It's no surprise to see Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) on the Famenne Ardenne Classic results sheet - it's his 10th win of the season. On Sunday, which had already proved itself faster than many propelotons, the young Belgians further their rivals by winning while pedaling with just one foot.
De Lee had to laugh and finish the sprint with one foot after the plate fixing the cleat to his right shoe broke.
According to RTBF, "Without this problem, I would have won very easily," De Lie said.
"My cleat plate broke during my sprint. It's unlucky, but I won. Now I can laugh about it, but if I had lost, I would have been angry.
Not only did he break the cleats, but by force he dropped the chain. Fortunately, he already had some bike-length leads on the rest of the sprinters and was able to throw his bike - still one foot - cadet
"trying to put the chain back on while pedaling. I was able to undo it for the last ten meters and maybe that's why I won.
"In the end, it was a bit of a panic... I knew how to stay calm. This year has matured a bit from that point of view. It was a headwind, so I wanted to launch from a distance and finish at a lot of speed."
De Lee's neo-Pro season was sensational last year, and this year he won his first World Tour race at GP Quebec. He won at this week's Franco-Berge Circuit, but Sunday's victory was special because it's not too far from his hometown.
"It feels good. Last year I was not far from winning and I crashed before the final straight.
To watch the Sprint video, spread the Twitter embed below.
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