Arnaud de Lie out of Tour of Flanders - Lotto-Intermarché leader not recovered from another health setback

It is not uncommon for Arnaud de Lie, but it is unfortunate. The Lotto-Intermarché leader has been having a cursed start of the season. Following an injury that delayed his start and came in the way of him reaching his best form, he has fallen ill ahead of the main cobbled classics. He is now forced to skip the Tour of Flanders as the team has deemed him unrecovered from his latest bout of illness.

In both 2024 and 2025 his spring campaigns ended at Middelkerke - Wevelgem, and he has not even yet made his debut at the Tour of Flanders due to unforeseen reasons that continue to affect him. A winner of the Renewi Tour and a specialist in the Flandrien classics, in peak form he would be an outside for a top result at 'De Ronde' as well as the absolute leader for the Belgian team. But that is not to be this year either.

"Arnaud De Lie will not race Tour of Flanders. He was forced to abandon Dwars door Vlaanderen last Wednesday due to illness. Although he did recon of the course this morning together with his coach, it became clear to Arnaud that he has not recovered sufficiently to compete at 100% in such a demanding 278-kilometre race as Flanders’ Finest," a team statement read.

Th 24-year old has had glimpses of good results this spring, but always without achieving his best form. A fourth place at Middelkerke - Wevelgem sparked optimism back that he would be able to perform when it mattered the most, but at Dwars door Vlaanderen he was struggling very early on. He withdrew from the race and whilst the plan remained to race this Sunday, it is not happening.

Hopes are that he is still going to be able to race Paris-Roubaix, however even then in his current form it will be difficult to achieve a strong result. "Arnaud is being closely monitored by the medical and performance staff to ensure he can prepare as well as possible for Paris-Roubaix and be fully ready for that goal. We wish him a speedy recovery".