INTERVIEW | "On television they all look awful" - Wout van Aert anticipates Vuelta a Espana climbs, stages where he eyes victory and unusual preparation

Wout van Aert is making his debut at the Vuelta a España this Saturday, after a season that has not gone the way he hoped for. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider will be aiming for stage wins in the sprints and time-trials and has talked about his preparation and ambitions in the pre-race press conference.

The Belgian opened up his win tally this year at the Volta ao Algarve, can a return to Portugal see him win again? "Let's hope so," he tells CyclingUpToDate. "It's been a long while since I've won a race and this summer I've grown into my level again and I need to try and win again and specially in the first week there should be quite some opportunities. Hopefully from the beginning I find good legs and we go for glory".

Van Aert spent the Tour de France riding at a level that was below his very best, but at the Olympic Games he could see the benefit from the hard training and racing. He was third at the time-trial, but in the road race an absent 37th place after a crash derailed his hopes of a medal in the final kilometers. Now, only two weeks later, he will put on a bib once again in search of glory in Spain - and Portugal, where the race starts.

"Of course we look to the course already and I think in the first week stages 2, 3 and 5 are stages where it should be possible to control the race and be involved in the sprint," he continues. "That's a little bit more controlled situation and bigger chance to achieve a result". The sprints seemed to be main focus for van Aert, who admits he hasn't taken a deep look into the race's climbs. "My first time here, on television they all look awful," he jokes.

It's the first time he's racing a three-week race outside the Tour de France, and he's doing so right after completing the Tour and then focusing specifically on the Olympic Games. Certainly, a preparation that is quite different than his usual. Will he still reach his best level regardless?

"It's hard question to answer, it's less under control than the normal preparation. On the other hand my whole season was different than what I expected but yeah for sure I believe can be at my best still and we'll see," he concluded.