Arnaud De Lie finds a new camaraderie with Mathieu van der Poel at the Tour de France: "He likes to tease me a bit"

The season is almost over for Arnaud De Lie who will have a lot to re-evaluate after a season that saw him big as many race as ever, however on the biggest scene, things didn't work out as he would've envisioned. Becoming the Belgian champion after having won the sprint against all the Belgium's top fast men was certainly one of the highlights.

Despite that result, the Lotto Dstny will not be riding the European Championships. After the Renewi Tour - where he hopes to be able to show himself in the final stage - De Lie will be heading to Canada in mid-September for GP Quebec and GP Montreal. And while Tour de France didn't go perfectly results-wise, the Belgian still has many stories from his Grande Boucle debut and maybe even more valuable is the newly-gained friendship with the current world champion Mathieu van der Poel.

"Mathieu likes to tease me a bit," reveals De Lie on Het Nieuwsblad. The Belgian is seven years younger than Van der Poel. "I think he's a really good guy. Someone who proves: having fun is the most important thing and with the fun come the results. That's also my attitude."

"I remember that in my first years as a pro I didn't really dare to talk to him, I didn't have the balls to approach the big riders," the Lotto Dstny rider continued about his development in his relationship with MVDP. "But in the past Tour we often cycled next to each other. In the breakaway, in the gruppetto or just in the race. In the Tour there is time to really talk."