Nathan van Hooydonck missed by Wout van Aert, but Team Visma | Lease a Bike found suiting replacements "such as Matteo Jorgenson and Jan Tratnik"

Nathan van Hooydonck was a road captain and key piece of Team Visma | Lease a Bike's spring campaign. After his sudden retirement due to health issues at the end of last season, Wout van Aert misses one of his lieutenants, but he believes the Dutch team has found proper substitutes for van Hooydonck.

“I don't think we have a replacement for Nathan. His role was to take us to the important points. He was very good at that. The nice thing was that he was able to survive that long. That way we were able to get to the final with a number of riders," van Aert said of his former teammate in words to Wielerflits. Last year van Hooydonck had amazing performances throughout the spring, key part of some of the team's wins - including the Tour de France as well.

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PREVIEW | Omloop het Nieuwsblad 2024 - Visma versus the rest; Dutch team leads with Van Aert, Laporte, Van Baarle, Tratnik and Jorgenson

Visma start off the classics campaign with a lineup including van Aert, Dylan van Baarle, Christophe Laporte, Jan Tratnik, Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot in the Opening Weekend however. It's safe to say that improving the lineup in any way would be a tough ask. The Dutch team is the ultimate favourite to win both races this weekend and is preparing to hunt a monument victory that they have not captured in years. Van Aert leads the charge.

“But the guys we have now are also very strong guys. Such as Matteo Jorgenson and Jan Tratnik. And Per Strand Hagenes, who will join us again on Sunday," the Belgian says of some of his new teammates. "They will also go very far in the final. But Nathan sacrificed himself so hard for us, that will be different now. The 'new' guys will do it in a different way.”

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Arnaud De Lie excited for cold, rainy and windy Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: "That makes the race harder for the others. And not for me"

Tom Pidcock ahead of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: "The first one is therefore always a shock"

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