Wout van Aert in the lead; Jorgenson's debut and Kooij to sprint - Visma reveal Opening Weekend lineups

Team Visma | Lease a Bike are ready to tackle Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne. With two lineups packed with quality classics riders and sprinters, they can very realistically win one of the two Belgian classics.

The team is missing Dylan van Baarle who got an injury in January; Christophe Laporte who had been ill and the injured Niklas Behrens. Lots of plan changes right from early on, but nevertheless the Dutch team arrives at both cobbled classics with an enviable lineup and well capable of fighting for victory.

For Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, surely most of the cards will be played on Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson in the finale at the Muur-Bosberg combination. Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts and Edoardo Affini will be suporting and will also race the Belgian race.

Per Strand Hagenes and Matthew Brennan complete the lineup, but in Kuurne Olav Kooij will come in as a sprint option for the race - with Loe van Belle replacing Matthew Brennan.

"Our goal is to win a race", team DS Grischa Niermann said in a press release. "Despite the necessary changes we have had to make in the lineup, we have a very strong team for both days. We have prepared well and are motivated to get a nice result."

"Wout showed in the time trial of the Volta ao Algarve that he is in good shape. Nevertheless, we should not yet expect him to be in absolute top form this weekend. His peak is in late March, early April, when the monuments are on the programme. The Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne are two nice benchmarks."

Team Visma for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad:

Team Visma for Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne:

Wout van Aert
Tiesj Benoot
Victor Campenaerts
Edoardo Affini
Olav Kooij
Loe van Belle
Matteo Jorgenson