Wout van Aert: "Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar may be stronger uphill, but we have a strong team to match"

Wout van Aert has worked throughout the spring in order to prepare the cobbled monuments. It could be said that the Tour of Flanders may very well be the biggest goal of his season, and Jumbo-Visma start the race with high and realistic ambitions.

"Flanders and Roubaix are two races that are coming up and where we really want it. Confidence is very high and I hope we win it," van Aert said at the start of the race this morning in words to Sporza. He's finished on the Top10 on three of his four attempts of success in the Flandrien classic, and had his best result in 2020 when he finished second, albeit outsprinted by Mathieu van der Poel to the line - a scenario that could realistically happen once again today.

“The strong point of our team is our breadth. Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar may be stronger uphill, but we have a strong team to match," he said. The Dutch team lacks Dylan van Baarle who could be a very valuable weapon however it nevertheless has a very strong lineup with several strong riders.

Among them are Christophe Laporte and Tiesj Benoot who have taken big wins themselves throughout the spring, but also Nathan van Hooydonck who's taken another leap this year and become a candidate for victories himself. The Dutch team won't have an easy time against the quality rivals they face, but they still hope to be able to use their depth to their advantage.