Arnaud De Lie talks about the 2024 GP de Québec and the classic race he wants to win the most. “Following Pogacar was really special.”

There has been steady growth for Arnaud De Lie as a professional cyclist. He is now a true leader with Lotto and is one of the best sprinters and classics riders in the race. This coming spring, he will run a lot. He will have his own schedule, with a few small races and three big races that he really wants to win. He talked about Tadej Pogacar and told why he made the schedule he did.

“I went to Tenerife last year, but this year I’m not going to hike at high altitude.” I’ve been in the high altitude tent at home for two weeks now.
The first thing we’ll do is work with the team for ten days. “After that, I rented a house in Spain until a week before the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad,” De Lie told In de Leiderstrui.

Before the first weekend, he will race the Etoile de Bessèges and the Volta ao Algarve. Instead of racing Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico, he will then go on a training camp. He agrees that this is the change that classics experts are most interested in right now: “A lot has changed in modern cycling.” If you look at how well Mathieu van der Poel went in last year’s first race, Milano-Sanremo… Van der Poel is still Van der Poel, but a lot has changed. You can get in shape if you prepare well.

For this reason, De Lie will race in the Milano-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, and the Paris-Roubaix, among other big events. On Sanremo, though, his goals aren’t quite as high, but he still wants to gain experience. “I’ve only been on that one once, and I don’t think I’m good enough to win there yet.” Everyone knows that you need to have skills.

After that came E3 Saxo Classic, Gent Wevelgem, and Dwars door Vlaanderen. “I want to win this race.” In order to, say, sprint for the win at Gent-Wevelgem. It doesn’t matter if I come in third or fourth; at least I tried to win. Not because you have to, but because you want to. There is a difference. Having to is a bad word to use because you should want something from the inside out.

But Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is the newspaper that means the most to him. In the Reina Tour last year, he won the stage in Geraardsbergen. “That race is really unique.” In Belgium, it’s the most important race of the year. It’s a really unique vibe. It’s beautiful to start in the Kuipke in Ghent. In the end, I also think that the Muur van Geraardsbergen fits me. Riding up the Muur on the large plain. I’ve worked there for two years already and learned a lot. And I’m sure I can win there. “I know I can win that kind of Flemish classic, and to do it while flying the Belgian flag would be something special.”

People also asked him about Tadej Pogacar, the rider he followed at the GP de Québec last fall. He remembers it as a fun time: “Following Pogacar was really special.” You never know if what you did was the right thing to do. I’m very sure of myself after that because in almost all other World Tour races, no one could catch him. The final was very exciting.

In the end, that move may have hurt his sprint, making it impossible for him to sprint for a top score, but the test was still fun to remember. “A Flemish classic is still different from a Quebec classic, but that makes me feel good about myself.” There are times like that when you want to win as a rider. That was still one of the best parts of last season.