Arnaud De Lie: "This was the most dangerous Omloop of my life"

Of course, after the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, much was said about Mathieu van der Poel's impressive solo, but the race was also marked by crashes and other incidents. Afterward, Sporza spoke with some unlucky riders, including Arnaud De Lie. "This was the most dangerous Omloop of my life," the Belgian was very clear.

The men's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was marred by several serious crashes. One occurred in the kilometers before the Muur. In the thinned-out peloton, multiple riders went down at high speed. Matthew Brennan and Arnaud De Lie were the main victims: for the young Brit, this abruptly ended his race.

De Lie did get back on his bike, but the hope for a good placing was already long gone. "There was, especially with this wind, a lot of nervousness in the peloton. It was initially a perfect day for me. Okay, it was impossible to follow Mathieu on the Molenberg, but after that, I was with the best. Only: five kilometers before the Muur, someone fell next to me and I broke my wheel. That was immediately game over."

Groves calls it a ‘chaotic day’
Alpecin-Deceuninck was the big winner of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but the team also faced misfortune. Backup leaders Jasper Philipsen and Kaden Groves both had to deal with bad luck during the race. "It was actually an incredibly tough day for the team. We had a lot of bad luck. I crashed myself — actually, I was involved twice — and Jasper also had a flat tire."

"It was truly a chaotic day in these conditions. Better weather was forecasted, but in the end, it was cold and wet. But well, if you have someone like Van der Poel... If he is that strong, he can do it alone. The result was perfect in the end, but as a team, we could have done better collectively."