Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) picked up his first victory of 2026 with a grinding sprint in a thrilling climax to the Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Belgian has been struggling for form all season but produced one of his characteristic uphill-drag sprint finishes to claim his third victory in the past four editions of the Belgian one-day race.
It was a convincing victory, with Jens Verbrugghe (NSN Development) finishing in the slipstream for the runner-up spot and Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello-Q36.5) rounding out the podium.
But it could all have been so different. For a while, it didn't look like De Lie and his rivals would get the chance to sprint for victory at all, as the last three survivors from the day's breakaway survived almost all the way to the line.
Cresting the Côte de Roy (3.4km at 3.9%) for the fourth and final time on the four laps of the finishing circuit, that comprised most of the 186km route, a trio had 30 seconds in hand: Ryan Gal (Metec-Solarwatt-Mantel), Filippo d'Aiutio (General Store-Essegibi-F.Lli Curia), and Maxence Place (Aarco).
Several kilometres later, with just 5km remaining, that gap was unchaged, as De Lie's Lotto-Intermarché team – who'd worked all day – left it to the other teams to chase. The deficit was still 20 seconds as the leading trio entered the final kilometre, setting up a dramatic finale.
The escapees could not afford a moment's hesitation, and though they didn't fully play cat-and-mouse, there was a shared reluctance to lead out the sprint, which led the bunch back into the game.
Unibet-Rose Rockets led the charge from behind, with De Lie poised in the wheel of their sprinter Joren Bloem. They passed the breakaway riders just 150 metres shy of the line, and De Lie hit the front with 100 metres to go, powering all the way to the line.
Results
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