De Lie goes deep to beat Démare at Egmont Cycling Race

Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Soudal) claimed the ninth victory of his remarkable debut season, beating Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) to the line at the Egmont Cycling Race. 

The 20-year-old Belgian has shone in lower-level Belgian one-day races this year and this was his sixth, following hot on the heels of his victory at Schaal Sels at the weekend. 

De Lie's lead-out man Jasper De Buyst sprinted all the way to the line to take third place, continuing Lotto Soudal's points-hunting strategy of placing multiple riders in order to rise up the UCI rankings and secure their WorldTour future. 

The one-day race in Belgium, formerly known as GP Stad Zottegem, totalled 198km with four laps of a finishing circuit around Zottegem, that featured the short Grotenbergstraat climb and the Lippenhovenstraat cobblestone sector. 

The race came back together for a bunch sprint, despite a late attacker from Alpecin-Deceuninck lasting until the final 700 metres. Lotto Soudal were prominent on the run-in, before Groupama-FDJ performed the lead-out proper with a peeling train of four riders. 

Démare opened up on the slightly uphill drag but Die Lie hit out and steadily clawed him back before nudging out in front and raising his arms. 

The effort was evident as he collapsed to the tarmac beyond the line and, pain etched on his face, he took several minutes to get his breath back. 

It was a two-horse race in the end, and a split during the lead-out meant there was daylight between them De Buyst, and fourth-placed Dries Van Gestel (TotalEnergies).

That was music to the ears of Lotto Soudal, who have made a strategy of exploiting points-heavy local one-day races by placing as many riders as possible into the top-10s. With the 1-3, they add an important 190 points to their steadily-growing tally, helping them towards their goal of escaping the 'relegation zone' and securing a WorldTour licence as one of the top 18 teams over the past three seasons. 

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