Arnaud De Lie was unable to contest either Giro d'Italia sprint finish in Bulgaria but the Belgian sprinter and his Lotto-Intermarché team are just happy he is still in the race after being hit by gastroenteritis in the days before the Grande Partenza.
De Lie won the Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic on May 3 but was hit, like many other riders, by illness as he flew to Bulgaria. His teammate Milan Menten also suffered, even going to hospital for checks after fainting and so delayed his travel to the Giro d'Italia.
Britain's Josh Giddings got a last-minute call-up to replace Liam Slock, who was deemed too sick to start the Corsa Rosa. It was widely suggested that the gastroenteritis was caused by cow manure that was washed on the road during the rain-soaked Belgian race.
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De Lie was caught up in the stage 1 crash and then was dropped on the climbs during stages 2 and 3. However he finished both stages and travelled to Italy with the rest of the peloton on Sunday night and took advantage of Monday's rest day to boost his recovery.
He went from the joy of his first win of the 2026 season at the Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic to suffering with gastroenteritis and its after affects while racing.
"I felt OK until during the flight to Bulgaria, I felt myself getting worse and worse. I don't think I have ever felt this bad," De Lie told Nieuwsblad from the Giro.
The Belgian sprinter suffered on the climb on stage 3, with former teammate Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) offering support and solidarity by carrying De Lie's bidon on the climb. A gesture of only a few grams and watts but offering huge psychological help.
De Lie lost contact with the peloton on the climb but eventually got back to the peloton and finished 47th.
Lotto-Intermarché hope that De Lie and Menten's suffering will be rewarded later in the Giro. The racing resumes on Tuesday, with Thursday's sixth stage expected to end in a sprint in central Naples.
"Recovering takes an enormous toll on the body," the Lotto-Intermarché team doctor Gerald Ackerl told Nieuwsblad.
"They raced on because we are almost certain that they will get better in the coming days. In Milan’s case, we only had him come in when we were one hundred percent certain that there was absolutely no danger to his health."
"Will Milan recover faster because he got sick sooner? We cannot say. We only know that they will get better. The most important measure we have taken is to put them in the same room together."
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