Everything about Arnaud De Lie

Who is Arnaud De Lie?

Arnaud De Lie is a Belgian professional cyclist who races for Lotto Dstny and is one of the most prominent classics specialists and sprinters in the peloton. He is a specialist in the one-day races and is the winner of races such as the GP de Québec, Tour of Denmark and the Belgian national championships.

Name: Arnaud De Lie
Born: 16 March 2002
Place of birth: Libramont, Belgium
Turned pro: 2022
Height: 1.82m

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Arnaud De Lie during the 2024 Tour de France. @Imago

Arnaud De Lie is a professional Belgian cyclist who turned professional in 2022 and races for the Belgian Lotto Dstny team where he turned pro as well. His nickname is 'The Bull of Wallonie'. He impressed quite a lot in the youth ranks, specially 2020, where he caught the attention of Lotto Dstny and signed with their under-23 team. In 2021 he would already take his first pro wins at the Tour Alsace, but has won other races as well. Still age 19, the Belgian team decided he was more than ready to be in the elite level team and he started off 2022 with a bang immediately.

Still in January before turning 20 years old, De Lie would already win the Trofeo Palma for the team. He would also win the GP Jean-Pierre Monseré, Volta Limburg Classic, Marcel Kint Classic, Heistse Pijl, Ronde van Limburg, Schaals Sels, the Egmont Cycling Race and a stage at the Tour de Wallonie - amongst many other strong results. He was a one-day specialist and at such a young age, he was by far the team's best UCI point scorer, in a year where the team desperately needed it. It wasn't enough to keep the team at World Tour level but because of the points it'd score, the team would have automatic wildcards for all World Tour events and this wouldn't harm De Lie's ambitions for the future - who was now a set leader in the Belgian team. At WT level, he finished in the Top10 of the Classic Brugge-De Panne, Eschborn-Frankfurt and Bretagne Classic this year.

In 2023 he would have more responsibility in the team and higher goals, but he delivered. De Lie opened the season with a win at the GP Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana, then won two stages at the Etoile de Bessèges... At Omloop Het Nieuwsblad he confirmed his potential of a top classics rider by finishing in second place after showing great climbing prowess. He also finished 6th at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, and later in the spring would win the GP du Morbihan; then in the summer a stage at the Tour de Wallonie, La Polynormande and the Tour of Leuven. He also won the Circuit Franco-Belge and Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic in Belgium, but took his first World Tour win at the GP de Québec where he outsprinted Corbin Strong and Michael Matthews. 

In 2024 he struggled at the start of the season and was diagnosed with Lyme's disease which hampered his form. However after recovering from it, he was good to go for the spring and in a smaller-level calendar he once again went on a streak of victories including the Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic, Circuit de Wallonie and Tro-Bro Léon in less than two weeks. In June he won the Belgian national championships, beating in an explosive race, in a sprint, none other than: Jasper Philipsen, Jordi Meeus, Thibau Nys, Wout van Aert and Tim Merlier. Off the back of the greatest win of his career, he made his Tour de France debut where he finished twice on the podium and batttled for the bunch sprints.

His form would be better after the Tour however, as he secured his first GC win at the Tour of Denmark. He then finished fourth at the Bretagne Classic and won the final stage of the Renewi Tour in Geraardsbergen after resisting the attacks of Tim Wellens in the Flandrien roads. He still won Binche - Chimay - Binche before ending the season.