Teams & Riders Arnaud De Lie is De Truth Discussion Thread

[Samamba]

After what i saw at Le Samyn, if it was NBA De Lie would demand a trade... He was that upset about his race calendar.

Incredibly how you can conclude all that from him saying "*** race" just after a crash and full on adrenaline.

If De Lie didn't want to ride Samyn (when his schedule was made), he wouldn't have ridden it.

 

[repre]

Incredibly how you can conclude all that from him saying "*** race" just after a crash and full on adrenaline.

If De Lie didn't want to ride Samyn (when his schedule was made), he wouldn't have ridden it.

You never know what to expect from such young guys, also De Lie is not striking me as level-headed person.

 

[Rob5091]

PCS have pulled him from the rest of the races in March & April, so May Day's race in Germany is the next on his calender.
Maybe Lotto are expecting too much of him and he's feeling the pressure to win. Lotto's lack of team strength does not help.

 

[Samamba]

Maybe Lotto are expecting too much of him and he's feeling the pressure to win. Lotto's lack of team strength does not help.

I can't be arsed with this. Seriously. There's like 4 or 5 teams were it would be different.

And if Van Eetvelt and Van Gils didn't do great things already and Lotto didn't have 7 wins with 6 different riders or weren't in the top 10 of the UCI ranking (both this year as 3 year ranking) I would kinda understand, but that's just not the case.

If there's pressure it's obviously coming from himself (and from the media that hyped him up like they do with every Belgian that does good at a young age). Which is understandable. If you sign a million euro contract you obviously expect from yourself that you win. That isn't easy at 22y old, but that's a choice you make ofcourse. People also just assuming that "pressure" is the reason. So much happened the last 3 months, dude has crashed 5 times if I include training crashes. 3 times in his last 4 races. That's a problem I would say (definitely cause a lot of them are just his own fault). It's like he needs trainingwheels.

And Vermeersch being out obviously doesn't help, that's true.

I'm 99% sure he'll resume racing on the 28th of April in his home region (well not really but it's somewhat close).

 

[Berniece]

I'm 99% sure he'll resume racing on the 28th of April in his home region (well not really but it's somewhat close).

seems early, shouldn’t he focus on the Tour?

 

[Samamba]

seems early, shouldn’t he focus on the Tour?

Just focusing on a race where he probably won't be able to win is the last thing he should do now. Take a break, let your body heal, reset mentally and get you groove back in some smaller races. Plenty of time to focus on the Tour afterwards.

 

[Berniece]

Just focusing on a race where he probably won't be able to win is the last thing he should do now. Take a break, let your body heal, reset mentally and get you groove back in some smaller races. Plenty of time to focus on the Tour afterwards.

I just find the time for a break quite short

 

[Offline]

Give the kid a break. He definitely need it mentally.
He'll come strong back.. I call it now.. He wins Eschborn-Frankfurt 1/5

 

[Samamba]

I just find the time for a break quite short

Oh yeah you could make it longer but De Lie and not racing for a long time? I don't believe it lmao. It's also his "home race" on the 28th, so that's why I expect him to start there.

 

[Kwaremonster]

I must say I was all aboard the hype train and expecting him to be mixing it with the likes of mvdp and wva this spring. That seems silly in hindsight. However I'm sure we're still gonna see some big things from him once he gets it right. A big win (like a stage in the tour or something) could be enough to get him going.

The crashing is a bit worrying though. Let's not hope its going to define him.

 

[Keldergoat]

If you finish 90th and 53rd on the weekend that was one of his top priorities (that was what DS Van de Wouwer said on the Rode Lantaarn podcast), something went badly wrong in the ramp up to the season, more than just some crashes. Especially from the performance / data managers you would expect some kind of explanation eventually. These are often the guys that claim the success when things run smoothly, while their knowledge becomes vital when things aren't running smoothly. Wasn't there some Belgian commentator that was already putting question marks around De Lie's prep with 7 hour training rides?

 

[Berniece]

Wasn't there some Belgian commentator that was already putting question marks around De Lie's prep with 7 hour training rides?

Stijn Steels questioned his training methods.

 

[Rob5091]

Mads Pedersen (you know, the guy who beat MvdP the other day) went out and said he hates altitude camps and thinks they do not help him. The nutritionist on the other hand that Trek have, seems to be the ticket. De Lie might well be a similar type.
Sending him to the Tour has always seemed a strange move as he's not a Philipsen/Merlier/Kooij type guy who'll fight for the Green Jersey. I reckon there's not more then a couple of stages plus the gravel one, where he'd be in for a chance to win. Being a sprinter, he won't be welcome in a break so it'll be tough.

 

[Samamba]

Stijn Steels questioned his training methods.

Yeah and then he was one of the best riders in the Omloop...

Stijn Steels also simply lied, just compare to what he said to De Lie's Stava files on Altitude camp, they're still up. They are not really different to what Visma or any other team does there. Same with Van Hooydonck.

The kid crashed in Samyn and the damage simply was way more than everyone (including the team and himself) thought. What people don't know is that he literally got sick in PN from infected wounds. He was basically not training normally for 10 days straight, you don't recover from that in 2 weeks time. And then he crashed again in Denain and Bredene... which is fine on adrenaline, but you're body can't keep taking those hits.

 

[Berniece]

The kid crashed in Samyn and the damage simply was way more than everyone (including the team and himself) thought. What people don't know is that he literally got sick in PN from infected wounds. He was basically not training normally for 10 days straight, you don't recover from that in 2 weeks time. And then he crashed again in Denain and Bredene... which is fine on adrenaline, but you're body can't keep taking those hits.

I agree that it didn't have anything to do with training, but bad luck.

 

[Samamba]

I agree that it didn't have anything to do with training, but bad luck.

Well I do think the team should've never let him start PN in that state, and that was a big mistake imo. Yeah sure race kilometers and stuff, you need them, but recovery should've been a priority back then, he lost extra days of the bike because of that.

But on the other hand, this isn't black and white, everyone guesses a bit in moments like that, even doctors don't know for sure.

 

[Didinho]

Lyme disease for Arnaud could be the cause. That explains something.
Even in the grupetto riders were saying he was still riding impressive, almost looked like he was training. But then the next day they ended his classics season.

Edit: confirmed by the team and himself.

 

[Rob5091]

Lottos X(Twitter) post

Update: After a further check-up, Arnaud De Lie was diagnosed with the Lyme disease after having found antibodies for Lyme in his blood. It's possibly, as a Lyme diagnosis is never 100% conclusive, the reason why De Lie couldn't perform on a high level the past races.

More at https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...ith-lyme-disease-after-further-medical-checks

Thankfully, with the diagnosis, De Lie can now begin his road to recovery. "Treatment with antibiotics has been started, speedy recovery Arnaud!" Lotto Dstny conclude in a thought and message we would like to echo.

Yep, would explain things. Hope he can come back soon and at 100%.

 

[Lexman]

he will have a new trainer as well, trainer Jeroen Dingemans will no longer work with ADL (it was he who advised for the high altitude stage), Gaëtan Bille will train him...

 

[Rob5091]

he will have a new trainer as well, trainer Jeroen Dingemans will no longer work with ADL (it was he who advised for the high altitude stage), Gaëtan Bille will train him...

Interesting - him and his two partners only joined Lotto last year (from Feb last year)
https://www.lottodstny.be/en/news/d...gemans-this-group-sticks-together-really-well

“There are some very strong leaders. Arnaud De Lie surprised everyone last year with all his victories. I think for this season we should not focus so much on the number of wins, but rather try to take the quality of results to a higher level. I also feel like Caleb Ewan is on a really good level.

Knowing what happened to Ewan, that's an interesting comment. Also,

“This is the first time that the team works with such a large internal coaching staff. We coordinate all aspects of the performance team and ensure that all departments are on the same page. We ensure that there is communication between the nutritionists, doctors and sports directors. In addition, we will be at the races a lot, so that we know what really happens in the races. We don't just want to look at the data.”

Maybe the new system is also taking time to work as hoped, and Dingemans is still running his own company.
Thomas De Gendt speaks his mind normally so maybe he'll shed some light in the future.
Gaëtan Bille ( website at https://concept-performance.com/) has his own company too, but he's got the "altitude tent" for hire!

 

[Rob5091]

We won't be seeing De Lie until May by the sounds of it.
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...il-could-be-a-realistic-target-for-his-return
Arnaud De Lie could return to racing in about a month. After revealing that their leader tested positive for Lyme disease, Lotto Dstny had to bench De Lie despite some doubts, given that it is not uncommon to hear about a very long recovery period needed to recover from this disease.

"We have to put the severity of the disease into perspective, there are different stages of the disease and this seems to be the primary stage," explains team manager Stéphane Heulot to RTBF. "It is difficult to say if it is something recent, because you can be positive for lifetime. The doctors completely reassured us. Arnaud wasn't affected that much."
"The end of April could be a realistic target for his return, which we hope will take place in the best possible conditions," concludes Heulot.

 

[Samamba]

We won't be seeing De Lie until May by the sounds of it.

"The end of April could be a realistic target for his return

.....

The end of April is the Famenne Ardenne Classic I've mentioned above. This was always gonna be the goal as it's his home race. De Lie probably also wants to be fit for Frankfurt. De Lie doesn't "feel" sick, but he'll have to see how he feels when he's back on the bike (should be in a few days).

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Isn't Lyme something that isn't that easily cured? I think i've heard stories about people not recovering from it for years. Or is that only when the diagnose is too late?

 

[Samamba]

Isn't Lyme something that isn't that easily cured? I think i've heard stories about people not recovering from it for years. Or is that only when the diagnose is too late?

A lot of people think this cause you only hear about the horror stories ofcourse. If you catch it quickly after infection, you're usually fine. Some people don't get symptoms ever, some only realize they have lyme when their body starts shutting down (weak limbs and stuff). It's hard to tell how quickly De Lie started antibiotics after infection as he never saw the bite. Can't really know now what the effects for De Lie will be. He didn"t have symptoms normal people would even realize they have. He felt a bit more tired after races and had a bit more muscle pain than usual. So it seems like the doctors expect they catched it quickly. From what I hear he's not feeling ill, he feels fit, is working on the farm at home and is just waiting till the can stop the antibiotics to start training again. Not that all those positive signs are any guarantee that willl actually be fine when he starts training/racing again, but it definitely doesn't look as bad as some people made it seem the past week. It isn't even 100% certain this infection actually had something to do with his drop in form.

 

[Didinho]

Trained 3h on the MTB today. Thought he needed to rest untill he was fully recovered.