Arnaud De Lier has made no secret of the fact that he has a lot to learn ahead of the 2024 Tour de France, but the 22-year-old, fresh off a confidence-boosting victory in the Belgian championships, is looking to see if he can build on his results along with his experience in his debut Grand Tour.

When the Lotto-Doustney Tour team was announced on Monday, sports manager Kurt Van de Wouwer admitted that De Lier and Maxime Van Gils, despite being the two youngest riders, are capable of winning a stage.

"It's good to learn and see if it's possible to go for the win," de Lier said Wednesday at a virtual media conference from Florence, Italy, with media including Cycling News about the next three weeks. 'The plan is I'll be there, but if it gets too crazy, I might put the brakes on. You can learn a lot here especially

"I think you need a lot of experience for the Tour de France. The Tour de France is really long, three weeks. In each stage you need to be in good condition to be able to use your good legs at the right moment. So I don't know what I can learn yet, but there is a lot to learn in the Grand Tours and I am really looking forward to it."

The third stage to Turin should be the first test for the sprinters, but De Lier did not reveal his initial sprint plan for the expected 230.8-km route's final leg on Monday. Instead, he cited stage 9, which has 14 sectors of gravel road in the 199 km to the fast flat finish in Troyes, as another path to a team victory.

"The Troyes stage is a good stage for me, but there are some rocky sections, so we'll see what happens." De Lier also recently told Het Laatste Nieuws that stage 8 is his favorite, but the flat sprint suits Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Desseuninck). De Lier has done well in punchy uphill sprints in his short two-and-a-half-year pro career, including the Quebec GP, which he won in 2023, and this year's Toro Bro Leon.

However, the Lotto-Doustney rider admitted that there was a little more stress than in the One Day Classic or the recent Belgian Championship road race.

"There was a lot of emotion on Sunday. It was emotional that day, but now I realize that I am the Belgian champion," the 22-year-old said of the moment he won the biggest sprint competition of his career so far. This is very important for an athlete. I'm happy to have my first big Tour coming up."

Teammate Van Gils, 24, also competed in his first Tour last year, finishing second in the mountain stage to the Grand Colombier. This year, the team's goal is to win a stage, and they are not thinking about the classified jersey.

"It would be nice to move up even one place," Van Gils said of last year's podium on stage 13.

"The first two stages of the Tour might be my favorite of the whole Tour. It's not too long and there are a lot of steep climbs, which suits me. I hope I can make it to the finish in a group. Stage 18 is good. It's a good chance for me. Legs will decide stage 17.

Van Gils, who missed the Belgian championships due to illness, said he is in good condition and has high hopes for the race.

"Me and the other players want to win, of course. The team's goal is to win a stage."