The 2021 cobbled Classics season continues on Tuesday, March 2 with the Walloon semi-classic Le Samyn. The 1.1-ranked race may not be among the biggest of the spring, but still welcomes a host of big names for both men's and women's races.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) is the biggest of the lot, fresh off his long breakaway ride at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, while Mark Cavendish hits the cobbles for Deceuninck-QuickStep, and Israel Start-Up Nation's Sep Vanmarcke will look to continue his good form after finishing third at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Cyclingnews will be bringing you full reports, results, news, interviews, and analysis throughout the race. Read on to find out how to watch Le Samyn via live stream, no matter your location, with ExpressVPN.
Van der Poel will be joined at the start by a pair of fastmen in Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier, giving Alpecin-Fenix one of the strongest squads at the race. Cavendish, meanwhile, will have 2019 winner Florian Sénéchal, sprinter Álvaro Hodeg, and Tim Declercq alongside him.
2020 winner Hugo Hofstetter returns to defend his title for Israel Start-Up Nation alongside Vanmarcke. His countryman and fellow sprinter Rudy Barbier is also on the ISN team.
Total Direct Énergie will call on 2018 winner Niki Terpstra, double podium finisher Adrien Petit, and fellow veteran Damien Gaudin. Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux's Aimé De Gendt finished second in 2019 and 2020. Elsewhere, John Degenkolb leads Lotto Soudal while Alexis Gougeard looks as AG2R Citroën's best bet for success.
In the women's race, SD Worx come with a strong squad, including Jolien D'Hoore, Amy Pieters (second in 2017) and Christine Majerus (second in 2020). Audrey Cordon-Ragot and Chloe Hosking are on Trek-Segafredo's team.
Floortje Mackaij and Lorena Wiebes lead Team DSM, while Soraya Paladin (Liv Racing), Emma Norsgaard (Movistar), and Marlen Reusser (Alé BTC Ljubljana) are also ones to watch.
The route for both races will be largely unchanged from 2020, with the men's race taking in 205.4km from Quaregnon to Dour, including three laps of a finishing circuit which includes five cobbled sections. The 94.9km women's route includes two laps of the same circuit.
Read on for all the information on how to watch Le Samyn 2021.
Le Samyn live stream
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Le Samyn will be broadcast around Europe on Eurosport. A subscription to Eurosport Player costs £6.99 for a single month, £4.99 for a year-long monthly pass, or £39.99 for a 12-month pass
The race will be aired in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand on GCN+ is offering a year’s subscription for half its usual cost – at just £19.99 / €19.99 / $24.99 – throughout February. GCN+ will also air the race in select other territories.
Elsewhere, Sporza and RTBF will show the race in Belgium.
If you live outside a broadcast zone or are on holiday outside your country and find that the live streams to be geo-restricted, you can get around this by getting access to them by simulating being back in your home country via a 'virtual private network', or VPN, for your laptop, tablet or mobile.
Our sister site TechRadar tested hundreds of VPNs and recommends the number-one VPN currently available as Express VPN. With ExpressVPN, you can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets, etc.
