Wout van Aert to support Kooij in Tour of Britain sprints and fight for GC "with Tom Pidcock and Carlos Rodríguez"

The Tour of Britain begins today towards Manchester and Wout van Aert returns to competition. The eight days of racing will serve for him to gather form into his late season goals, but he will also pursuit team work and results.

“There are several sprint stages and then it is normal that I will ride for Olav," van Aert said in a video shared by Jumbo-Visma. The race features six consecutive stages which should end in bunch sprints and this will be a treat for the fast men. "It's new to me and different from sprinting myself. I have some experience in bunch sprints and therefore know how hectic it can be. Hopefully I do well and can put Olav in a good position.”

He will be helping the Dutchman to success throughout the sprints, but possibly aiming for one or two depending on the situation. However after those days the Belgian, who will be racing the European Championships in seek of a victory, he will have two hilly days where he hopes to strike.

Stages 7 and 8 of the race will feature quite a few climbs and will be an accurate test to his form. There he will hope to also contest the overall classification and he has two names pointed out as his most likely rivals on the road and that is the home team INEOS Grenadiers: “With Tom Pidcock and Carlos Rodríguez, they have two strong pawns for the climbs."