Arnaud De Lie secured the victory in the Famenne Ardenne Classic after a chaotic day that ended with a fast finish, despite having a mishap with his foot in the final sprint.
Six cyclists formed the initial breakaway of the day, but repeated attacks from the peloton ensured they were all caught with over 50 km still to go. With a little over 40 km left, two riders counterattacked, Yves Lampaert and the European Champion, Christophe Laporte.
They couldn’t hold on until the finish line and, with 20 km to go, they were back in the main group. Without any successful attacks managing to break away and the peloton narrowly avoiding disaster when a car entered the circuit, a sprint decided the day.
In this sprint, Kaden Groves launched first, but Arnaud De Lie came around and seemed certain to win; however, suddenly, his cleat that attaches him to the pedal broke, and he had to pedal with only one leg. In the end, he still managed to win.
With the victory, De Lie achieved his tenth win in 2023 and his third victory in a month. Lotto Dstny’s cyclist was joined on the final podium by Kaden Groves (2nd) and Florian Sénéchal (3rd).
Watch the finish in the video:
Results of the Lotto Famenne Ardenne Classic 2023:
