A fitness peak to be extended: “I always take longer than others to feel good”
Behind this somewhat unusual winter lies a change of coach. “We wanted to try something else with my new coach. We hope to have the beneficial effects fairly quickly. In fact, we noticed that I always had a peak in form at the same time, around May. The idea is to be able to extend this period and be a little better during the Flemish classics. This requires a slightly different working base. I always took a little longer than others to get in shape, without really having an explanation for it. Maybe this new approach will change that.”
A new training plan which also comes with a change of status. “I have the ambition to play my sprint card a little more in certain racesadmits Brabançon. When I arrived at Lotto Dstny in 2024, it was more in a lead-out or teammate role. But as the year progressed and my form improved, I showed that I could be present in the final as a possible sprinter. And I still want to improve in this aspect. It’s a real ambition and I’m going to focus on it. There are more and more races that end in a sprint and, even if I prefer an open race, the sprint allows you to achieve results and win races.
A different program from his friend Arnaud De Lie: “He is well surrounded without me”
We feel it: Taminiaux is truly reflecting on his role and his ambitions. This fan of Paris Roubaix, nevertheless aware that it is a race “a little too high” for his level but it is not impossible “to make a nice place there.” begins a pivotal season. He also took off the label of Arnaud De Lie’s right arm which he had perhaps been given a little too quickly when he joined the ranks of Lotto under the impetus of Taureau de Lescheret, who had been important in its recruitment.
Lionel Taminiaux joined the Walloon connection of Lotto Dstny: “I have to think a little more about myself”
“It turned out a little differently than the original idea, admits the 28-year-old runner. I didn’t have at all the same program as Arnaud in 2024. He is more comfortable in difficult races, which can end in a small, fairly selective group. Me, I’m not good enough to do something for him and be the last man in this kind of context. So with the team, we saw that I could bring things to other types of races. As Arnaud is already very well surrounded by his pilot fish Cédric Beullens and Jasper De Buyst, I was referred to another program. This obviously doesn’t change anything in our friendship. Even though he played a role in my arrival at Lotto, it was very clear that I wasn’t making the team for him either.”
In 2025, the two men will have one thing in common: the ambition to win races. But not the same.
