"Joshua Tarling is the favourite, despite his age" - Wout van Aert previews European Championships time-trial

Wout van Aert will return to action on Wednesday as he looks to become European Champion in the individual time-trial. According to the Belgian himself however, he isn't the pre-race favourite.

On the actual course itself, van Aert isn't impressed. “Boring,” he laughs in quotes collected by Sporza from a pre-European Championships press conference. "There is nothing special about it. The pure power comes to the fore and it is nice for a championship. For me it could have been a bit more technical, because that is almost completely missing. The distance is slightly shorter than at the World Championships."

With some of the biggest time-trial names not competing, van Aert is considered by many one of the pre-race favourites. The person van Aert is keeping an eye on though is the 19-year-old World Championships bronze medalist. "Filippo Ganna and Remco Evenepoel are not here. I start with the thought that I should be able to finish on the podium, but Joshua Tarling is the favourite, despite his age," previews the Belgian. "He has also confirmed his World Championship (bronze) in the Renewi Tour. The course is beautiful, but not immediately in our favour. I think more of a type like Tarling, a tree of a human being."

"I was beaten by a wide margin at the World Championship and I had the feeling that I had ridden well. That is why we looked into it in more detail," continues van Aert. "Everyone has forgotten about the field of participants the day after tomorrow. That makes no difference. The European Championship is also growing. It is more important, it is a nice title to go for. I am having a great season, but there is still room for something more. That is why I quickly let the national coach know that I wanted to make this European Championship a goal."