Wout van Aert's unusual preparation for Tour de France - "The main goal is for him to be in the Tour as best as possible and we think that will work very well this way"

Wout van Aert is currently preparing for the Tour de France and the World Championships, and is run-up to the race includes an extra altitude camp at 3000 meters where he looks to bring in benefits that'll take him to an even higher level this summer.

"It's certainly not ideal, but in the end they've been able to do everything they had to do so far, albeit in poor conditions," Jumbo-Visma coach Mathieu Heijboer told In de Leiderstrui. "Of course we monitor every day how the training is experienced, because the load on the body is somewhat higher due to those bad conditions. They were able to train, but with a raincoat on, instead of sunscreen."

Alongside Wilco Kelderman, the Belgian is currently in the Alps before coming down towards the Tour de Suisse. Van Aert was, alongside the majority of the Tour de France block, training at altitude recently in Tenerife but as most of the team travelled to the Criterium du Dauphiné, van Aert had an extra week in the meantime before Suisse. With Steven Kruijswijk seriously injured, Wilco Kelderman who was first reserve is now also set to join him at both races. The two face tough weather conditions and snow high up in the mountains.

"That is different for every rider. One can handle it better than the other and with one the physiology of the body is more resistant to cold conditions than the other. Of course you have different adaptations in terms of the heat, in that respect it is a disadvantage towards the Tour," Heijboer continued. "Imagine that it will soon be very hot in the Tour, then you will now miss that heat adaptation in the run-up to it. We can still anticipate this a bit with other forms of training. If you ride in the rain every day, as in the Giro, it is also mentally more difficult. You have to be even more alert than in normal circumstances. But quantifying that is difficult, because it is different for every rider."

All however is in the name of performance. Van Aert is chasing stages and helping Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour this year, most likely not focusing on the green jersey he won last year. This is because the World Championships in Glasgow take place early this year, and come only two weeks after the finale of the Tour. He will look to race the Tour conservatively, however there is little conservatism leading up to it.

"You see in advance how good or how bad it is. In the end it wasn't so bad that they couldn't carry out their training sessions and the weather is not good in all of Europe, except in Belgium and the Netherlands at the moment. Furthermore, with Wout and Wilco, we wanted to have that extra height stimulus at 3,000 meters and that is not arranged elsewhere."

After this week at high altitude the duo will come down and race the eight-day stage race which will feature quite a few days in the mountains. This alongside the different lead-up to the Tour is part of the Belgian's plan to spice things up. "Yes, there is definitely an idea behind it. Wout is someone who likes to seek out new challenges and circumstances. He is not motivated by the same pattern every year, so he indicated at an early stage that he would like to do the Tour, but that he would like to do the preparation differently."

"He has already been at 3,000 meters in 2021, in the run-up to the World Championships in Belgium and he wanted to repeat that. Also for that extra height stimulus towards the Tour, but also because he still wants to perform well at the World Championships after the Tour," Jumbo's coach concludes. "His altitude training has therefore been extended by a week and that is in good consultation. We always look very closely at how it fits into the overall picture. The main goal is for him to be in the Tour as best as possible and we think that will work very well this way."