Quick-rising dash star Arnaud De Lie will begin his 2024 season in Spain, however a query mark nonetheless hangs over whether or not he’ll race the Tour de France or Vuelta a España as his Grand Tour debut.
In 2022, his rookie professional yr, De Lie racked up no fewer than 9 wins. He then continued his speedy stand up the skilled hierarchy in 2023 with an additional ten triumphs.
These included his first WorldTour victory within the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, whereas his runner’s up spot in his debut at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad within the spring had already boded effectively for his future within the Classics.
Victorious within the first occasion of 2023 on the Clásica Comunitat Valenciana, De Lie will return to Spain for his 2024 marketing campaign debut, Lotto-Dstny sports activities supervisor Kurt Van Der Wouwer not too long ago advised La Dernière Heure – however not so early as 2023.
“Arnaud is beginning three weeks later than final yr,” Van Der Wouwer stated. “In order that can be within the GP Murcia and Clásica Almeria, on February 11 and 12, not like final yr, he raced and gained his first occasion in Valencia on January 22.
“He was very sturdy in Nieuwsblad, and perhaps this time spherical he’ll be a bit much less so, however that’s not so critical. You possibly can nonetheless win with out being in prime kind, and Arnaud’s younger. At his age, he can discover prime situation shortly.”
In an interview with Cyclingnews this autumn, De Lie had already pointed to races like Omloop, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Gent-Wevelgem as lifelike targets in 2024 and Van De Wouwer confirmed the Flemish Spring Classics can be his essential targets.
A repeat journey in Paris-Roubaix, the place he completed fiftieth, is much less sure, with Van Der Wouwer declaring that “afterwards there’s Flèche Brabançonne [Brabantse Pijl] the place he was already very sturdy, and Amstel Gold Race and Frankfurt.”
Deeper into 2024, the query of whether or not De Lie will race the Tour de France or the Vuelta a España stays undecided, Van Der Wouwer stated, and can do till the Vuelta race presentation takes place in Madrid on December 19.
“We’ve bought Arnaud’s programme in our heads however we’re going to attend some time earlier than unveiling it,” he stated. “Above all regarding the Tour de France. It’s solely after we all know the Vuelta route that we’ll make a definitive determination.”
If doubts nonetheless exist about his precise 2024 schedule, De Lie’s pre-season programme for subsequent yr is already kind of set in stone. The Belgian will first undertake a coaching camp in Malaga in December alongside his teammate and good friend Victor Campenaerts. He’ll then return to Spain for an additional coaching camp from January 6-15, however this time with the complete staff.