"We’ll need a good plan to try and surprise the top favourites" - Wout van Aert on Paris-Roubaix return

Wout van Aert's form has been on the rise and the preparation towards the monuments via an altitude camp proved to be the right choice. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider showed his very best level for the first time in a while at the Tour of Flanders, and has gained a strong foothold ahead of Paris-Roubaix.

“I’m coming in with a good feeling from last week”, the Belgian said in a press release. “In both Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Ronde van Vlaanderen, I felt strong, and as a team, we raced really well. That gives confidence".

The Belgian had struggled with form and positioning at the E3 Saxo Classic, which gave lots of doubts for what would happen in the coming week. A few days later at Dwars door Vlaanderen, being in a 3-to-1 position, he asked his teammates to work towards a sprint but then cramped and lost to Neilson Powless - a memorable moment, but for the wrong reasons for the Dutch team.

Into Flanders he had become a secondary favourite, but showed his best legs this spring, tactically raced strong as did Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot... And now in a flat Roubaix course, where he's been on the podium the last two occasions he participated in, the pieces of the puzzle can more realistically align his way.

"Unfortunately, there were always a few others just that bit stronger. We’ll be up against the same guys in Roubaix, a race I always look forward to. So once again, we’ll need a good plan to try and surprise the top favourites," he concludes.

Although Visma's lineup does miss the in-form Tiesj Benoot who will now focus on the Ardennes, he's got a strong mix of rouleurs and sprinters to back him up during the many cobbled sectors. However in the end, he will once again have to face Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen and others if he wants to take the biggest win of his career.