ProTeam Arnaud De Lie rushes to victory in Franco-Belge

After his victory in GP de Québec and his brilliant performance at the European Cycling Championships, De Lie started the race as top favorite. He could count on a strong team, with Victor Campenaerts, Florian Vermeersch, Alec Segaert, Arjen Livyns, Frederik Frison and Ramses De Bruyne at his side. Lotto Dstny took immediately control of the peloton and in the end an elite group separated itself from the pack.

The small group, with Florian Vermeersch and Arnaud De Lie, rushed to the finish. Lotto Dstny had everything under control. In the last kilometer, Florian Vermeersch kept the pace high for our sprinter. As the road flattened out in the final 200 metres following the final climb towards the line, De Lie came off the wheel of Tiller and his lead-out Tobias Halland Johannessen to burst through and ease to the win. The Norwegian could offer little resistance in the final metres, while Corbin Strong followed the pair home for a third place. 

"I like this finish", says De Lie. "At five hundred meters from the finish you are completely 'à bloc' and then at two hundred meters you have to accelerate again to take the win. I'm very happy with this victory and it’s always nice to be able to thank my teammates with a win. I felt good and we rode a good race as a team."

De Lie recently extended with the team, until the end of 2026. "It proves once again that it was the right choice to stay with Lotto-Dstny. The team proved that they created a good group around me, though not only around me, of course. The group atmosphere is very pleasant. And this victory is also a reward for all the good work of our CEO Stéphane Heulot, who is working on a great project. We prove that we are more than just a procontinental team."