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It wasn’t purported to be this fashion. Arnaud De Lie had pinpointed Gent-Wevelgem as one in all his essential goals of the season, however the Belgian made no impression on Sunday’s race. He would attain the end on Vanackerestraat alone, rolling residence in ninetieth place greater than 5 minutes down on winner Mads Pedersen.
In each good days and dangerous, De Lie normally presents an affably plain-speaking evaluation of his races. This day out, the 22-year-old most well-liked to float via the combined zone and not using a phrase and trip on to his workforce bus. The autopsy was as an alternative left to Lotto-Dstny CEO Stéphane Heulot.
De Lie is scheduled to make his Tour of Flanders debut on Sunday, however Heulot conceded that the rest of the teenager’s Classics marketing campaign is now unsure. With De Lie’s first Tour de France look to come back later within the yr, Lotto-Dstny would possibly properly choose to spare him any additional blows to his morale within the coming days.
“We’re going to speak about Arnaud’s programme,” Heulot advised Het Nieuwsblad. “Persevering with to race simply to race doesn’t assist in any respect. We’re going to debate issues with him and see what’s greatest for him. We’ll revisit his race schedule. I don’t know but what he desires to do, however he must clear his head.”
Barely a month in the past, Lie’s Classics marketing campaign was brimming with promise. After he went toe-to-toe with Wout van Aert at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, there appeared to be few limits on the heights the Bull of Lescheret would possibly attain this Spring.
De Lie has been steadily dropping altitude within the weeks since, beginning with the crash that pressured him to desert Le Samyn in early March. He struggled at Paris-Good every week later, pulling out after simply three days. He crashed once more within the finale of the GP de Denain, and although he remounted to take fourth place there and fifth at Bredene-Koksijde a day later, he should have puzzled if he was ever going to construct up a head of steam this yr.
His momentum has floor to an entire halt over the previous two races. Earlier than the season started, De Lie had outlined E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem as probably the most achievable targets of his Flemish marketing campaign. At Harelbeke, he was nowhere to be seen when Mathieu van der Poel ignited the race on the Taaienberg, and he completed an nameless 51st. On Sunday, De Lie missed the preliminary cut up at De Moeren with 150km remaining, and he was by no means seen on the head of affairs once more.
“That is extra a psychological concern than a bodily one,” Heulot mentioned. “The Classics he was actually aiming for at the moment are over, and that is a disappointment, however we’re not going to cover behind something. This isn’t simple, least of all for Arnaud himself. And when issues go badly, you lose confidence. We’re going to cope with this as a workforce. We have not seen the actual Arnaud but this yr. We should discover him once more, and we’ll.”
Heulot’s ideas have been echoed by Lotto-Dstny sports activities supervisor Kurt Van de Wouwer. Though De Lie had been concerned in a crash early in Gent-Wevelgem, his subdued show couldn’t be defined completely by that fall.
“In fact, that’s by no means useful. It wasn’t a heavy fall, nevertheless it’s not optimistic,” Van de Wouwer advised Sporza, including that De Lie had missed the cut up at De Moeren simply as he had performed on the Taaienberg two days earlier.
“However there was one other regrouping after that and once more we weren’t within the lead, so it wasn’t ok. Arnaud mentioned that he was disenchanted. It did not go the way in which he wished, however he has no rationalization for it both.
“We now have no indication that Arnaud is in poor health or that one thing else is happening. That isn’t the case.”
De Lie was not scheduled to trip Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, and Van de Wouwer confirmed that his participation within the Tour of Flanders is not a certainty. “That’s actually a line of thought, however we’re not going to resolve but. We’ll have a look at the whole lot along with the efficiency employees,” mentioned Van de Wouwer. “If it’s your best option for the rest of his season, then so be it.”
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