There’s something about Hugo Hofstetter and the Ename Samyn Classic. The Frenchman won the Belgian one-day race during his first spell with the team in 2020, and, having placed second in both 2022 and 2023, added a third-place finish to his palmarès in this year’s edition on Tuesday.
Hofstetter rode a typically under-the-radar race, but noticeably positioned himself brilliantly approaching the finish line in Dour. After solo attacker Per Strand Hagenes was caught with around 600 meters remaining, Hofstetter was able to get a clear run at the finish line, and placed behind winner Jordi Meeus (RBH) and was only just denied second by Laurenz Rex (SOQ).
“It was a very strange race, to be honest,” says Hofstetter. “It was very technical as well, but we expected that. With the weather being good and there not being any wind, there was always going to be more riders in contention today.
So after the first circuit that we did, I already anticipated that this would be a busy sprint at the end. I’m not disappointed – I’ve already won here before, of course, and I’ve been second on two occasions as well – I’m always in the mix here, it seems.
“I could have been on the podium at Kuurne, so today I wanted to be free to sprint. Maybe I was just a bit too eager at Kuurne, but at least today, I was able to sprint exactly how I wanted to. So that was good, Jordi was just too strong for me today.”
