Yet we shouldn't expect immediate victory from De Lie after seven weeks without any races. "Don't expect miracles when he returns. Arnaud still lacks a lot of race rhythm. We will give him time to build up further." The real goals will come later in summer with the Belgian Championships and later also the Tour de France.
Next to De Lie, there is a perhaps even more interesting name on the Lotto lineup for the Rund um Köln. We're talking about none other than the cyclocross star
Toon Aerts whose career came to a halt in 2022 when an adverse doping finding resulted in a two-year ban. As a part of regaining race rhythm as Aerts' ban run out last February, the 31-year-old took on several races and the performances were pretty good.
In fact so good, that thanks to a parternship between Aerts' cyclocross team Deschacht Hens Maes and Lotto, he landed a contract with the PRT team and will represent the Belgian formation on road this summer.
"I think Toon is very eager to make his debut in our shirt. I also expect him to be there quite quickly," says Van de Wouwer. "Toon can develop further as a rider through this new road campaign. Both parties will benefit from it."