"I was boxed in... No doubt that I had the legs to win today” - Disappointed Arnaud De Lie denied first Tour de France win on stage 8

After his recent Belgian National Championship win, many in Belgium expected Arnaud De Lie to have little trouble tasting victory on his Tour de France debut. It's not quite gone to plan so far for the Lotto Dstny rider however, as was the case again on stage 8.

A punchy, uphill sprint to the line, De Lie entered the day one of the main favourites and most fancied riders. As such, his Lotto Dstny teammates could be seen working hard on the front of the peloton for much of the day. When it came to the actual sprint however, it was the Green Jersey wearing Biniam Girmay who took his second stage win of this Grand Tour ahead of Jasper Philipsen, with De Lie being forced to settle for 3rd place at the line.

“I couldn’t sprint,” a frustrated De Lie grumbled to the assembled press, including HLN, in his post-stage interview at the finish line. “I’m really frustrated. The team worked for me all day... I was boxed in and couldn’t do anything, just watch the sprint in front of me. I felt really strong. I have no doubt that I had the legs to win today.”

Any hopes De Lie would have had in the Green Jersey classification now also look slim to none. After his second stage win of the race, Biniam Girmay now sits comfortably atop the points classification standings with 216 points. De Lie, in 4th overall, has just 92 points to his name.