Arnaud De Lie is famous for saying what he thinks and in Friday's pre-Omloop Het Nieuwsblad press conference, he made no secret of his desire to nail down a major triumph as soon as he can in the 2025 Spring Classics season.
A second place finish in the 2023 edition of Omloop - his first-ever participation - was a major statement by the Belgian star, particularly given that he had crashed late on. Then, after a comparatively disappointing 10th place in 2024, the talented Walloon racer is determined to give his rivals a run for their money on Saturday.
"Every time I've taken part in this race, I've felt great," De Lie told reporters on Friday, "I'm impatient to put a race number on my back in a Flemish race wearing my nice Belgian National Champion's jersey."
De Lie agreed with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), who also gave a press conference Friday, that the 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad route is tougher than in previous editions. Like the British racer, De Lie highlighted the reintroduction of the Eikenberg climb at 56 kilometres from the finish in a fully recobbled format, something that "changes everything" in the race.
"Before there were some parts of the climb that were tarmacked and you could use those to get up it but now it's all pavé. And that makes things more difficult. Anybody who's in 50th position or further back could lose the race," De Lie said.
"Then there's the descent to the Wolvenberg and if a team wants to rip things up there, it could create some huge gaps. The finale isn't so different, but the stretches of easier road for recovery are shorter than they used to be."
De Lie was a DNS in the Volta ao Algarve on the last day because of allergies, but he said on Friday that up until that point in the Portuguese race he had been feeling better and better and on stage 4, he had been able "to put down a really nice sprint." His better condition was due in part, he said, to his very different winter build-up.
"My preparation has changed a lot, and the fact [that because of those changes] I could ride in Bessèges, Almeria and Algarve is something I liked a lot. I got a lot of pleasure out of racing. I prefer that than to be sat on top of a volcano" - a reference to the Teide volcano in the Canary Islands, where riders often do altitude training - "watching bike races on TV that I'd like to have ridden. So I feel good, physically and mentally."
However, the real proof of his strategy will come on Saturday in the final kilometres of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. "If I win, my spring will already have been a resounding success," he told reporters.
"But you get hungry through eating and if I manage to raise my arms on the finish line, I think that'll give me an enormous boost, and I will be keen to do even better in what comes afterwards."
To do so on Saturday, of course, De Lie will have to tackle and beat his rivals in a race which he insisted was notoriously unpredictable, pointing out that even the strongest of breakaways like Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike) in 2023 was barely able to fend off the peloton. This year Van Baarle is not racing, but De Lie said Visma remain one of the most powerful squads, and not just because of their leader and former Omloop winner Wout Van Aert.
"Globally they're very impressive," De Lie said. "I spent a week in the Algarve racing next to Van Aert and I could see he was in great form. His time trial" - where he took second behind teammate Jonas Vingegaard - "is the proof."
"As for UAE [Team Emirates-XRG], they've been up there in the thick of it since the start of the season. These two teams [Visma and UAE often make the right strategic decisions and you have to be really sharp to be able to beat them."
"But we've got a 100% Belgian team and we're really united. I hope we'll be up to meeting the challenge."
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