"De Lie should stay away from Spain more and train more in the Ardennes" - Homesickness named as one of possible reasons behind Arnaud De Lie's poor results
Cycling
The Classics campaign is once again a reason for wrinkles on foreheads of Lotto sports directors. The Belgian team's greatest asset - at least on paper - Arnaud De Lie is visibly struggling again despite solid early appearances in France, Spain and Portugal.
"Arnaud trained too much in Spain - two months - and less at home. De Lie likes to be with his cows too much. That is literally what Dirk Demol [Lotto sports director, ed.] told me," says Dirk De Wolf, winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège 1992 and Dwars Door Vlaanderen 1989 in Wielerclub Wattage powered by Sporza.
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Presenter Ruben Van Gucht then throws out the word homesickness. "De Lie should stay away from Spain more and train more in the Ardennes. And be with his cows more."
"Could that be it? If you are there for two months, you can't cross back to Belgium twice for a few days?" Tom Boonen wonders.
Arnaud De Lie is still in the provisional lineups for Gent Wevelgem (March 30), Dwars Door Vlaanderen (April 02) and Tour of Flanders (April 06) - races where he should ideally compete for a top-10 result. However if the string of poor luck and mediocre performances keep stacking up, it wouldn't be unwise from Lotto to withdraw the Belgian from these races and save his strength for another day...
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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