Van Aert is taking the same approach this spring as he did a year ago. After his season opener in Spain and Portugal, the 30-year-old rider could still be admired in the Belgian opening weekend before leaving for Tenerife for an altitude training camp. Together with teammates Tiesj Benoot and Wilco Kelderman, the Belgian stayed on the Teide for three weeks to optimally prepare for the big spring classics.

Van Aert: “We had a good and nice training camp in Tenerife, but of course, as a cyclist, what you want most of all is racing. I'm really looking forward to pinning on a race number once again.” Van Aert will do that this Friday in the E3 Saxo Classic. The Belgian keeps fond memories of the classic, which he managed to win in 2022 and 2023. “The E3 Saxo Classic is one of my favourite races and I am proud that I have already won it twice”, he says.

Sports director Niermann is also looking forward to the Flemish classics. “The E3 Saxo Classic is a beautiful race over a large part of the Tour of Flanders course. Often the race is seen as a kind of dress rehearsal. For us it will be interesting to see how Wout and Tiesj feel after their altitude camp.”

Van Aert adds: “That's always a bit of a wait and see in such a first race after an altitude camp. You saw that last year in the E3 Saxo Classic as well. But we have a strong team, including Matteo Jorgenson who showed great things in Paris-Nice.” Niermann: “We are not the favourites, but we have to make use of the multiple options we have in our team. We will do everything we can to be in the final with as many riders as possible.”

Although cobblestones also play an important role in Gent-Wevelgem, it is a race of a different caliber than the E3 Saxo Classic. Team Visma | Lease a Bike is therefore heading to Ypres with sprinter Olav Kooij as the team’s leader. Last weekend the 23-year-old rider rode to a creditable eighth place in Milano-Sanremo, in Classic Brugge-De Panne he crashed in the hectic finale. Despite multiple abrasions, he will be ready for Gent-Wevelgem. “There he showed that he has taken another step in racing classics this winter”, Niermann states. “He deserves our full support in Gent-Wevelgem. We are going for a sprint with Olav, but in this race every edition is a game between attackers and sprinters. A sprint is therefore not a given, but we are going to guide Olav to the finish line as best we can.”

His sixth and eighth place finishes in the previous two editions of Gent-Wevelgem taste like more. Kooij: “I think it's a very nice race. Especially the edition that Christophe Laporte won on behalf of our team was brilliant because of our excellent team effort. The important thing for us is to be attentive in the hilly area and then see what the situation is towards Wevelgem. Hopefully we can create a situation there in which we can fight for the win.”