With only 1 teammate next to him, Arnaud De Lie wins chaotic Etoile de Besseges day: "Without races, we can't do our job"
Cycling
The Etoile de Bessèges peloton was in for the ride of their life today. The race was neutralized after only a few kilometers as for the second consecutive day, a moving car was moving towards the peloton. Almost half of the entire peloton decided to abandon the race, and in the chaos this included most of Arnaud de Lie's teammates. But after the race resumed, he still went on to win stage 3.
The Belgian champion reports on the first chaotic hour on the bike through his lens. "I initially got into the car to warm up. Over the radio, we heard that if we didn’t restart, it would be the end of the Etoile de Bessèges for good," De Lie said in a press release. "That really hit me. Rider safety comes first, absolutely. A car on the course is unacceptable. But at the same time, races like these can only continue to exist because of the riders. It’s thanks to these organizers that we have the opportunity to live our passion".
Seven teams fully abandoned the race. Amidst the chaos, five of Lotto's riders also left the race, but De Lie was in the peloton when the race restarted alongside one teammate. "Baptiste (Veistroffer, ed.) and I lost contact with the rest of our team amidst all the chaos. We were already moving forward again, while the others were preparing to head back to the team bus, just like many other teams".
What followed was a race with an extremely thinned down peloton, lacking most big teams, and a stage that was cut and raced under a lot of rain. Ultimately it came down to a bunch sprint between the remaining fast men, where de Lie beat Arnaud Démare to take his first win of the year.
"It was a dilemma for everyone, but in the end, I didn’t overthink it and just kept going. At first, we were about 20 riders, but eventually, around 60 continued. I hope I made the right choice," he continnues. "I also did it out of respect for the organizers—they have an incredibly tough job. And I won, in this weather—which I love—after such a crazy day. It felt a bit heroic. I’m really happy with this victory."
As reported by In de Leiderstrui, the Belgian further explained his thoughts on today's stage: "It was a dilemma. The Etoile de Bessèges would probably have struggled to continue if everyone had stopped. So, I didn't ask myself the question to continue cycling. We respect the organizers; without races, we can't do our job".
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What a race today... First victory of the season for Arnaud De Lie in Bessèges! ☄️
— Lotto Cycling Team (@lottocycling_) February 7, 2025
Pictures: PhotoNews pic.twitter.com/7wTJihNqqy
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- Funny that they shorten women’s races but have no qualms about letting U23 do the same distances.Jumpyjohn23-03-2025
- Why is that relevant when discussing speed?Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- But he wasn’t the only one ;-)Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Obviously the questions are more important to some here than to them or the team so I suggest looking for answers instead of asking questions between ourselves. We’ll probably get them unless someone actually goes to ask the protagonists themselves. Here are some starters : They like riding together; they have their own rivalry that helps bring out the best in both; they might get more points helping each other compared to racing separate races. In any case, unless we hear MJ complaining about it, I don’t think it’s going to change, it’s the Sepp Kuss syndrome all over again, fans lobbying against the will of the rider.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Mine goes to MVDP for entertaining us all year round :-) Stellar race, Ganna impressive in his own way as many predicted after some oddly lacklustre times.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- i remember when not too long ago mathieu was regarded as a real tactical knucklehead. i’m not sure that was ever quite accurate, but it’s certainly the case that over the years he has become a real master tactician. in the biggest races, van der poel rarely makes choices that don’t fully optimize every specific advantage he has.OCexile23-03-2025
- Whatever the result, I believe the strategy by UAE to launch Pogacar was absolutely the right one. Unfortunately, they just were not able to execute it the way they must have planned, being all over the place at the start of the Cipressa.Cooldude23-03-2025
- They are without doubt not just the best two classics riders of this generation, but amongst the best of all time. MvdP is more suited to MSR and PR (which Pog has yet to race), while Pog is now almost untouchable at LBL and Lombardia. RVV is the only one where both basically have an equal chance to win.Cooldude23-03-2025
- bravissima!
maria2024202423-03-2025 - According to Tadej's Strava upload, he went up the Cipressa at an average speed of 37.6kph. Rocket ship! He did the 5.63km verified 'Cipressa' Strava segment in 8:59 minutes, which has a 4.3% average grade and total elevation gain of 229m. Naturally, he got the Strava KOM.Pogboom23-03-2025