De Lie goes from ‘Buddhist Monk’ to a Van der Poel-style detonation in Wallonia

De Lie had arrived at the race looking to reset after a disrupted spring and an early exit from the Giro d’Italia, where illness forced him to abandon. His return in Wallonia, close to home and at the beginning of his Tour de France build up, was supposed to offer a fresh start.

Instead, the opening days brought more adversity. Multiple punctures undermined his first stage. A sixth place in the sprint on stage 2 fell short of expectations. On stage 3, a mass crash in the final kilometre ended another opportunity before the sprint could properly unfold.

After that incident, De Lie admitted his patience was wearing thin.

“I have to stay calm, but inside I’m not calm,” he said RTL Sports. “I’ve been putting things into perspective for three days. Soon I’ll be a Buddhist monk.”

It was delivered with a smile, but the frustration was clear. De Lie felt his form was better than his results showed. Thursday offered the proof.

Riley Sheehan (NSN Cycling Team) looked set to steal the stage after attacking on the rolling finishing circuit and carrying a sizeable advantage into the final kilometre. Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who had earlier been delayed by mechanical trouble, tried to close the gap, but Sheehan still appeared to have the race under control as the road rose toward the line.

Then De Lie moved.

Launching from the foot of the final climb, the Lotto-Intermarché leader produced a long, punishing sprint that quickly changed the shape of the finish. He passed Pithie first, then hauled back Sheehan in the final metres, catching him almost on the line to take his second victory of the season.

The raw power of De Lie’s move carried echoes of Mathieu van der Poel at his most devastating. Even the aftermath felt familiar: De Lie collapsed onto his back after the finish, a scene reminiscent of Van der Poel lying spent on the ground after his extraordinary victory at the 2019 Amstel Gold Race.

According to his Strava file, De Lie averaged 890 watts for 49 seconds in the finale, powering up the final 470 metres at a 9.4% gradient at 34.6 km/h.

“The final few hundred metres were brutal,” De Lie said afterwards. “I couldn’t even raise my arms. I didn’t hesitate from the bottom of the climb. I just went, without looking at anyone, and focused on my effort. It was one minute all out.”

Whether it also opens the door to a challenge for the overall classification will become clear on Friday. The final stage is expected to be considerably harder, with De Lie describing it as a “mini-Liège Bastogne-Liège.”

His recovery from Thursday’s effort may decide what is possible. But after days of trying to stay calm, De Lie had finally found a better answer: a sprint long enough, hard enough and late enough to turn frustration into victory.