"I prefer to sprint with two legs" - Arnaud De Lie doesn't plan to make a habit of incredible win at the Famenne Ardenne Classic
Cycling
Arnaud De Lie took the win at the 2023 Famenne Ardenne Classic to continue his brilliant run of form, but that was only half of the story due to an incredibly dramatic finale.
When the Belgian of Lotto Dstny launched his sprint, victory looked assured however with less than 100m to go he broke a cleat and unclipped. Despite this untimely mistake, De Lie kept peddling one-legged and somehow managed to hold off Kaden Groves with his lunge for the line.
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"I prefer to sprint with two legs to the finish," he laughed in his post-race interview, looking back on the incident. "My cleat broke off and I lost my pedal. I'm glad I won, because I would have been a bit depressed if I would have lost."
"I was lucky that it happened fifty meters from the finish and not a hundred meters," he reflects. "I was a bit panicky, but I'm happy that I can win in my own region. A very special victory."
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- What kind of sauce is on that rice? Ketchup?Kbd05-11-2026
- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
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Siri, define acrobat 😇 Not a ‘regular photo finish’, but our Arnaud De Lie takes the win anyway in the Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic 😀 #ForTijl Pictures: PhotoNews
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