"I don't think many 78kg guys finished ahead of me" - Arnaud De Lie impresses at GP de Montréal as he aims for European Championships

Arnaud De Lie travelled to Canada and enjoyed a successful weekend, winning the GP de Québec, and yesterday attacking the very hard GP de Montréal. The Belgian was very pleased with his form after Sunday's race.

"Because I wanted to anticipate," De Lie tells Het Nieuwsblad on why he decided to attack so early. "I thought to myself that if I could get thirty seconds, I could make everyone a little nervous. You never know. In the end I never got more than ten seconds. When I returned to the peloton I couldn't move anymore. I had a good time, but I was exhausted on the last lap."

Because of how the race was taken by UAE Team Emirates, pushing the pace very hard from early on, the sprinters stood few chances. However De Lie anticipated the accelerations. He was dropped on all three final laps of Mont Royal from the peloton, but noticeably had return the peloton twice in the descents. In the penultimate lap he gave it another go trying to chase Michael Matthews in an unsuccessful attack.

A very aggressive race from the Belgian who proved his climbing abilities. "That was all I wanted to do here. And I did that too. With a big smile on your face, more is always possible. I just love racing this way. I felt really good. I don't think many 78kg guys finished ahead of me. This race has almost 5,000 meters of elevation and in the end I didn't finish badly," he argues.

He finished 34th, but much better was not possible against such an array of climbers and classics specialists. The Lotto Dstny rider is aiming to succeed at the hilly European Championships in two weeks which will take place in Drenthe in a route that suits the explosive riders who pack a sprint, such as him.

"I want to throw my arms in the air a few more times until the end of the season. With the Belgian team we have the luxury of playing two super cards. Wout [van Aert] wins the Tour of Britain, I win in Québec. I think we both want a tough race," he concludes.