Lotto-Dstny could again opt out of participating in the Giro d’Italia in 2024, putting a greater focus on one-day races during May to score vital UCI ranking points and the Tour de France according to Het Nieuwsblad.
The Belgian ProTeam's race strategy for 2024 could also see Arnaud De Lie make his Tour de France debut. The 21-year-old sprinter has still to ride a Grand Tour but won 10 races in 2023, including the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.
Lotto Dstny were relegated from the WorldTour to cycling’s second division at the end of 2022 but are determined to return to WorldTour level in 2026 when the 18 places are next available.
Lotto Dstny opted to skip the Giro this season despite being among the two highest-ranked ProTeams that automatically get wildcard invites to Grand Tours. Each WorldTour team is required to appear at all three Grand Tours, but this does not apply to the ProTeams.
Cyclingnews has contacted Lotto Dsnty about their 2024 race calendar. The team is expected to reveal more about their plans on January 5.
Lotto competed in every Giro d’Italia from 2001-2022 but is instead focused on maximising their points scoring and return to the WorldTour. De Lie has been their top points scorer for the past two seasons, by nearly double the next highest, and will be incredibly important in 2024 if they are to be promoted back to the top level.
Lotto Dstny rode a series of one-day races in May 2023 and targeted a wider spread of UCI points away from the Italian Grand Tour. During the Giro period, Arnaud De Lie and Florian Vermeersch alone scored 570 UCI points at races such as Tro Bro Léon and Boucles de l'Aulne.
De Lie vindicated the decision as he gained more UCI points (200) for his win at the 1.pro level GP de Plumelec-Morbihan than he would have for winning a Giro stage (180).
Lotto Dsnty finished ninth in the UCI team rankings for 2023 and so again secured places in all the 2024 WorldTour races, with the option to miss any races they wish.
With the departure of Ewan back to Jayco AlUla, De Lie will be team leader at Lotto Dstny in 2024, with his debut at the Tour de France a logical progression.
De Lie has himself stated that winning a big one-day Classic is more important to him than a Grand Tour stage win, but he will be Lotto Dstny's best hope of achieving success come the Tour next year.
The 21-year-old will also hope to make the Belgian Olympics squad for the road race in Paris, which would run more in line with competing at the Tour de France in trying to carry that form over the two-week period that separates the two races.
