Arnaud De Lie excited about the signing of Elia Viviani: "He could be the piece that was still missing from our mosaic"

Arnaud De Lie's big breakthrough should've come last spring, but some bad luck with crashes forced the Belgian champion to sit out the most important classics. This allowed him to prepare for a solid Tour de France debut and now it's time to return to the initial goal; to ride for top result of Flemish Classics.

But that doesn't mean De Lie will give up on sprints in 2025 with plans to return to finally win a stage at the Grande Boucle. And that's where the newest Lotto recruit; Elia Viviani could come into play. The late addition of the 36-year-old Italian sprinter is a significant boost for Lotto's already strong sprint lineup.

"As a team, we have a very young core," De Lie mentions the high amount of young riders currently at Lotto in a response to DHnet. 15 riders on the 2025 roster are still yet to turn 25. This is a testament to Lotto's commitment to grow youth talent, but such low average age means that there is lack of riders who can pass down experience in key moments.

De Lie believes the signing of Viviani might bring exactly what the team was missing to be competitive at the biggest races. Especially in bunch sprint finishes. "Elia has a lot of experience in the most important races and has also won several. He could be the piece that was still missing from our mosaic."

The young Belgian had a first meeting with the experienced Italian and his overall impression from this encounter seems to be positive. "I have already spoken with Elia, he is a guy who has great passion and will certainly be able to bring something important to our team," De Lie evaluates.

Whether we will see the two sprinters from different generations build a fearsome sprint train? Probably no. De Lie expects that Viviani will take up the role of Lotto's second sprinter and fight for top placings in the races which De Lie already outgrew. "Our director, Stéphane Heulot, had spoken to me about the possibility of this transfer and I think that Viviani will be able to play his cards with us, in the races in which I will not be present."

At the moment, there is no information about when should Viviani debut in the new colours, but it shouldn't take long with the amount of attractive one-day races on the schedule for coming weeks.