The top favorite for Saturday in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is barely 20 years old and has already won three times this season. Man-in-form Arnaud De Lie must finally help Lotto-Dstny to success in the Flemish cycling spring. Starting Saturday in the Omloop: “I experience that role as favorite positively.”
“I’m impatient”, opened a relaxed Arnaud De Lie during the press chat, the day before the Omloop. “I already rode in Kuurne last year, but the Omloop is something new. It is also the first Flemish WorldTour classic of the year, which gives a lot of motivation.”
In the previews, De Lie is almost unanimously pointed to as the top favourite. “But I experience that positively. That Tom Boonen puts me forward? That makes me proud, because he is one of the greatest classical specialists.”
“I see other favorites such as Philipsen, Benoot or Wellens. I don’t mind that others assign me the favorite role. It creates some pressure, but that doesn’t affect me.”
Lotto-Dstny starts on Saturday with a strong team, although De Lie also wants to keep the pressure off. “There are teams such as UAE, Jumbo-Visma or Soudal-Quick Step, which are not talked about much, but who will be there. They are strong blocks. There is more than just us.”
“If I sat in front of my TV on Saturday, I would have regretted”
De Lie starting in the Omloop was not initially the plan. “But the condition is really good, so I decided together with the team to ride the Omloop. I won in Valencia and also felt very good in Marseille and Bessèges, only after that did we start asking ourselves whether we could would not include circulation.”
“If I sat in front of my TV on Saturday and saw that it would be a sprint with about fifty riders, I would have regretted it a lot. But I’m there now and everything that comes is just a bonus.”
In the final, the head will be more decisive than the legs. That works to my advantage.
For De Lie it will be a bit of a baptism of fire in the Flemish Ardennes. “I don’t know the course very well, but I have explored it well and a lot of information from the team. In 2019 I already rode the Tour of Flanders with the juniors. That was already tough then, and on Saturday there will be another hundred kilometers.”
“But those efforts on the slopes of one and a half minutes to three minutes suit me. In the final, the head will be more decisive than the legs. That plays to my advantage.”
A lot has been said and written about the new arrival strip, but De Lie likes it. “It’s a nice finish. It’s a bit like the finish in the Plouay GP. I know what I have to do to win there, the plan is already there.”
With what result will he be satisfied? “If Victor wins the race, that’s a good result. If I win too. (laughs) I just want to be proud of my performance and be able to say afterwards that I gave everything.”
Campenaerts: “We have a lot of men who can go very far”
Victor Campenaerts flanked De Lie on Friday. “Vocsnor” has been shouting his ambition from the rooftops in recent days and is now doing it again. “Our riders who have already ridden this season are in good shape. I feel good too and we are all looking forward to it.”
“We have many men who can get very far in the race. If you look at how Frederik Frison rode up the Ruta del Sol, for a rider weighing 85 kilos … That says a lot about the condition.”
We will drive around according to Peter Post’s tactics: not to drive at the front and not to drive at the back.
“We have a lot of horses to bet on. Then it goes without saying that we will ride according to Peter Post’s tactics: not to ride in the front and not to ride in the back.”
Who will keep an eye on Campenaerts on Saturday? “Men like Tim Wellens or Tiesj Benoot are keen on a good result. Quick Step, Jumbo, Ineos … Those are the teams that will carry the race, but we will certainly play our part as well.”
