Struggling Arnaud De Lie abandons Paris-Nice with cobbled Classics in mind

Arnaud De Lie has withdrawn from Paris-Nice after struggling during Tuesday’s team time trial in Auxerre. The Belgian was a non-starter on stage 4 to Mont Brouilly, with his Lotto-Dstny team stating he had not fully recovered from his crash at Le Samyn last week.

“After consultation with the team’s management and performance department, it was decided that Arnaud De Lie will not take the start anymore in the fourth stage of Paris-Nice,” read the Lotto-Dstny statement.

“After crashing in Le Samyn last Tuesday, Arnaud isn’t feeling 100% yet and with the spring classics in mind it’s not favourable to let him continue during the next hard stages. He will be returning home, to prepare and set a new focus on next races in the near future.”

De Lie has yet to pick up a win this season, though he impressed en route to 10th at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where he spent much of the day in an elite front group and looked among the very strongest riders on the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

On the back of that performance, De Lie was an obvious favourite for Le Samyn, but his race ended in frustration when he crashed while chasing back up to the peloton after a bike change.

De Lie made no impression in the bunch finishes on the opening two days of Paris-Nice and his struggles were laid bare when he was distanced by his Lotto-Dstny team early in Tuesday’s team time trial.

“If you are not 100%, it is impossible to perform here,” De Lie had admitted to Sporza ahead of stage 2.

Milan-San Remo is the next race on De Lie’s schedule, and the 21-year-old is also expected to ride E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen ahead of his anticipated Tour of Flanders debut.