Arnaud De Lie to miss Milan-San Remo, adds GP de Denain instead

BESSEGES FRANCE FEBRUARY 07 Arnaud De Lie of Belgium and Team Lotto White Best Young Rider Jersey celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 55th Etoile de Besseges Tour du Gard 2025 Stage 3 a 1362km stage from Besseges to Besseges Race shortened due to adverse weather conditions on February 07 2025 in Besseges France Photo by Billy CeustersGetty Images
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) (Image credit: Getty Images)

Lotto announced on Thursday that Arnaud De Lie will not compete in Milan-San Remo on March 22 as planned. The Belgian champion has struggled with illness and it has affected his training.

Rather than head into La Primavera not feeling 100%, De Lie will focus on the races earlier in the week. He will race Nokere Koerse on March 19 and has added the GP de Denain on March 20 to his calendar.

It's a second setback for De Lie, who postponed his season start in the GP Castellon and Clássica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 in January after injuring his knee in a crash during training.

The incident hardly slowed the 22-year-old down, as he won his first race of 2025 on stage 3 of the Étoile de Bessèges. However, he dropped out of the Volta ao Algarve two weeks later.

He was responsible for 20% of the team's points in 2023 and 2024, and the team have since lost other key points-scoring riders such as Maxim Van Gils, Victor Campenaerts, and Florian Vermeersch to other WorldTour teams. 

Since the UCI's rule change in 2020 that applied 'sporting criteria' to the WorldTour requirements, teams must now be in the top 18 of the three-year rankings to be promoted to or remain in the sport's top tier.

Lotto lost out on their licence in the last cycle along with Israel-Premier Tech, with Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Intermarché-Wanty being promoted.

This time, it's Arkéa-B&B Hotels and XDS Astana who are most in danger of relegation for the 2026-2028 WorldTour.

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.

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