‘That was the first and the last time’

Arnaud De Lie has had a bad spring and there was a logical explanation for that.

The 22-year-old goldcrest from Lotto-Dstny was struggling with Lyme disease. The team sidelined him for a month so that he could recover mentally and physically. Upon his return to the Famenne Ardenne Classic, he immediately won his first race of the season.

“It was shocking when I heard the diagnosis,” says De Lie The last news. “The day after Ghent-Wevelgem I received a phone call from the doctor. ‘There is a small problem,’ he said. But he immediately reassured me. Fortunately, the disease was in the early stages. So it could have been worse.”

De Lie was relieved after the diagnosis, because at least he knew what was wrong. “After the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem, my legs felt sore and I was barely able to recover. Really not normal. That was mentally difficult. The heavy antibiotic treatment worked very efficiently. After ten days I was back to my old self.”

Nice

During his break, De Lie went to Nice for a five-day mini internship. “Only alone. So that I could regain the pleasure of cycling purely from myself, not through the pep talk from others. The sun and the mild temperatures there were incredibly pleasant. During training I sometimes met a colleague like Caleb Ewan. We talk a lot of.”

Never again to Tenerife

De Lie did his first altitude training camp in Tenerife this spring. That didn’t turn out well. He has now broken off the collaboration with the trainer who sent him to the famous volcano for three weeks.

“In the run-up to the Tour, I may go on an altitude training course again, but a little lower. Not as high as on El Teide, in Tenerife. It was the first and last time I have been there,” said the Lescheret bull. .