“Satisfied if we win one of the two” - Wout van Aert looks ahead to Opening Weekend

Ahead of Opening Weekend, with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne taking place this weekend, Wout van Aert has been looking ahead to the start of the Spring Classics and how his Visma | Lease a Bike team will fair in the first two races.

In an interview with WielerFlits ahead of the weekend, Van Aert stated that he will be “satisfied if we win one of the two”. Having won both races with Dylan van Baarle and Tiesj Benoot last year, the Dutch team will once again go into this year’s Classics season as the favourites for most races.

Van Aert will undoubtedly be the team’s leader for the Classics season, but with so many other talented riders on the team, it could be difficult to balance other leadership opportunities throughout the Spring.

With so many potential leaders, the team could also lack domestiques in the key races, with Nathan Van Hooydonck being a miss for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, following his premature retirement at the end of last season.

Van Aert noted the key absence of Van Hooydonck in his interview, as he said that “in addition to Edoardo Affini, Nathan was the one in the selections who always started without a profit goal and sacrificed himself for us very unconditionally. That is something different now”.

Following Opening Weekend, Van Aert’s current Classics schedule includes the E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen, ahead of the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix.