The Lotto team was revealed this Friday during a press presentation at the new racing department in Thames. Unsurprisingly, Arnaud De Lie was the star of the event, attracting all the attention of journalists. Relaxed, the Ardennese looked back on his winter preparation, marked by five weeks under the Spanish sun before Christmas. ”I’m a little more tanned… And I’ve stocked up on vitamin D”he jokes on the microphone of DirectVelo. ”But above all, I was able to train in a much more qualitative way. This approach to the 2025 season is radically different from previous ones, thanks to these five weeks spent in Spain. Renting a house there may have been the best decision of my young career. I rode between 20 and 25 hours a week, with two outings lasting more than six hours – something unthinkable in this season in Belgium. When I trained in Lescheret, I ended up exhausted, collapsing into my bed already dreading the next day’s effort.he confides.
Back in Belgium for the holidays, the Taureau de Lescheret took some time off with family and friends, often on a mountain bike. ”On a mountain bike, there is always action: a descent, a technical passage. Time flies. And it’s also great for shooting videos for my YouTube channel. The last one reached 100,000 views. Not bad, right?”
WIN FAST
Next Monday, Arnaud De Lie will return to Spain for a team training course in Denia, before extending his stay there and returning only a week before the Circuit Het Nieuwsblad. ”After the internship, I rented an apartment again in Spain”. Exit the altitude courses, deemed counterproductive by the Belgian rider, who will begin his season at the GP Castellón and the Valencian Community Grand Prix (January 25-26). He will continue with the Étoile de Bessèges and the Tour d’Algarve, with the aim of securing a victory at the start of the season.
The Belgian Champion hopes to approach this new campaign with high morale, far from the disappointments of last year (an unsuccessful altitude training course, a fall at GP Samyn and Lyme disease). ”Last year also taught me not to panic. You just have to stay calm and accept things. I asked myself 15,000 questions when just one, the right one, would have been enough.”
L’AMOUR DE L’OMLOOP HET NEWSBLAD ET “THE DRY PAW” TO SANREMO
The first major event of the season, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, is particularly close to his heart. ‘‘I came close to victory twice, it should end in a smile. I love this race, it suits me perfectly. It may not have the notoriety of an E3 Grand Prix, but it has something special in its atmosphere. The start at Kuipke is incredible. And then there’s the Mur de Grammont: I’ve crossed it four times in different races, and I’ve always finished in the Top 10. It’s my favorite ‘berg.’
More generally, the 22-year-old runner aspires to play a key role in the decisive phases of the Flemish Classics, a discipline that he considers “tame little by little”. Inspired by the methods of Pogacar, van Aert and Van der Poel, he plans to approach Milan-San Remo with freshness, avoiding Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. ”I’m obviously not comparing myself to Mathieu Van der Poel, but he proved that it was possible to shine in San Remo without accumulating racing days. To win there, you have to have a dry paw”he analyzes.
PUNCHY STEPS TO YOUR TASTE ON THE TOUR
The Lotto team, although reshuffled after the departures of Maxim Van Gils, Victor Campenaerts and Florian Vermeersch, retains its collective ambitions. ”We have a strong group with riders like Beullens, Grignard, Segaert and Van Moer. On the cobblestones, we will have our say, even if we are not UAE, Visma or Alpecin. We will have to adapt, but if Van der Poel attacks from afar, we will have to be in his wheel to hope to have a chance, even small, of winning. Gent-Wevelgem, for example, should suit me, even if I haven’t excelled there yet.”
Finally, after the Flemish classics, Arnaud De Lie could still participate in the Flèche Brabançonne. His Famenne Ardenne Classic and the Tro-Bro Léon should also be on his program. Via the Tour de Suisse, he hopes to extend his title of Belgian Champion in Binche and achieve a stage victory during the Tour de France, where he had already distinguished himself in 2024 with several Top 5s. ”When you finish in the Top 5 several times, you know that a victory is within reach. This is one of my big goals this season. I like the course, with several punchy finishes”. It will take some punch to reach a new level in 2025.
