"We can beat them as a team" - Jumbo-DS Wynants believes van der Poel and Pogacar can be defeated in Flanders

Jumbo-Visma are looking for a win in the Tour of Flanders. They have won all five main cobbled classics so far but only a monument win this spring in the cobbles would fulfill the team's expectations. Team DS Marteen Wynants believes the Dutch team could emerge victorious and talks of a confident team with plenty options.

"The absence of Dylan van Baarle is of course regrettable. We have one very important less card to play," he explained at a press conference on Thursday," team DS Marteen Wynants said in a recent press conference. "Last year we even lost Wout van Aert before the Ronde and we played a very important role at that time too. With Tim van Dijke, we now have a young who also wants to show off. And with Nathan Van Hooydonck we have someone who maybe could play the role of leader in other teams. Without forgetting Tiesj Benoot, Tosh Van der Sande, Edoardo Affini and of course Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte. A solid group, isn't it?"

Despite the absence of last year's runner-up Dylan van Baarle - winner of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad - the team brings in Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne winner and second place Tiesj Benoot and Nathan van Hooydonck, Christophe Laporte who has recently won both Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen, and finally Wout van Aert who directly beat Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar at the E3 Saxo Classic.

The strong lineup also sees the team with a lot of pressure, and responsibility to attack. "That's of course the other side of the coin, when you start with a strong team. But we can do it. Even if favorites like Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar will be at the start in Bruges. They weren't not present in the last races, which gives a very distorted picture of the races. But we can beat them as a team," he concluded.