Teams & Riders Arnaud De Lie is De Truth Discussion Thread

[Peyroteo94]

Yeah you have absolutely no idea about the prestige of that race in Belgium if you think that isn't a big win for a 22y old btw.

So important that Wout faked an ilness to not be there (1 week later he was flying in the Tour). Oh man, please. Nationals in Portugal are important too but no one gives a $hit out of Portugal. The same with Belgium.

 

[Samamba]

So important that Wout faked an ilness to not be there. Oh man, please. Nationals in Portugal are important too but no one gives a $hit out of Portugal. The same with Belgium.

Damn must be the kid on the right then that got 5th

You as a non Belgian just can't know anything about the prestige of the Belgian nationals. Don't care what anyone outside of Belgium thinks about it. Beating Philipsen, Meeus, Van Aert, Nys and Merlier is no joke.

 

[AmRacer]

Damn must be the kid on the right then that got 5th

You as a non Belgian just can't know anything about the prestige of the Belgian nationals. Don't care what anyone outside of Belgium thinks about it. Beating Philipsen, Meeus, Van Aert, Nys and Merlier is no joke.

Fans may think their own nationals are important with lots of prestige, but not other countries nationals.

 

[Samamba]

Fans may think their own nationals are important with lots of prestige, but not other countries nationals.

Like I said, just look at the results and the guys De Lie beat on that day. Belgian nationals isn't just any national. So yes that is a big win in my book for a 22y old. Sure it's not the same as a classic or a Tour stage, of course not, but that doesn't mean it isn't a big win for him. No reason to mock it.

 

[AmRacer]

Like I said, just look at the results and the guys De Lie beat on that day. Belgian nationals isn't just any national. So yes that is a big win in my book for a 22y old. Sure it's not the same as a classic or a Tour stage, of course not, but that doesn't mean it isn't a big win for him. No reason to mock it.

Which proves my point.

 

[theyoungest]

Damn must be the kid on the right then that got 5th

You as a non Belgian just can't know anything about the prestige of the Belgian nationals. Don't care what anyone outside of Belgium thinks about it. Beating Philipsen, Meeus, Van Aert, Nys and Merlier is no joke.

I don't get the impression that Belgians themselves think their nationals are particularly prestigious. The jersey is, but the race itself is kind of a free-for-all. Remember Dries De Bondt won it in the not too distant past.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Damn must be the kid on the right then that got 5th

You as a non Belgian just can't know anything about the prestige of the Belgian nationals. Don't care what anyone outside of Belgium thinks about it. Beating Philipsen, Meeus, Van Aert, Nys and Merlier is no joke.

It is more difficult to win Nationals in Belgium but can't we say the opposite in Worlds? Or do you really think it is the same to win 3 WC in a belgian team (Merckx) compared to a slovakian team (Sagan). Sagan's feat is way more impressive.
But back to my point, there is not a single belgian rider who targets the national RR in Belgium. Never saw WVA or Remco saying his biggest goal in the season is to win the Nationals.
Volta a Portugal is our biggest race and no one gives a damn thing about it (oustide of Portugal).
At least canadian classics are important to prep for worlds and have a very decent WT field

 

[Samamba]

I don't get the impression that Belgians themselves think their nationals are particularly prestigious. The jersey is, but the race itself is kind of a free-for-all. Remember Dries De Bondt won it in the not too distant past.

That has nothing to do with prestige tho. It's just a weird tactical race often which might give you weird champions. Belgian nationals is simply the mmost stacked nationals in the world. Startlist quality proves it (only French nationals come somewhat close, that's also a pretty big race). There's obviously riders who have won it before so it gets less important to them.

Also last years edition was pretty controlled. No weird tactics, in the end he beat all those world class riders fair and square. You can't say that's not a stacked race when you see that top 10. Infinitely better than Omloops top 10 for example.

It is more difficult to win Nationals in Belgium but can't we say the opposite in Worlds? Or do you really it is the same to win 3 WC in a belgian team (Merckx) compared to a slovakian team (Sagan). Sagan's feat is way more impressive.

That has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm saying tho? What in the goalpost moving is this? Of course Sagan's feat is way more impressive.

 

[Netserk]

Yeah you have absolutely no idea about the prestige of that race in Belgium if you think that isn't a big win for a 22y old btw.

It's certainly bigger than the Canadian races.

 

[Gratemans]

It's hard to make progression when you're looking like Sep Vanmarcke 2.0 right now.

Thank you! I've had this nagging feeling for days now thinking "what does this remind me of?".
It was Sep of course.

 

[Andre]

I, being Belgian, find the Nationals in Belgium very prestigious. It's also the nicest jersey out of all of them.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I, being Belgian, find the Nationals in Belgium very prestigious. It's also the nicest jersey out of all of them.

It is not a big race if only belgians care about that race. That's my point...
Do you care about Nationals in Portugal? I do!

 

[Gratemans]

It is not a big race if only belgians care about that race. That's my point...
Do you care about Nationals in Portugal? I do!

I more or less agree. The Belgian field is wider, so it's a bit more prestigious compared to the Portuguese Nationals, but in the broader view of the entire cycling community, nobody cares. Nobody cares about nationals besides their own, and they're no where near as big a feat as winning a classic or GT stage.

For a 22 year old, is it prestigious to be NC? Of course. Is it a big cycling win? Nah.

 

[Netserk]

I more or less agree. The Belgian field is wider, so it's a bit more prestigious compared to the Portuguese Nationals, but in the broader view of the entire cycling community, nobody cares. Nobody cares about nationals besides their own, and they're no where near as big a feat as winning a classic or GT stage.

For a 22 year old, is it prestigious to be NC? Of course. Is it a big cycling win? Nah.

The Belgian NCRR is more important than a Vuelta stage win.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I more or less agree. The Belgian field is wider, so it's a bit more prestigious compared to the Portuguese Nationals, but in the broader view of the entire cycling community, nobody cares. Nobody cares about nationals besides their own, and they're no where near as big a feat as winning a classic or GT stage.

For a 22 year old, is it prestigious to be NC? Of course. Is it a big cycling win? Nah.

This, completely agree. RVV and LBL are Belgium's big races. Every belgian rider dreams about one of them or even both.

 

[Red Rick]

To me this is where you get the difference between cool versus real prestige, importance and merit. I understand it's super satisfying to ride around in a special jersey for the full year, but I can't treat a race where you can have 20 man teams against individuals seriously as a prestigious event.

And don't even get me started on excluding 90% of the professional field.

To me Nats should be everyone's favorite 1.1 race

 

[Berniece]

It is not a big race if only belgians care about that race. That's my point...
Do you care about Nationals in Portugal? I do!

Since De Lie is a Belgian, it does have prestige and is important.

 

[tobydawq]

So important that Wout faked an ilness to not be there (1 week later he was flying in the Tour). Oh man, please. Nationals in Portugal are important too but no one gives a $hit out of Portugal. The same with Belgium.

This just isn't true. The part about Belgium.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Since De Lie is a Belgian, it does have prestige and is important.

That was not the point. This was not about De Lie's perspective but about cycling community's perspective in general.
Valverde won Vuelta a Murcia multiple times and it was a very important race for him. Does it make a big win just because Valverde cared about this race? Of course not.

 

[Berniece]

That was not the point. This was not about De Lie's perspective but about cycling community's perspective in general.
Valverde won Vuelta a Murcia multiple times and it was a very important race for him. Does it make a big win just because Valverde cared about this race? Of course not.

Why is it about cycling’s perspective? Stoempestoempestoempe is Belgian, and he called it a big win.

 

[Andre]

It is not a big race if only belgians care about that race. That's my point...
Do you care about Nationals in Portugal? I do!

I see what you're saying. But the Nationals in Belgium are much more "prestigious", because of the history and the culture of Belgian cycling. Individually, for you, Portugal nationals are important, but you are not Belgian. In Belgium, cycling is like a "must"; every little boy dreams of becoming a cyclist. It's ingrained in us...like sardines are ingrained in Portugal.

 

[DaLong]

Yeah I’m from the US and I recognize the Belgium champs are above the others. I know Philipsen for instance was pretty disappointed to lose last year. Maybe it’s on the level of a minor classic, I.e. KBK or Dwars. IMO anyways.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Why is it about cycling’s perspective? Stoempestoempestoempe is Belgian, and he called it a big win.

And GP Quebec is also a big win for belgians?

 

[Peyroteo94]

I see what you're saying. But the Nationals in Belgium are much more "prestigious", because of the history and the culture of Belgian cycling. Individually, for you, Portugal nationals are important, but you are not Belgian. In Belgium, cycling is like a "must"; every little boy dreams of becoming a cyclist. It's ingrained in us...like sardines are ingrained in Portugal.

Every National RR is important for his own country. But don't tell me it is a big race because it isn't. And the user who posted that, was refering to the typical cycling fan (not only belgians) because he also said GP Quebec was a big win for De Lie. Don't tell me belgians (specifically) have a secret love for this race.

 

[Samamba]

And GP Quebec is also a big win for belgians?

It is a big win for De Lie.

Also why do you keep ignoring that De Lie beat Philipsen, Van Aert, Merlier, Meeus, Nys, etc. on that day? Comparing Belgian nationals to the Portugese one is just beyond stupid and you know it. Of course it has some value compared to other nationals were a few pros ride against amateurs. It has a startlist quality better than some WT races, better than 90% of .Pro races and that without a lot of WT teams who bump the level with decent domestiques. It says something about the amount of world class riders at the start there. You can downplay it all you want and arguments made by for example Rick are fair, but if you beat those guys it's a pretty big win, even if you forget about the prestige or importance of the race for Belgians.

I don't get why this discussion keeps going anyways. In the end it's a subjective thing. You don't have to think of it as a relatively big win. De Lie does,, so does his team (the ones paying him) and so does everyone in Belgium (and plenty of people from other countries too). You're acting like people are comparing it to a Tour stage or an actuall classic. No one is. Neither is Quebec, but for a 22 y old that's also a bigger win, also given the way he won it.