Young Belgian sprinting phenomenon Arnaud De Lie says that after nine victories in his debut season as a pro, he’s hoping to step things up with a start at Paris-Roubaix and possibly the Tour of Flanders in 2023.
The Lotto Soudal rider won nine races this season, more than a third of his team's total and more than any of his other teammates, starting in January in the Challenge Mallorca and continuing all the way through to the Egmont Cycling Classic in August.
By then, De Lie, 20, had already added another year to his contract with his team. He completed his season at Paris-Tours, where he crashed and could not fight it out at the finish.
Having cut his teeth in the Classics at races like Gent-Wevelgem, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and the Scheldeprijs, his best result at the WorldTour level was a fourth in the Bretagne Classic-Ouest France. His next ideal step, he says, would be a start in Paris-Roubaix.
A start in Paris-Roubaix is a realistic option even if Lotto Soudal stand to be relegated from the WorldTour after missing out on the top 18 in the triannual team rankings. They should be in a position in 2023 as the top ProTeam of 2022 to receive automatic invitations to the Grand Tours and Classics.
With a contract with Lotto-Dstny until 2024, the 20-year-old is determined, he told Belgian media outlets Sporza and RTBF, “simply to keep improving my sprint."
"There were races last season where I was perhaps the fastest man in the race, but I or my teammates still lacked the experience to finish.”
De Lie pointed out that he has not been racing very long with his teammates so next year should go better.
“I think we will have an even better group next season, both in the sprints and the Classics,” he argued, “positioning in the bunch is so important in both cases, so it’s mainly about gaining experience in those areas.”
In the off-season, De Lie’s program is based around running and helping out on his father’s farm. But having taken seventh in the Junior Paris-Roubaix in 2019, the same year he took the Belgian Junior National Title, De Lie confirmed that in 2023 "I would like to participate in the Tour of Flanders, but particularly in Paris-Roubaix.
"But it will be a matter of time, I want to do it well and that's what the team thinks is best, too."
