ProTeam Arnaud De Lie wins Famenne Ardenne Classic on one leg

Arnaud De Lie has taken his 10th victory of the season. And how! The fast man from Lotto Dstny took a remarkable victory at the Famenne Ardenne Classic, where he was forced to pedal with one leg in the final metres after pulling his foot out in the sprint. He won the sprint ahead of Kaden Groves and Florian Sénéchal.

Just like in the Circuit Franco-Belge, Lotto Dstny started the race with Arnaud De Lie as top favorite. The team put in a strong collective performance and wanted to go to the sprint with Arnaud. Despite a hard race and several late attacks from the other teams, it indeed came down to that sprint, with a reduced peloton. 

De Lie was a long way back when the sprint started, but he had deliberately left his effort late. Once he built up a head of steam, he stormed to the front, on his way to a great victory. But, all of a sudden, in the final 50 meters, his right foot came out of its pedal. De Lie was unable to put his foot back in (he had a broken cleat), but he kept on pedalling with one leg and threw his bike towards the line, ahead of Kaden Groves and Florian Sénéchal.

“I prefer to sprint with two legs,” laughs De Lie, "but my cleat broke off and I lost my pedal. Luckily I still win, otherwise I would have been quite disappointed if I had lost the race as a result. Fortunately it broke at 50 meters from the finish and not 100 meters. I was a bit panicky because my chain also came off. Fortunately, I was able to quickly switch back to the big plate and still able to win, in front of my own people. This is very special, for sure and I’ve won and against a strong field too. Last year I crashed here in the last corner and ended up fifteenth. I wonder what I will achieve here next year."

Picture: PhotoNews