Wout van Aert on season debut at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: "We start with ambition"

Wout Van Aert is starting his season this weekend at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad after three weeks of altitude training in Tenerife. Talking about his ambitions, he eyes the races later in the sprint, however does not discard a possible win.

"A lot depends on the course. If we race like last year and a large group goes to the finish, we have chances," van Aert said in an interview with WielerFlits.

"My goals are later. I have opted for a broader base, in the hope that after the first races there will be some explosiveness, so that I will be at my best at Milano-Sanremo".

Van Aert will be starting off his season in Belgium and is facing many of the riders that he will be competing with at Tour des Flandres and Paris-Roubaix, his main goals in the early season.

"Guys who have already had two smaller stage-races in their legs will have a little advantage in the opening weekend, I think. The effect of our altitude camp will come a little later and should give us that little bit extra later on. Omloop is more of a test for us to see how we can race together," the Belgian added.

Van Aert has made it clear the Omloop is not a big goal for him, however he will not ignore the opportunity to get a big win: "Of course we want to get a result. We start with ambition, but absolutely not with the knife on the throat that it should be bingo right away. Omloop is a special race. Last year a large group rode to the finish [where Davide Ballerini took the win]."

"If that is also the case this year, then I assume that we will still be there with a number of guys and we will still be able to take a shot at winning. If it turns into a battle field, we might be just that little bit short," he completed.