The Lotto Cycling Team has managed to score a big amount of points over the past seasons in order to be able to secure it's return to the World Tour - unless something goes horribly wrong - however their leader Arnaud De Lie has not been having a good spring and racing in Belgium. And now it has come to an end, as he forfeits the Tour of Flanders amidst bad form.
De Lie already encountered issues last year where he was diagnosed with Lime's disease, but managed to bounce back in the summer to win the national championships, queen stage at the Renewi Tour, win the Tour of Denmark and Binche - Chimay - Binche. Now in 2025 he faces a new challenge after a challenging spring where he won a stage at the Etoile de Bessèges, but that was a week after his expected season debut.
Throughout the spring he finished in the Top10 of the GP de Denain but he has little else to show for in the one-day races. A crash took him out of contention at the Classic Brugge-De Panne and this Sunday at Gent Wevelgem he simply did not have the legs and ended up abandoning the race. Unfortunately for the Belgian Pro Team, he will now also skip the last two cobbled classics that were in his program when it comes to Belgium.
The team has announced that he will skip Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders: "Arnaud de Lie unfortunately withdrew early from Gent-Wevelgem today. He will take some time in the coming days for a reset and will therefore not start in Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday and the Tour of Flanders on Sunday. We hope he returns to his old self soon, wish him lots of courage, and look forward to having him back with us soon".
Paris-Roubaix was left out of the statement as the team continue to hope he manages to improve his form until then, but the signs are not looking good for the 23-year old.
Update on @Arnaud_De_Lie pic.twitter.com/7RZ5otEdms
— Lotto Cycling Team (@lottocycling_) March 30, 2025
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.
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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)...
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