Arnaud De Lie Claims Victory in La Polynormande

Arnaud De Lie, a 21-year-old Belgian cyclist, emerged victorious at the La Polynormande race, securing his sixth win of the season. De Lie outpaced Valentin Ferron and Jordan Jegat of France in a sprint finish.

Reflecting on his achievement, De Lie expressed his joy and acknowledged the challenging nature of the race. He said, “I am very happy with this victory. Especially after such a tough final with several attacks. I started this morning with a lot of ambition, but it was certainly not an easy task to win today.”

De Lie highlighted the efforts of his team in catching the escapees and praised their support throughout the race. He said, “The escapees went very fast, the team had to pull hard to catch them back, but luckily my teammates did a perfect job.”

In the final stages of the race, De Lie faced a grueling uphill section but managed to persevere and stay with the leading group. He commented, “Especially when Guillaume Martin accelerated uphill, I had a hard time and had to dig deep to keep up. But I managed to stay in the wheel and go for the victory.”

De Lie also credited his teammate Cedric Beullens for his strong performance and strategic positioning during the race, adding, “Cedric didn’t cooperate at the front and I was able to save my strength in the second group. In the end, we came very close.”

The young cyclist’s victory celebration included a humorous reference to his beard. He explains, “That was a joke with my teammates. I have a small beard here in France. Yesterday they laughed with me and challenged me. If I won, I would refer to the beard today. And I did.”

This win marks De Lie’s sixth victory of the season and he is already looking ahead to his next challenge, the Tour of Leuven (Memorial Jef Scherens) which starts on Tuesday.

Images: Cassandra Donne for Lotto Dstny