Lotto-Intermarché's star rider Arnaud De Lie has recognised that a question mark now hovers over the exact date of the start of his season following a domestic accident that left him with an injured ankle. But the Belgian fastman is planning to hit the ground running in 2026 all the same.
De Lie's difficult first half of 2025 due to injuries and sickness then improved dramatically towards the end of the year with a stunning run of success – only for the Walloon racer to suffer a fresh setback when he damaged his ankle after falling down the stairs at home during the Christmas break.
The Belgian star was still visibly injured at the Lotto-Intermarché team launch earlier this week with his leg in a splint. Even so, he was adamant that he would be able to return to full training soon and get quickly into racing despite some potential delays.
Like everybody at the team launch, in any case, after reports of multiple behind-the-scenes hiccups during the fusion of Intermarché and Lotto, De Lie's appreciation that the new squad was up and running was palpable too. The ankle injury is a setback, but in the bigger scheme of things, the news is definitely good.
"There were a lot of questions anyway, but everything is sorted out now. We can see we have a team at training camp and that's fantastic. I'm happy to wear this beautiful jersey," De Lie told reporters, including Sporza.be.
As for the ankle, "It's getting better," De Lie said, before explaining that he had to stop training for a week because of a sprain. "It was a stupid fall, but much better that it happens now than in a month's time."
He had started back training two weeks ago, De Lie said and was now up to 17 hours training in a single week. He had, however, yet to test himself with an actual sprint.
"We'll see how things evolve, but it's certain that I won't start until I'm ready, when the ankle is stable, so we don't take any risks.
"Normally I'll race the Clásica Almería (February 15) then the Volta ao Algarve (February 18-22), but these aren't top priorities."
De Lie will want to be sure he's performing in much better shape at the Opening Weekend – where he took a memorable second place back in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2023 despite crashing – prior to heading on to Tirreno-Adriatico. That will be followed by Ronde van Brugge, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, his long-awaited debut at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
The second half of the season is already pencilled in as well, with the Tour de France preceding the Canadian Classics – where he won in Québec back in 2023 – and, hopefully, the World Championships.
"If I can ride there, it would be fantastic. I've only done one World Championship in my career, but it will be very tough. I always ride well in Canada. But we'll see, those races are still a long way off."
Meanwhile one of Belgium's up-and-coming news stars, De Lie's teammate and first-year pro Jarno Widar, has been confirmed as a possible starter at the Vuelta a España.
The 2025 Under-23 European Road Champion will coincide with De Lie at the Volta ao Algarve – should De Lie take part – before focusing on the Ardennes Classics. The Giro d'Italia, pencilled in as possible for the former Giro Next Gen racer, has now been ruled out, but a start in Spain's Grand Tour this August could yet be on the cards.
