On home roads in his first race day after the Tour de France build-up, De Lie rode in service of teammate Jenno Berckmoes rather than for himself. He worked on the front through the climbs before sitting up around 13-15 km from the finish, his job done, and did not contest the result. Berckmoes rewarded the effort with fifth from the reduced sprint.

• 14 kmSat up after working for Berckmoes, ending his day to leave the leader fresh

A day after his emotional Eupen win, De Lie went for the double and the GC heist on the Aubel circuit. Liam Slock launched him inside the final kilometre, but Oliver came around him with 50 m to go, leaving De Lie third on the stage and third overall at five seconds. It was a strong week from the Belgian — a stage win and a home GC podium — even if the title narrowly eluded him.

• 1 kmLiam Slock launched the Lotto Intermarché lead-out, but Oliver came over De Lie inside the final 50 m

De Lie produced the win he had been chasing all week, holding back through a fast, attacking finale and then unleashing his sprint inside the final 500 m to overhaul Riley Sheehan, who had jumped inside the last 6 km. The thrilling last-gasp victory on home roads in Eupen was an emotional moment for the Belgian and moved him firmly into overall contention with the bonus seconds it carried, setting up his pursuit of the GC podium on the final stage.

• 0.5 kmLaunched his sprint inside the final 500 m to come over Sheehan in the closing straight

De Lie was Lotto Intermarché's protected card all week and delivered the win he wanted on stage 4 in Eupen, kicking inside the final 500 m to deny Riley Sheehan. He went for the GC heist on the final day too, with Liam Slock launching him inside the last kilometre in Aubel, but Oliver came around him with 50 m to go. A stage win and third overall at five seconds on home Belgian roads made it a strong week, even with the title narrowly out of reach.

• Won stage 4 in Eupen with a kick inside the final 500 m
• Third on stage 5 and third overall after Oliver edged him in Aubel

Lotto's protected card on a long road back from an off-season ankle injury that interrupted his winter. Public race reporting available so far does not document a specific De Lie storyline at Roubaix — no front-of-race feature, no flagged crash or mechanical, no quoted post-race interview. The most defensible read is the most boring one: he raced inside the bunch through the early hour, was shed when the pace ramped into the Arenberg-Mons window, and rolled into Roubaix outside the timed group. To be revised as more coverage surfaces.

Second in a clean bunch sprint — Lotto Intermarché's strongest result of the spring before his ankle-injury-cut Roubaix bid.

De Lie was promoted to fifth on the opening stage after a relegation ahead of him and rode in support through the sprint days, building form for the spring with Lotto Intermarché.

• Stage 1 — promoted to 5th in the sprint

De Lie was promoted to fifth after Santiago Mesa's relegation, finishing in the front group at the same time as the podium. A workmanlike opening sprint for the Lotto Intermarché fast man as he built towards the cobbled classics.

• Promoted to fifth after Mesa's relegation from the sprint

On his first race of 2026, De Lie was perfectly placed for his season-opening sprint, tracking Girmay's wheel behind the NSN train and ready to launch. In the final metres he clashed shoulders hard with NSN leadout man Lewis Askey — 'it was him or me,' he said afterwards — a bump that nearly brought the whole leadout down and disrupted his own kick. He still came through for sixth, a respectable opener for a sprinter rebuilding form after an off-season ankle injury.

• 0.3 kmBattling for Girmay's wheel, bumped shoulders hard with leadout man Lewis Askey, nearly bringing the NSN train down