Arnaud De Lie was probably the most profitable sprinters of the 12 months in 2023 however solely simply chalked up his first notch within the win column in Sunday’s Famenne Ardenne Classic.
The Lotto Dstny rider spent 4 weeks out of competitors after struggling by the Classics, the possible reply to his lacklustre performances was a prognosis of Lyme illness. The tick-borne micro organism that causes the illness can usually be cured with antibiotics and it appears to have achieved the trick.
After out-sprinting Axel Zingle (Cofidis) and teammate Maxim Van Gils, De Lie was understandably relieved.
“I’m tremendous proud of this victory after a tough interval,” De Lie stated. “I haven’t got any phrases. I wish to thank everybody who helped me in the course of the previous weeks. I did not really feel nice at first of the race, it was additionally exhausting with the wind, however immediately I felt higher and my teammates gave me loads of belief and they had been very sturdy. I’m proud.”
De Lie’s issues cropped up after a crash in Le Samyn led to struggles throughout Paris-Nice. After dropping out of the latter, De Lie skipped Milan-San Remo and raced to top-10s within the GP de Denain and Koksijde Classics. But after sub-par finishes within the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem, the group put De Lie on the bench for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
His victory on Sunday exhibits that the 22-year-old continues to be on observe to make his Tour de France debut, as had been within the group’s plans.
“This is excellent for confidence. That confidence was considerably misplaced after I was having a tough time. I really feel like that is again a bit now. This is a good first step,” De Lie stated.
“I’ve had tough moments just lately. I educated nicely and made loads of sacrifices,” he stated of his scuttled Classics plans. “But ultimately, I could not do a lot. It provides me nice pleasure to win right here. But it’s particularly good that I had a superb feeling once more.”
De Lie will proceed to concentrate on one-day races within the coming weeks, with the Grand Prix du Morbihan, Tro-Bro Léon and Circuit de Wallonie on his calendar earlier than he mounts his closing Tour de France push in June on the Tour de Suisse.
