"Maybe he blew himself up" - Lotto-Intermarché provide update but do not worry about Arnaud de Lie
Cycling
The Opening Weekend was the first opportunity for Arnaud de Lie to put in the specific work towards the cobbled classic monuments later this spring. The signs were mixed, as the Lotto-Intermarché rider struggled through them, but also showed improvement after the injury that hampered him this winter.
“Arnaud said: we are going to do it. He said he felt super. But maybe he blew himself up," team manager Visbeek said in an interview with De Standaard. “We saw a fighting Arnaud. He went deep in the Omloop, it is very possible he got a backlash from that now. Before that he rode the Tour of the Algarve, but that was a relatively easy stage-race, without really racing hard on two consecutive days. He does not have that hardness yet.”
De Lie was in the mix at Omloop het Nieuwsblad but ultimately, like many others, ended up crashing. He was involved in a fall right before the Muur de Geraarsdsbergen together with Matthew Brennan in the reduced peloton, and rolled in 62nd place at the finish line. At Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne he struggled in the difficult section of the race and didn't have the legs to follow.
Injuries must be taken into account
However it must be taken into consideration that this is not De Lie at his regular level, as the Belgian rider had an ankle injury in the opening weeks of the year. His schedule started out initially at the Spanish one-day race openers in late January however he only got going on the 15th of February at the Clasica de Almeria. There and at the Volta ao Algarve he put in two solid sprint stage results, but is still in need of rhythm for the more difficult races where he usually thrives in.
“If you take that into account, Arnaud is further now than we dared to hope five weeks ago. If you had told us then that Arnaud would ride an Omloop like that, we would have considered it very optimistic," the manager of Lotto-Intermarché added.
With Tirreno-Adriatico now to be raced next week, the Belgian faces a difficult week in which he will hope to be improving on his form before the main goals of the spring come around. “I am certain he will make progress stage by stage. I have no doubt about that. A stage race like that works for Arnaud. We have seen it before, for example at the Tour de Suisse on the way to the Tour.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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