Arnaud De Lier won the Heist Pile on Saturday, giving his Lotto-Soudal team the UCI points they need to avoid relegation to the World Tour in 2023.

"Every race is important to me and I always go into the start with the ambition to win," De Lier said. Winning a race is never easy, and that's why I'm so happy to have this race in my record books."

All of his Neopro wins this season have come in UCI 1.1 ranked races. However, every point counts because the 2023 WorldTour teams will be determined by the top 18 teams in the 2020-2022 season rankings. a win in a 1.1 race earns 125 points, which is five more than a stage win in the Tour de France points more than a stage win in the Tour de France.

Lotto Soudal was 19th in this week's ranking, ahead of Israel-Premier Tech, but De Lier was impressed with his defeat of Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Mark Cavendish (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl), among others

De Lie took his first win of the season by defeating Juan Sebastian Morano (UAE Team Emirates) at the Trofeo Playa de Palma, and Nizzolo and Michael Matthews (Bike Exchange) were also in the mix, but to beat a sprinter like Nizzolo in May is on a different level.

"To be on the podium with top sprinters like Nizzolo and Cavendish is really incredible," said de Lee.

With the promotion/relegation rules coming into effect next year for the first time in World Tour history, some teams are changing tactics to compete for points, such as stacking teams in the lower races and trying to get as many riders as possible into the top 10 to finish.

Lotto Soudal adheres to the philosophy of fighting for wins rather than points. De Lier told Wielerfritz, "At Lotto Soudal, we race only for victories."

"Some teams sprint with several riders and finish third, fourth, or fifth. But those results are not beautiful. Because only the points of the 10 best riders on the team count. And they weren't even there."

Under UCI rules, only points earned by the top 10 riders count toward the 2020-2022 team ranking.

"We got 125 points, but we could have gotten as many with fourth and sixth place. Sunday's Pro Series Brussels Cycling Classic will go deeper in points, with the winner receiving 200 points. De Lier said."