Arnaud De Lie suffers fractured sternum in 4 Jours de Dunkerque crash

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Young Belgian crashed in final 200 metres of opening stage

Arnaud De Lie can be seen on the ground behind the sprint on stage 1 of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque
Arnaud De Lie can be seen on the ground behind the sprint on stage 1 of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) suffered multiple injuries in a high-speed crash in the final metres of stage 1 of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque on Tuesday.

The Belgian crashed along with Enzo Boulet (CIC U Nantes Atlantique), and both fell heavily in the middle of the sprinting peloton.

Aaron Van Poucke (Flanders Baloise), James Oram (Bolton Equities Black Spoke), Astana's Gleb Syritsa, Yuriy Natarov and Cees Bol were all awarded with the same time as winner Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) in various incidents in the hectic finale of the 197-kilometre stage from Dunkerque to Abbeville.

De Lie was Lotto Dstny's top scorer in 2022 and was on track to replicate his successful debut season with the team. He won the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969, two stages and the points classification in the Etoile de Bességes, scored podiums in the Clasica de Almeria and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and, more recently, won the Grand Prix du Morbihan and was second in Tro-Bro Léon.

Laura Weislo
Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.