"I had hoped for more answers in Le Samyn" - Wout van Aert comes into Strade Bianche without proper racing test

Wout van Aert has had a winter with several setbacks and is starting his second race day of the season today at Strade Bianche. He doesn't know where he stands in terms of form however, having been forced to miss Omloop het Nieuwsblad and also having a puncture ruin the finale of Le Samyn for him.

“This remains a really beautiful race. Last year in the Giro I noticed again that gravel suits me well, even if that stage was easier than Strade," Van Aert said in words to Sporza. "But it was always my intention to come back. Because of the circumstances, it took a long time, but it was never the plan to stay away from this race. Definitely not.”

A former winner of this race and the winner of the 'mini Strade Bianche' at the Giro d'Italia last year, it certainly is a race that is well adapted to his abilities. Van Aert has to deal with a course that is more favourable towards the climbers than back when he raised his arms in Siena; however his climbing ability still stands and his technical ability on off-road sectors remains quite high, which is key in such a race.

However he hoped to already have good knowledge of his racing form at this point of the spring, but hasn't been able to get the answers he wanted. “I had hoped for more answers in Le Samyn on Tuesday, but I wasn’t really able to test myself fully in what was quite an easy race. Tomorrow (Saturday, ed.) will bring more answers.”

This Thursday Van Aert was doing a solo recon of the gravel sectors, dry and slippery this year in the roads of Tuscany. “It went well. It was important to look at some of the sectors again, because it had been a long time. It was a good refresher. That wasn’t necessarily the plan, but the team had different ideas and I personally wanted to do that long training ride on Thursday. There’s nothing more behind it.”

But due to the particular circumstances in which he enters this race, having had a winter where he was both injured and ill, it is hard to have winning ambitions, or put a pin in what he might be able to achieve. Matteo Jorgenson is a reliable alternative to the Dutch team in the meantime.

“I can’t attach a placing to it, but I want to be in the final and I want to feel that I’ve really been in the race. If it turns into an honourable result, I can be satisfied with that. But we’ll see tomorrow," he concluded.