"Following Pogacar was really special" - Arnaud De Lie recalls 2024 GP de Québec and reveals the classic he wants to win the most

Arnaud De Lie has been having steady evolution as a pro rider and he is currently in a position of a true leader with Lotto and is one of the most talented sprinters and classics riders in the peloton. He will race a lot this upcoming spring and will have his own schedule with several small races but also three monuments to race with high hopes. He's explained the reasoning behind his scheduling and also talked about Tadej Pogacar.

"Last year I went to Tenerife, but this year it’s without altitude training. I’ve just spent two weeks in the altitude tent at home. First we’ll go on a ten-day training camp with the team. After that I’ve rented a house in Spain until a week before the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad," De Lie said in words to In de Leiderstrui.

He will race the Etoile de Bessèges and Volta ao Algarve in anticipation to the opening weekend, and then going on a training camp instead of racing Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico. He aknowledges that this is the current change the classics specialists are focusing on the most in this period: "A lot has changed in modern cycling. If you see how Mathieu van der Poel rode a very good Milano-Sanremo as the first race of the year last year… Van der Poel is of course Van der Poel, but we see that a lot has changed. If you prepare well, you get into the right shape". 

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Hence, De Lie is going to race Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, whilst tackling several other big classics. On Sanremo however, the ambition isn't just as high, but he is looking to get the experience. "I’ve only ridden that one once and I think I still lack the experience to win there. Everyone knows that you need experience.".

Then E3 Saxo Classic, Gent Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen. "I want to compete for the win. So that, for example, I sprint for the win in Gent-Wevelgem. Whether I finish third or fourth, that doesn't matter, but at least I've raced for the win. It's not a matter of having to, but of wanting to. That's a difference. Having to is not a nice word, because when you want something, it really comes from within yourself".

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However it's actually Omloop Het Nieuwsblad that has the most meaning to him. Last year he won the stage in Geraardsbergen at the Renewi Tour. "That really is a special race. It's the race of the year in Belgium. The atmosphere is really special. The start in the Kuipke in Ghent is beautiful. I also feel that the Muur van Geraardsbergen in the final suits me. Riding up the Muur on the big plateau. I've already gained two years of experience there. And I really feel that I can win there. I know that I can win a Flemish classic like that, and that in the Belgian tricolour... That would be something special". 

He was also asked about Tadej Pogacar, whom he followed last fall at the GP de Québec. A fun experience, he recalls: "Following Pogacar was really special. It may not have been the right choice to follow, but you never know. That moment gives me a lot of confidence, because in almost all other World Tour races no one could follow him. It was a very explosive final".

Ultimately that move may have burnt his sprint, which then prevented him from sprinting for a top result in the end, but it was still a memorable test. "A Flemish classic is still different from Quebec, but personally that certainly gives confidence. As a rider you look for those kinds of moments, but also for victory. Still, that is a highlight of last season".

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