ProTeam De Lie seventh at Brabantse Pijl after strong Lotto Dstny team performance

Lotto Dstny has to settle with a seventh place after a strong collective performance from the team at the Brabantse Pijl, which was already decided in the first of three local laps. At around 50 kilometres from the finish, a six-rider front group was formed in steps, including also Lotto Dstny rider Andreas Kron. The sextet worked together really well and eventually went into the final local lap of 20 kilometres with just under a minute advantage. On the Hagaard, the front group eventually split for good and it was Kron who was distanced. At the front the Irishman Healy and the Frenchman Godon were the strongest. The duo would eventually battle it out for victory, with De Lie taking 7^th in the sprint behind.

“With Andreas at the front, we created a good situation but he didn’t feel strong enough at the end to go for victory. We still tried to force something but the two leaders were impressively strong and stayed away eventually”, says Arnaud De Lie. “I felt strong but missed just that bit to go for victory, I need to be honest with that. Maybe a seventh place is not what we came for, I think we can speak of another strong team performance.”

For De Lie, the Brabantse Pijl means the end of his spring Classics. The 21-year-old ends his first part of the season with a good feeling. “It is nice to see that I’m still feeling strong at the end of this first block of racing. I’m getting stronger every race. But now I’m going to rest up a bit before preparing the next goals”, concludes De Lie.

Images: Photo News.