Fast-rising sprint star Arnaud De Lie will start his 2024 season in Spain, but a question mark still hangs over whether he will race the Tour de France or Vuelta a España as his Grand Tour debut.
In 2022, his rookie pro year, De Lie racked up no fewer than nine wins. He then continued his rapid rise up the professional hierarchy in 2023 with a further ten triumphs.
These included his first WorldTour victory in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, while his runner’s up spot in his debut at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in the spring had already boded well for his future in the Classics.
Victorious in the first event of 2023 at the Clásica Comunitat Valenciana, De Lie will return to Spain for his 2024 campaign debut, Lotto-Dstny sports manager Kurt Van Der Wouwer recently told La Dernière Heure - but not so early as 2023.
“Arnaud is starting three weeks later than last year,” Van Der Wouwer said. “So that will be in the GP Murcia and Clásica Almeria, on February 11 and 12, not like last year, he raced and won his first event in Valencia on January 22.
“He was very strong in Nieuwsblad, and maybe this time round he’ll be a bit less so, but that’s not so serious. You can still win without being in top form, and Arnaud’s young. At his age, he can find top condition quickly.”
In an interview with Cyclingnews this autumn, De Lie had already pointed to races like Omloop, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Gent-Wevelgem as realistic targets in 2024 and Van De Wouwer confirmed the Flemish Spring Classics will be his main targets.
A repeat ride in Paris-Roubaix, where he finished 50th, is less certain, with Van Der Wouwer pointing out that “afterwards there’s Flèche Brabançonne [Brabantse Pijl] where he was already very strong, and Amstel Gold Race and Frankfurt.”
Deeper into 2024, the question of whether De Lie will race the Tour de France or the Vuelta a España remains undecided, Van Der Wouwer said, and will do until the Vuelta race presentation takes place in Madrid on December 19.
“We’ve got Arnaud’s programme in our heads but we’re going to wait a while before unveiling it,” he said. “Above all concerning the Tour de France. It’s only after we know the Vuelta route that we’ll make a definitive decision.”
If doubts still exist about his exact 2024 schedule, De Lie’s pre-season programme for next year is already more or less set in stone. The Belgian will first undertake a training camp in Malaga in December alongside his teammate and friend Victor Campenaerts. He’ll then return to Spain for another training camp from January 6-15, but this time with the full team.
