Development Arnaud De Lie wins stage 2 Tour Alsace

The 19-year-old Belgian is also the new GC leader.
Race 22 July 2021

Arnaud De Lie sprinted to victory today on the second stage of Tour Alsace! In finish town Altkirch he was faster than runner-up Théo Menant after a stage of 163.1 kilometres with start in Colmar. The road to victory wasn’t one without obstacles for De Lie, who is now also GC leader in Alsace.

“I am so happy with this victory! This is incredible!”, starts an enthusiastic Arnaud De Lie. “It is my first UCI victory. It’s fantastic that I can take the victory in this race among pros. The stage didn’t start smoothly for me though. Because of a mechanical, I had to change bike already quite early. And with about forty kilometres to go, I had to put on a different shoe, but I didn’t panic. With less than 25 kilometres to go, I started positioning myself for the sprint. In the last ten kilometres I got help from Lennert Van Eetvelt and Luca Van Boven. Their job was done in the final kilometre. The last 800 metres, the road went slightly uphill at a gradient of 3 to 4%. I started sprinting with 550 metres to go. It was a real power sprint.”

“The next two days it’s up to the climbers and we’ve got some nice cards to play. The chance that I can keep the leader’s jersey after tomorrow’s stage is very slim, so I will gladly help my teammates. On the last day there is another opportunity for me. We’re in a good flow and there can follow some more beautiful moments for us this week”, concludes De Lie.

Image: Michaël Gilson - DirectVelo / Tour Alsace

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