It’s been an up-and-down start to the 2024 Classics season for Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny), who looked strong at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad before settling for 10th, and then had an all-around rough go of it at Le Samyn on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old Walloon, racing in Belgium’s French-speaking Wallonia region, was among the favorites for the UCI 1.1-rated race and probably the most notable name on the start list, but things did not really work out for him out on the day. De Lie crashed once early and then crashed again, the second time while he was working his way through team vehicles to make his way back to the bunch after a bike change, losing traction as he rounded a corner with a car ahead of him and a motorcycle behind.
He quickly got back onto his feet – with his kit ripped and his right leg scraped and bloodied – and as he waited for a bike, he gesticulated angrily (possibly at the motorcycle driver) before shouting into his team car.
Speaking in Dutch to former Paris-Roubaix winner Dirk Demol, now a sports director at Lotto, De Lie said words that more or less translate to: “What am I doing in this shitty race?”
A few minutes later, as the race circuit made a passage over the finish line, De Lie answered his own question, climbing off the bike and into the team bus for a DNF.
Laurez Rex (Intermarché-Wanty) ended up taking the very, very narrow win at Le Samyn, pipping António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates) in a photo finish in the town of Dour.
For his part, De Lie is expected to be back at it soon at the upcoming Paris-Nice.
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