De Lie's Classics curse persists as illness keeps him from Flanders

Arnaud De Lie has been ruled out of the Tour of Flanders due to persisting symptoms of the illness that led to his DNF at Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen. "Arnaud De Lie will unfortunately not start in the Tour of Flanders this Sunday," read Lotto-Intermarché's announcement on Friday. "Although he did a recon of the course [Friday] morning with his coach, it became clear to Arnaud that he has not recovered sufficiently to compete 100% in such a demanding 278-kilometre race as Flanders' finest. Arnaud is being closely monitored by the medical and performance staff to ensure he can prepare as well as possible for Paris-Roubaix and be fully ready for that goal." De Lie also missed out on his home Monument last year, his 2025 Classics campaign ruined by lack of form attributed to over-training – the then-Belgian champ took a two-month break after abandoning Gent-Wevelgem. This year hasn't gone much better, but he has been more of a factor, with good performances at Tirreno-Adriatico and at last weekend's rebranded In Flanders Fields where he finished fourth in the bunch sprint.