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Teams & Riders Arnaud De Lie’s Hips Don’t Lie Discussion Thread

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Schedule should be Classica Valenciana - Marseillaise - Besseges - Kuurne - Paris Nice - Milano San Remo - Gent Wevelgem - Dwars door Vlaanderen - (Scheldeprijs) - Paris Roubaix - (Brabantse Pijl)

Races between brackets only if he's feeling great.

So he won't be points hunting the first few months. Probably will be in May and June tho, possibly also at the end of the year. No GT planned for now (but Vuelta isn't completely out of the picture).
 
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Schedule should be Classica Valenciana - Marseillaise - Besseges - Kuurne - Paris Nice - Milano San Remo - Gent Wevelgem - Dwars door Vlaanderen - (Scheldeprijs) - Paris Roubaix - (Brabantse Pijl)

Races between brackets only if he's feeling great.

So he won't be points hunting the first few months. Probably will be in May and June tho, possibly also at the end of the year. No GT planned for now (but Vuelta isn't completely out of the picture).
Imagine the reluctant faces of the team management when they had to set a big red X in front of Milano - San Remo instead of Nokere Koerse :tearsofjoy: But De Lie or Ewan might actually be able to make a result in La Primavera, so it might not be all that bad. The Belgian races in March can be a rare opportunity for De Buyst, or maybe Menten can score some points there.
 
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So he came 7th in the CQ rankings for the year, with 1439 points.
PCS have him 13th in their rankings, UCI have him 6th, First Cycling 7th.

Statistically, if not in terms of spectacle, the best first season (defined as first year on a UCI team) since ...?
None comes to mind. Hopefully this season upcoming can be as good, though I would prefer a focus on WT races which I think is going to happen. Whether he will or not remains to be seen.
 
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So he came 7th in the CQ rankings for the year, with 1439 points.
PCS have him 13th in their rankings, UCI have him 6th, First Cycling 7th.

Statistically, if not in terms of spectacle, the best first season (defined as first year on a UCI team) since ...?
Giuseppe Saronni, 1977?

In the CQ era, nobody comes close. Moser is the only other one to crack 1000 as far as I can tell, while Evenepoel and Demare came close.
 
No CQ or UCI comparison available for Saronni, but 12th on PCS and 6th on First Cycling, so one place better on either account. Good spot.

Is there some kind of disapproval of Lotto's approach to the season that has meant that De Lie's extraordinary breakout season is so under-reported/under-hyped, or is it just a general lack of interest generated by sprint results? Has he stolen any attention away from Evenepoel and Van Aert in Belgium?
 
No CQ or UCI comparison available for Saronni, but 12th on PCS and 6th on First Cycling, so one place better on either account. Good spot.

Is there some kind of disapproval of Lotto's approach to the season that has meant that De Lie's extraordinary breakout season is so under-reported/under-hyped, or is it just a general lack of interest generated by sprint results? Has he stolen any attention away from Evenepoel and Van Aert in Belgium?

I think it's mainly the fact that 1.1 races really aren't that interesting to the wider public that has meant that he has flown a bit under the radar.

He has done some pretty sick stuff in some races, though, and I really do think he has the potential to become a great on the cobbles.
 
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I also love the fact that he's not content to just wait for the sprint, but wants to make the race, and has done so on a number of occasions. Amazing talent with some absolutely mental watt numbers apparently.

I think most people who really follow cycling are well aware of how insane his debut season was, but I do agree he is kind of under-hyped in general. The reason is likely that he's lacking some big and sexy result, and it also doesn't help him that a couple of other Belgians are ripping it up in major races I guess.
 
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Schedule now confirmed to be:
  • Classica Valenciana
  • Marseillaise
  • Besseges
  • Almeria
  • Kuurne
  • Samyn
  • Paris Nice
  • Milano San Remo
  • Gent Wevelgem
  • Dwars door Vlaanderen
  • Paris Roubaix
  • Brabantse Pijl
He has a new trainer (main team trainer). He'll be focussing more on being 110% for the main classics instead of being 95% the whole season long like last season.
Really looking forward to seeing him in Paris Nice tbh. MSR and PR might still be a bit too much for him but GW and DDV (parcours got even easier apparently) he can already win.

No GT this year, he doesn't feel like he's 100% ready physically and mentally and doesn't want to ride one if he isn't.
 
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Schedule now confirmed to be:
  • Classica Valenciana
  • Marseillaise
  • Besseges
  • Almeria
  • Kuurne
  • Samyn
  • Paris Nice
  • Milano San Remo
  • Gent Wevelgem
  • Dwars door Vlaanderen
  • Paris Roubaix
  • Brabantse Pijl
He has a new trainer (main team trainer). He'll be focussing more on being 110% for the main classics instead of being 95% the whole season long like last season.
Really looking forward to seeing him in Paris Nice tbh. MSR and PR might still be a bit too much for him but GW and DDV (parcours got even easier apparently) he can already win.

No GT this year, he doesn't feel like he's 100% ready physically and mentally and doesn't want to ride one if he isn't.

Just out of curiosity, since he is already doing a heavy schedule in the classics, why not add RvV? Even if only to gain some future experience on the race, without the pressure of any result this year.
 
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MSR and PR might still be a bit too much for him but GW and DDV (parcours got even easier apparently) he can already win.
Would be interesting to see what Lotto do if he and Ewan are both still in contention atop the Poggio, which I definitely wouldn't rule out considering how he went in Plouay. Basically the decision Alpecin failed to make in GW this year, only under much more time pressure. Other than that, he's Lotto's only real hope to win a Flemish classic this year. DDV is overdue to end up in a sprint with the current route IMO, although he can race it a lot less defensively than your average sprinter...
 
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Schedule now confirmed to be:
  • Classica Valenciana
  • Marseillaise
  • Besseges
  • Almeria
  • Kuurne
  • Samyn
  • Paris Nice
  • Milano San Remo
  • Gent Wevelgem
  • Dwars door Vlaanderen
  • Paris Roubaix
  • Brabantse Pijl
He has a new trainer (main team trainer). He'll be focussing more on being 110% for the main classics instead of being 95% the whole season long like last season.
Really looking forward to seeing him in Paris Nice tbh. MSR and PR might still be a bit too much for him but GW and DDV (parcours got even easier apparently) he can already win.

No GT this year, he doesn't feel like he's 100% ready physically and mentally and doesn't want to ride one if he isn't.
Seems like grown man approach. Many youngsters today is forcing things and he isn't
 
Just out of curiosity, since he is already doing a heavy schedule in the classics, why not add RvV? Even if only to gain some future experience on the race, without the pressure of any result this year.
Hasn't been stated explicitly by Lotto/De Lie, but I think you answered your own question - because it's already a heavy schedule without RvV. No need to overrace him at this point in his career.
 
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Just out of curiosity, since he is already doing a heavy schedule in the classics, why not add RvV? Even if only to gain some future experience on the race, without the pressure of any result this year.

a combination of hard schedule already, Paris Roubaix being his "dream race" (wanting to be still fresh for that) and the team thinking RVV is still to hard for him. But you never know, still a long way too go till Flanders. If he actually does even more impressive stuff, maybe they change that.

Would be interesting to see what Lotto do if he and Ewan are both still in contention atop the Poggio, which I definitely wouldn't rule out considering how he went in Plouay. Basically the decision Alpecin failed to make in GW this year, only under much more time pressure. Other than that, he's Lotto's only real hope to win a Flemish classic this year. DDV is overdue to end up in a sprint with the current route IMO, although he can race it a lot less defensively than your average sprinter...

What makes it even more interesting is that Ewan is also riding DDV and GW. I think MSR is pretty clear imo. Ewan is leader. If they both make it (only small chance let's be honest), De Lie could follow attacks in the last kms, Ewan wait. Ewan being alone in the front group is really hard to control anyways.

For GW and DDV it's different. GW is De Lie's big goal so I guess he gets the absolute leadersrole. But maybe it's races pretty hard and Ewan doesn't stand a chance anyways. Team is definitely going to have to make the right decisions when the situation occurs, although I don't think Ewan riding in front of the bunch to catch a breakaway isn't an option, cause let's be honest... The bunch would lose time if they let Ewan ride.

In the end it's better to have both of them than the chance at having none like the last couple of season in GW for example. It's not like Ewan has anything else to do after MSR anyways.

Ewan will be sole leader in De Panne and Scheldeprijs tho. De Lie not riding those this year.
 
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Already two wins in the very young season, hasn’t missed a beat since last year. Arguably his most impressive win so far happened today, beating Pedersen and Cosnefroy on their prime terrain. Well done!

The ones where he beat Demare in a Belgian race and put Girmay on 3 bikelengths in an uphill sprint in Wallonie were also really impressive.

Lot of people are surprised he's that strong uphill, but he actually favors an uphill sprint. He probably won't ever be as fast as Jakobsen for example in a flat sprint (atleast not after an easy stage).
 
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I think my favourite De Lie moment was in the Famenne Ardenne Classic where he crashed inside the final kilometer, yet somehow managed to get up, regain contact with the peloton and pass about 20 guys to get a 15th spot.
You are not the only one who noticed this. Some of his direct colleagues were astonished at what happened there. I was looking at the screen and I could not believe my eyes. I have never seen this before and I have been following cycling for decades. I am wondering if De Lie is not something very special. The way he won yesterday (against Pedersen) is again a sign of his enormous talent.
 

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