"It will be difficult to beat him there" - Wout van Aert fears Tadej Pogacar competition on opening Giro d'Italia day

Wout van Aert is aiming for the Giro d'Italia and the pink jersey on the opening days. This is a very viable possibility with a difficult hilly stage to open things up, however he fears that Tadej Pogacar may be too strong of a competition to beat.

"You have two things in this team: you never ride a race in which you can think that it is all about you. I don't want that at all either. And two: you never ride a Grand Tour in this team with a mediocre team. There are always strong men who can take you to the final and control the race," van Aert told In de Leiderstrui. "And then it is both an honor for me and Olav [Kooij] to be leaders of such a team. We tried it in the Tour of Britain and it went quite well. The Giro will be a completely different level, but on the days we ride for Olav, the whole team will help him. This also applies to the stages that will suit me."

The leaders' plans for the Giro are set in stone for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Van Aert will chase stage wins and support Olav Kooij in the pure bunch sprints, whilst the team will have a very free approach to the race, with Cian Uijtdebroeks aiming for the overall classification but without a block that will be given full domestique duties. A different approach than that of 2023, but one that can be quite successful.

Stage 1 features the Colle della Madallena which is 6.4 kilometers long at 7% not too far from the finish. Whilst not too difficult, it may see attacks in the peloton, and if a group of strong climbers can make the differene, life can be very difficult for all others including te likes of van Aert. "I saw that they have already adjusted the first stage. They stopped a steep climb in the last five kilometers and two days later it was announced that Pogacar will ride. So it will be difficult to beat him there."

Even in a flat sprint the Slovenian is a threat, that can't be denied. "Wout is very fast at the finish line, but so is Pogacar," Mathieu Heijboer added. Van Aert won't be pursuing goals of an overall classification stint most likely, however the chance of wearing the pink jersey on his debut in the Corsa Rosa is am ambitious goal. 

"We will have a very strong opponent in our goal of winning stages. We don't care about his classification ambitions, but he is a major competitor for the stage win. But if you win, it's better."