Lotto-Dstny have revealed their squad for the upcoming Tour de France, with debutant Arnaud De Lie and star puncheur Maxim Van Gils as leaders.
Joining Lotto’s two key men will be the experienced Victor Campenaerts, Brent Van Moer, Jarrad Drizners, Harm Vanhoucke, Sébastien Grignard and Cedric Beullens.
De Lie arrives at his first Tour off the back of an emotional and stunning win at the Belgian national championships road race, where he bested the best sprinter of last year’s Tour, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in a bunch finish to Zottegem.
Although he will now fulfill a dream of wearing the Belgian bands at the Tour, It hasn’t been plain sailing for the 22-year-old Belgian to make it to Firenze's Grand Départ on June 29. Disappointing form in the Spring Classics and a bout with Lyme disease in March led him to even doubt his talents on the bike.
“In [E3] Harelbeke I was bad, in Gent-Wevelgem I was worse than bad. That was the moment when I asked myself ‘Arnaud, what are you actually doing riding a bike?’ Every rider knows that feeling,” De Lie told Het Laatste Nieuws after triumphing int the Belgian Championships.
“I didn't touch a bike for ten days. And after those ten days, I didn't feel like getting on a bike again. I said to myself 'Arnaud, grit your teeth'. The pleasure returned. I went to Nice for a week and that was really fun.
“I won in Famenne [Ardenne Classic] and then my confidence returned. Now it's been three months since Gent-Wevelgem and I have become Belgian champion. It's really incredible.”
It was true rock bottom for the young Belgian, who had burst onto the scene in his first two and a half seasons as a professional with Lotto, taking 23 wins, the biggest to date being last year’s GP Quebec and Sunday’s Belgian Nationals.
“After the Classics, I was mentally broken,” said De Lie to Sporza while fighting back tears. “I made a lot of sacrifices to come back from Lyme disease.”
Now that he’s back to his best after taking four wins between April 28 and now, he’s got his sights set on his debut Tour, and without expectations or pressure from Lotto-Dstny.
“Arnaud goes to the Tour without any pressure, as it’s his first participation we don’t put any expectations around him,” said sports manager Kurt Van de Wouwer.
“He goes there to learn and gain experience, of course, there are some stages that suit him and in sprints he can try his chance, but without any musts.”
De Lie will be spurred on by his win ahead of riders of the calibre of Philipsen, 2023 Champs-Élysées winner Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe), Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step).
He’ll be competitive in flat sprints certainly, but he’s also got his sights set on the uphill sprint at the end of the first week into Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, where the likes of De Lie and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) could be the ones to beat.
“I like stage eight, Philipsen may be faster in the flat sprints,” De Lie told HLN. “I don't really have a goal, I just take it day by day. The Tour is new, if you have too much confidence it is not good.”
Lotto Dstny's 2024 Tour de France squad
- Arnaud De Lie
- Maxim Van Gils
- Victor Campenaerts
- Brent Van Moer
- Jarrad Drizners
- Harm Vanhoucke
- Sébastien Grignard
- Cedric Beullens.
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