ProTeam Arnaud De Lie sprints to sixth place at Belgian championships

After a thrilling finale, Arnaud De Lie sprinted to a sixth place at the Belgian championships in Middelkerke. Lotto Soudal rode a very attentive race and was present in the front all day long, but came for more than sixth place.

Photo: Photo News

Lotto Soudal was very active from the beginning of the race. Brent Van Moer and Maxim Van Gils were present in the early breakaway of 14 riders. The group quickly gained a 5-minute lead, but behind them a first battle was fought in the feared Moeren. The peloton was sliced into two pieces, with Arnaud De Lie, Sébastien Grignard, Frederik Frison, Florian Vermeersch and Jasper De Buyst in the first part for Lotto Soudal.

“This was a very good situation for us”, said Arnaud De Lie after the race. “It is always better to be present in the front than having to chase behind. This way we were at ease.”

When the front group and the first part of the peloton came together, a new series of attacks followed. Florian Vermeersch made it into a new leading group with ten other riders. But that was still not the final and decisive move, because behind the leaders the first and second part of the peloton came back together. Lotto Soudal decided to go for Arnaud De Lie’s chances in a bunch sprint and quickly brought the peloton back to the leaders. The reduced bunch sprinted for the Belgian title, with Arnaud De Lie crossing the finish line as sixth.

“I am disappointed with this sixth place, it’s not what I came here for”, says neopro Arnaud De Lie. “I think we were just one rider short in the final stretch. Very unfortunate. But at the same time, I think we rode a very good race as a team, where we were always in control. It is too bad we cannot finish the work off with a win. But there are enough positives to take from this race as well.”