"He didn't work hard enough this winter" - Belgian pundits find little "bad luck" behind Arnaud De Lie's disaster season
Cycling
Two Grand Tours, two DNFs in the first week. That's Arnaud De Lie's dismal record in 2026 after he abandoned the Tour de France just three days into the race. The Belgian first had to stop during a team time trial recon, and later found himself in severe difficulty to keep up with peloton's pace. And on stage 3, the time limit was no longer feasible.
An illness has taken De Lie out of the Giro d'Italia, and the situation has been the same also for the French Grand Tour. De Lie has already been clearly unwell days prior to the race, but his team Lotto still believed he would pull through to enjoy the sprint opportunities from stage 5 onwards. But the desired improvement did not come.
"It was already a problem that De Lie came to the Tour de France," ex-professional Tom Boonen says on Vive le Vélo show. "He should never have been at the start. I don't know what the team's reasoning was. 'We'll see if it gets better' perhaps? I haven't often seen a rider improve in the Tour."
Then add the extreme heat in Spain and at the south of France last week - that certainly did not help De Lie's recovery. "If you are already sick in the days before, the weather is so hot, and the start is so difficult, just say you are going home. Or better yet: as a team, don't let him start."
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Finally, Boonen hopes that De Lie's withdrawal can be the opportunity to have a closer look at the root reason of his recurring health issues.
"It is wiser to look for the cause than to keep riding here. Because everyone will remember this too. Whether it is a physical or mental problem, it doesn't matter. You can work on a mental problem as well. That can even be resolved faster than the physical problem, if you don't find the cause of that."
Lacks basic fitness
Unlike Boonen, his colleagues from Sporza were much harsher in their assessment of De Lie's 2026 Tour de France participation.
"Have him ride flat out for five minutes and then he comes to a standstill. Then he blocks up. He lacks basic fitness, you have to be honest about that. He didn't work hard enough in December and January," Dirk De Wolf.
"He doesn't have to recover from this withdrawal," adds José De Cauwer, who has seemingly seen just enough of De Lie's "lows". "He has to recover from a much bigger problem. This seems like an isolated issue, but it is much bigger than this."
Arnaud de Lie
The analyst suggests for De Lie to sort out quickly where he really wants to walk down the path of professional cyclist. "The problem lies mainly in his head. I wonder: does he even want to race? Is he willing to sacrifice everything for it? Can he handle the pressure involved?"
The narrative is not very different from last year when De Lie struggled in spring, but came around to have a strong finish to his season after having dealt with reportedly overtraining in winter. And after he spent some time home with his cows...
But De Cauwer is not a large fan of this story: "You can say: he finds peace with his cows. But that is no explanation. Then you should become a farmer. I think he is a great guy and a very good rider too. But at this level, this is unacceptable. Getting sick often has to do with stress and other factors as well. Because what is the real reason for the underperformance? He needs to find clarity in his mind."
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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