Belgium | Patrick Onnockx | Lotto–Emerxil–Merckx |
| 1987 | Belgium | Claude Criquielion | Hitachi–Marc |
| 1988 | No race | No race | No race |
| 1989 | Belgium | Hendrik Redant | Lotto |
| 1990 | Belgium | Hendrik Redant | Lotto–Superclub |
| 1991 | Belgium | Johnny Dauwe | Tulip Computers |
| 1992 | Belgium | Johan Capiot | TVM–Sanyo |
| 1993 | Belgium | Wilfried Nelissen | Novemail–Histor–Laser Computer |
| 1994 | Belgium | Johan Capiot | TVM–Bison Kit |
| 1995 | Belgium | Johan Capiot | Refin |
| 1996 | Belgium | Hans De Meester | Palmans |
| 1997 | Belgium | Michel Van Haecke | Ipso–Euroclean |
| 1998 | France | Ludovic Auger | BigMat–Auber 93 |
| 1999 | Belgium | Thierry Marichal | Lotto–Mobistar |
| 2000 | Denmark | Frank Høj | Française des Jeux |
| 2001 | Belgium | Kris Gerits | Vlaanderen T-Interim |
| 2002 | Sweden | Magnus Bäckstedt | EDS–Fakta |
| 2003 | Netherlands | Stefan van Dijk | Lotto–Domo |
| 2004 | Australia | Robbie McEwen | Lotto–Domo |
| 2005 | No race | No race | No race |
| 2006 | France | Renaud Dion | AG2R Prévoyance |
| 2007 | France | Jimmy Casper | Unibet.com |
| 2008 | Belgium | Philippe Gilbert | Française des Jeux |
| 2009 | Belgium | Wouter Weylandt | Quick-Step |
| 2010 | Belgium | Jens Keukeleire | Cofidis |
| 2011 | Germany | Dominic Klemme | Leopard Trek |
| 2012 | France | Arnaud Démare | FDJ–BigMat |
| 2013 | Russia | Alexey Tsatevich | Team Katusha |
| 2014 | Belgium | Maxime Vantomme | Roubaix–Lille Métropole |
| 2015 | Belgium | Kris Boeckmans | Lotto–Soudal |
| 2016 | Netherlands | Niki Terpstra | Etixx–Quick-Step |
| 2017 | Belgium | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | Wanty–Groupe Gobert |
| 2018 | Netherlands | Niki Terpstra | Quick-Step Floors |
| 2019 | France | Florian Sénéchal | Deceuninck–Quick-Step |
| 2020 | France | Hugo Hofstetter | Israel Start-Up Nation |
| 2021 | Belgium | Tim Merlier | Alpecin–Fenix |
| 2022 | Italy | Matteo Trentin | UAE Team Emirates |
| 2023 | Belgium | Milan Menten | Lotto–Dstny |
| 2024 | Belgium | Laurenz Rex | Intermarché–Wanty |
| 2025 | Netherlands | Mathieu van der Poel | Alpecin–Deceuninck |

### Multiple winners

| Wins | Rider | Country | Years |
| 3 | Johan Capiot | Belgium | 1992, 1994, 1995 |
| 2 | Hendrik Redant | Belgium | 1989, 1990 |
| 2 | Niki Terpstra | Netherlands | 2016, 2018 |

### Wins by country

| Wins | Country |
| 35 | Belgium |
| 9 | France |
| 6 | Netherlands |
| 1 | Australia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden |

### Women's race

| Year | Country | Rider | Team |
| 2012 | Netherlands | Adrie Visser | Skil 1t4i |
| 2013 | Netherlands | Ellen van Dijk | Specialized–lululemon |
| 2014 | Sweden | Emma Johansson | Orica–AIS |
| 2015 | Netherlands | Chantal Blaak | Boels–Dolmans |
| 2016 | Netherlands | Chantal Blaak | Boels–Dolmans |
| 2017 | Spain | Sheyla Gutiérrez | Cylance Pro Cycling |
| 2018 | Netherlands | Janneke Ensing | Alé–Cipollini |
| 2019 | Netherlands | Jip van den Bos | Boels–Dolmans |
| 2020 | Netherlands | Chantal van den Broek-Blaak | Boels–Dolmans |
| 2021 | Belgium | Lotte Kopecky | Liv Racing |
| 2022 | Denmark | Emma Norsgaard | Movistar Team |
| 2023 | Italy | Marta Bastianelli | UAE Team ADQ |
| 2024 | Italy | Vittoria Guazzini | FDJ–Suez |
| 2025 | Netherlands | Lorena Wiebes | Team SD Worx–Protime |
Source

### Multiple winners

| Wins | Rider | Country | Years |
| 3 | Chantal van den Broek-Blaak | Netherlands | 2015, 2016, 2020 |

### Wins by country

| Wins | Country |
| 8 | Netherlands |
| 2 | Italy |
| 1 | Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Sweden |