"We didn't expect this" - Lotto Dstny admit surprise at Arnaud De Lie's impressive progression

Starting the season impressively, Arnaud De Lie has done nothing to temper the lofty expectations around him. In fact, even Lotto Dstny themselves are a little surprised by just how good he is already.

"We knew he was capable of doing things," Lotto Dstny directeur sportif, Nikolas Maes, told Cycling News. "But if we knew his growing curve would be this steep, then no, we didn't expect this. But he grows fast, eh? One year ago, you have to know he was dropping here somewhere in the open fields completely out of the peloton, so he's going super-fast, but he's also intelligent enough to know that he has to stick to the plan."

It would seem everything is indeed going to plan for De Lie and Lotto Dstny. The 20-year-old Belgian has already picked up the win at the Classica Valenciana, two stage wins and the points classification jersey at Etoile de Bessèges, 2nd placed finishes at the Clasica de Almeria and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad plus a top 10 finish at Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne.

"We designed a growing curve for him for two or three years. We're going to stick to it. Of course, we added Omloop now, and I think that was the right choice, but it doesn't mean that we're going to switch the whole programme for him and try to reach other goals," says Maes. "This guy goes full and opens the gas in every race, so we have to be careful with him. You need to be sure that we always keep them in a good condition and a good flow – we ain't going to squeeze him."