"He sometimes trained for seven hours and climbed 5,000 meters of altitude" - Concerns in Belgium about Arnaud De Lie's early-season form

Arnaud De Lie came into the 2024 season with great expectations after a breakthrough 2023 campaign. So far though, it's been a somewhat slow start for the Belgian with concerns growing in his homeland about Lotto Dstny's training methods.

Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, ex-pro Stijn Steels opens up on how he is a big fan of De Lie. ''In January I had no doubts about who was the top favourite for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: Arnaud De Lie," he explains. "But judging by the results in the Spanish races, I would think that he took a risk with the altitude training. High altitudes are strange creatures. You can return with golden legs, but if you make a mistake you can be in misery."

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Given the 21-year-old has two DNFs out of his three races so far this year, it's clear something isn't quite working for De Lie. "You have to get used to it and build it up very slowly. This is not obvious for a young 'bull' like De Lie. There is a danger that you still want to go all out," Steels says.

"To be clear: I assume that the trainers at Lotto Dstny know what they are doing, but I saw that he sometimes trained for seven hours and climbed 5,000 meters of altitude. To be honest: these are training sessions for an Alpine stage in the Tour rather than for the Omloop," he concludes. "Four days before he had to race in Spain, he did another monster training session. In Murcia he was among the first dropped. Let's hope he takes a rest now, because a De Lie at 100% is a pleasure to watch."