After almost a month away from racing, Wout van Aert is set to make his return on Friday at the E3 Saxo Classic as the Belgian Classics star prepares for another tilt at the two cobbled Monuments, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Van Aert, who was last in action winning Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on February 25, has spent much of his time in the interim away on Mount Teide at a Visma-Lease A Bike altitude training camp.
According to the Belgian's Strava account, in Tenerife he clocked up more than 50,000 metres of climbing across more than 75 hours of training.
In one training ride alone, Van Aert climbed over 5,000m and spent over seven hours on the bike. Elsewhere during the trip, he equalled a record set by Miguel Ángel López on the ascent of Granadilla.
Now, he's returning to Belgium and getting back to the racing action at E3 and then Dwars door Vlaanderen (March 27) before the two big ones. He told Het Laatste Nieuws that he's confident in himself and his team following his time away at camp.
"I feel good. The weather was beautiful, training went well, and that gives me confidence," Van Aert said. "It was nice to be able to prepare in peace. We've learned from the past that I always return well from altitude training camps.
"We're also in good shape with the team. Jan Tratnik has started the season very well and he should be even better now. Tiesj Benoot had a difficult start with his crash at the Volta ao Algarve and the camp came just in time for him. He's a hard worker with a good attitude and he's someone I like to have by my side."
Van Aert's time away from racing has seen him miss the WorldTour stage races Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice as well as two major races he's won in the past – Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo.
He doesn't regret missing out on the chance to add more of those titles to his palmarès, however, instead saying that he felt relaxed watching them while at camp.
"We've had a tightly planned schedule that allowed us to race the most important races," he said. "Do I regret not racing there? No, it was decided for a long time that I wouldn't take part. I watched San Remo and I found it relaxing.
"Mathieu [van der Poel] looked very strong. Milan-San Remo is very far removed from the Flemish Classics but it looks like he will 'make the appointment'."
Van Aert, who will face his eternal rival Van der Poel only once before Flanders and Roubaix at E3, said he sees the 'mini-Flanders' as an extension of his altitude camp, noting that one last race at Dwars will give him the chance for a final tune-up ahead of his first major goal of the 2024 road season on home ground at Flanders.
"I fly on Wednesday and race on Friday so you can see E3 as an extension of my altitude camp. Then I will take some days of rest to get the right effect from the camp and go to the Tour of Flanders rested," he said.
"If I had wanted to ride Gent-Wevelgem then I would have had to organise the camp differently. Dwars door Vlaanderen is just the right place to get in one last competition."
Van Aert, who last celebrated his win at E3 by saying "Ik moet just niks" ['I don't need to do anything' – Ed.], also talked about the outside pressure put on him during spring Classics season.
He said that it has been a challenge in the past but added that he realised he shouldn't be trying to race or win to please outsiders or live up to the expectations of others, something he'll carry forward this season.
"I've been feeling less pressure for a whole year than I had in the past. I don't deny that pressure is a challenge to deal with," he said.
"2023 may have been the first time that my season was slightly worse than the year before. Until then I had always done better than expected. That gave me an insight that I shouldn't do it for anyone else other than myself. It gives me a feeling of peace.
"I've worked really hard because I want to win Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. It gives me the energy to go for that. I think I can win them and I've shown in the past that cobbled one-day races are among my specialties. It's a huge goal to add them to my palmarès.
"As I've said, I've also made mistakes in the past year. And, apart from the criticism I receive, not much has changed. It has taught me that when I win I have to enjoy myself with the people who always have my back, that I shouldn't do this to show someone that I can do it or to prove someone wrong."
