ProTeam Lotto Cycling Team believes in a strong Tour: “We’ll do everything we can to get a good result.”
With Arnaud De Lie, Lennert Van Eetvelt and Jenno Berckmoes, Lotto has three strong cards to play to defend the team’s colors over the next three weeks. The trio is supported by sprint lead-outs Jasper De Buyst and Jarrad Drizners, climber Eduardo Sepúlveda, and strongmen Sébastien Grignard and Brent Van Moer. “I’m feeling good,” says Arnaud De Lie. “This is my second Tour, and I’m bringing last year’s experience with me. I had to settle for places of honor back then, which isn’t bad for a first Tour, I learned my lessons. I hesitated too often. It’s the Tour, I was too cautious at times. Now I’m here for a second time, and I need to see everything as a bonus. I have to trust my instincts more. I don’t want to pin everything on one single stage. Of course, the first stage is important, but I want to take it day by day.”
Jenno Berckmoes, like Lennert Van Eetvelt, is on the eve of his very first Tour de France.
“I’ve already reconned stages two, four, six, and seven,” he says. “They’re tough and tricky, but they should suit me. I’m really looking forward to it. Stage victory is the goal. Whether it’s Lennert, Arnaud, myself, or someone else, we’ll see. But we’ll give it our all. The very best in the world are on the start line, everyone is at 110 percent right now. But hey, last year in Quebec, didn’t we manage to trouble Tadej PogaÄar? We just have to believe in it.”
Lennert Van Eetvelt is Lotto’s third main contender. He suffered a heavy crash last Saturday at the Belgian Championships, but is luckily able to start tomorrow in Lille. “My muscles are still a bit stiff, but it’s getting better every day. My preparation actually went almost perfectly. After the Tour de Romandie, I went on an altitude training camp — the perfect reset for me to get ready for this Tour. Let’s hope I’ve forgotten about the crash in a week’s time. I expect I’ll hit some tough moments in the coming weeks, but that’s part of the learning process. I want to race and I’ll do everything I can to get a great result.”
Picture: Brecht Steenhouwer
