ProTeam Arnaud De Lie wins fourth stage of the Tour de Wallonie with an impressive sprint
With numerous climbs along the route and an uphill finish, the fourth stage promised plenty of action. The high pace quickly thinned out the peloton. “I knew it would be difficult to fight for the win. Even on the first passage over the finish line, the pace was extremely high. Thanks to the work of my teammates, I was always well positioned.”
In the closing kilometres, victory seemed likely to go to the attackers, with Riley Sheehan and GC leader Laurence Pithie. Sheehan in particular held a significant advantage at the foot of the uphill finishing straight. It was there that Arnaud De Lie launched his effort, steadily closing the gap metre by metre. “I didn’t hesitate for a second to accelerate at the bottom of the climb,” said De Lie. “I carried a lot of speed into it and managed to surprise the rest of the group. The final 150 metres were incredibly hard. I wanted to push even harder on the pedals, but there was simply nothing left. In the end, it was just enough to take the win.”
De Lie relied fully on his own strengths. “I was mainly focused on my own effort. I know I’m very strong in efforts lasting close to a minute. Once I saw that I was closing the gap quickly, I just gave absolutely everything until the finish line. Of course, you think about the victory, but my main focus was on producing the best sprint possible.”
After a few days in which Lotto-Intermarché had not always enjoyed the best of luck, the stage win provided a welcome boost for the team. “This victory gives us a huge amount of confidence. During the first few days, things didn’t always go our way, but today everything finally fell into place. It was really great to race together with the team under these circumstances.”
Tomorrow’s final stage will take the peloton over a demanding route from Bassegne to Aubel. Arnaud De Lie currently sits third in the general classification, just three seconds behind race leader Riley Sheehan.
Photo: PhotoNews
