Wout van Aert will skip Bretagne Classic to focus on races in Canada

Wout van Aert was initially scheduled to accompany Christophe Laporte, Olav Kooij and Tiesj Benoot at the French one-day race, however in agreement with his Team Visma | Lease a Bike, it was decided that the Belgian star would prioritize preparation for his objectives further down this year and skip Bretagne Classic. It was clear at the Deutschland Tour that Van Aert wasn't at his best, which explains this change of plans.

Instead of racing on Sunday, Van Aert therefore gains two more weeks of uninterrupted training with the GP Québec and GP Montreal as big targets two weeks from now. For the next week, Van Aert also has the Super 8 Classic on his schedule and we can imagine few other races to eventually appear on Van Aert's autumn plans.

After a very busy spring which included a lot of racing in February; a three-week altitude camp; the cobbled classics and the Ardennes up until Amstel Gold Race; the Giro d'Italia; an altitude camp ahead of the Tour de France and the entire Grand Boucle... Then it becomes an understandable choice to end his season early. The Belgian was for several months a possibility for the World Championships, but the course in Rwanda is very mountainous and there were no realistic chances of succeeding in such a race which will feature Tadej Pogacar as the man to beat.

The Belgian is now upping his training towards the Canadian classics which should be his final goals of the season, albeit with strong competition including the World Champion there. In Bretagne, where he has won in the past, the Dutch team will be not be left without chances of winning taking into consideration Kooij's current form - as shown in the Renewi Tour - and Tiesj Benoot's experience in the hilly classics.

The race will still have a very strong list of riders contesting for victory this Sunday, with over 260 kilometers on the menu in the roads of Bretagne. UAE Team Emirates - XRG will have the likes of Isaac del Toro, Jhonatan Narváez, Jan Christen, Brandon McNulty and Tim Wellens; whilst we will have world-class sprinters such as Jonathan Milan, Kaden Groves and Biniam Girmay present. The likes of Arnaud de Lie and Paul Magnier are also set to to be amongs the main favourites for the race.