Lotto-Intermarché caught between hope and fear over Arnaud De Lie

The last week before the Giro d'Italia 2026 has rightly been a shitshow for Lotto-Intermarché. The troubled merger team seemed to have gotten off to a strong start in 2026 after wins in Eschborn-Frankfurt and the Famenne Ardennes Classic, but cow manure in that last race caused an outbreak of stomach flu. Liam Slock even had to withdraw from the Giro, with the team showing up with only five of their eight riders at the presentation.

Slock's replacement Joshua Giddings and Milan Menten, who recovered from the same illness just in time, will not travel to Bulgaria until Thursday, so they would have missed the presentation anyway. Arnaud De Lie did travel with his teammates to the start of the Giro earlier this week. However, the Walloon winner of the Famenne Ardennes Classic also suffered from the same stomach flu symptoms that cost Slock during the flight to Bulgaria, leading to Menten’s delayed travel.

As a result, De Lie was also absent from the team presentation on Thursday evening. Lotto-Intermarché had already announced this beforehand, but after the presentation, team manager Maxime Bouet gave an update on the sprint leader. "Like many others, Arnaud got sick after the Famenne Ardennes Classic. Some riders even ended up in the hospital. Arnaud is here in Bulgaria but not at the presentation. We hope he starts to feel better ahead of the start on Friday," Bouet told CyclingPro.net.

According to Bouet, Menten is feeling much better already, but that is slightly less the case for De Lie. "We have chosen to keep Arnaud in the hotel because he is still a bit under the weather. Digestive problems, diarrhea, vomiting... Some of our riders have ended up in the hospital with it as well. We do not want to infect other teams; that was important to us too. Health is our absolute priority. We have to stay positive no matter what. Arnaud is not the only one on our team. We have eight riders here and all of them can compete for stage wins."