"Arnaud's turn was crucial" - Wout van Aert pays tribute to compatriot De Lie after more second placed heartache
Cycling
It has been a year of close calls for Wout van Aert in 2023. Second at the Cyclocross World Championships, second at the Glasgow World Championships road race and now second once again at the European Championships.
“It was a painful sprint, as I think you could see on TV,” said the Belgian in his post-race interview with NOS having been narrowly beaten by his Jumbo-Visma teammate, Christophe Laporte after a thrilling fightback from van Aert in the final kilometre. "Christophe was just too far ahead and just too strong. I thought for a moment that I would get it."
Key to even getting as close he did to Laporte was a monumental effort by Arnaud De Lie to try and bridge the gap. "Arnaud's turn was crucial," says van Aert, full of praise for his young compatriot. "I don't know where Christophe gets it from, because he was still riding really well. I just couldn't get over him.”
“It is of course always difficult in such a leading group. When one is gone, you want to get to him. But you also don't want to waste too much strength," analyses van Aert with a tinge of regret. "In retrospect, we may have waited too long for the countries that had a couple to make a choice. Maybe we should have talked more quickly with the Dutch and the Danes.”
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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CHRISTOPHE LAPORTE IS THE 2023 EUROPEAN CHAMPION! 👏🇫🇷 He wins in front of his teammate Wout van Aert who caught him in the last meters but couldn't (or didn't want) to pass him. Incredible failure by Belgium. #EuroRoad23
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