Arnaud de Lie (Lotto Dstny) overpowered an all-star field in the final 150 metres of a reduced bunch sprint and secured his first elite men’s road race national title at the Belgian Road Nationals.
The 22-year-old outsprinted Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) to record the first road championship on the Lotto Dstny team in a decade.
Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) finished just ahead of Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in fourth while Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) trailed the duo for sixth.
The 22-year-old De Lie used a lead out by teammates Lennert Van Eetvelt and Milan Menten to launch his winning move, and both finished in the top 10.
"I feel liberated, I really have no words for it," Arnaud De Lie said with emotion after the race. "This is the most beautiful jersey in the peloton, and I get to wear it for a year. That's incredible. I really want to show off this jersey. Starting soon, next week, in the Tour de France."
ProTeams Lotto Dstny and Team Flanders-Baloise brought 20 riders to the start line while Alpecin-Deceuninck was the largest WorldTour team represented with 12 riders.
Lotto Dstny set the tone of the 222.4km race from Sint-Lievens-Houtem to Zottegem with Victor Campenaerts and Florian Vermeers comprising the day’s main breakaway for most of the day, Vermeers having returned to racing from four months away to recover from a thigh bone fracture.
Once the race came back together with under 50km to go, Campenaerts took off again but this time with Quinten Hermans. They stayed away for 45km and then the tactics changed to position the sprinters.
“We knew it would come down to a sprint," De Lie said in a team statement. "I stayed calm throughout. My legs felt good, but my head was in a good place too. When your teammates come up to you during the race and say you're still looking good, it gives you wings.
“They had complete confidence in me, and that means a lot. The team did an enormous amount of work, and then there was that impressive lead-out. I was on Milan Menten's wheel. At the moment he moved aside, you know: you just have to go. I gave it everything and saw no one around me at the finish… That's when I knew I had won."
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