Wout van Aert lines up as the favourite for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday with his super team Visma-Lease a bike that aims to win three in a row. The Belgian admitted that with a team as strong as his, there is no reason to hide the fact they won't accept less than a victory.
“With the team we are at the start with, we cannot hide. We must dare to say that we want to win the race twice. However difficult that may be, it must be the ambition. There is little point in hiding," Van Aert said in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad.
Van Aert won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2022, and last year, Dylan van Baarle rode away with the win, with his teammate Christophe Laporte finishing third. The team also dominated Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne last year with a 1-2 finish, with Tiesj Benoot taking the win and Nathan Van Hooydonck in second.
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Van Aert is confident that he has the ability to win from a range of race scenarios, including a sprint finish, but that the aim will be to make the race difficult for the faster sprinters like Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny), who was second in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last year.
"I can sprint, too ... We always want to make the game tough. And it is certainly not the intention to go to the finish with Arnaud De Lie, for example. Is he the favorite? Last year that was a bit more obvious because his run-up to the opening weekend was super strong. I would prefer to get rid of Arnaud before we go to the finish.”
Van Aert doesn't rule out riders like Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates), and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) as the riders to watch on Saturday's 202.2km race between Ghent and Ninove.
“I spontaneously think of Mohoric, Tim Wellens, I saw a strong Pidcock in the Algarve. But there will still be a large number of riders who I don't spontaneously think of right now," Van Aert said.
He also pointed to Julian Alaphilippe leading the Soudal-QuickStep team, suggesting that the Frenchman might have added motivation to perform well after the recent controversy of having been unfairly and publicly criticised by his Soudal-QuickStep boss Patrick Lefevere.
In an interview with Belgian magazine Humo, Lefevere suggested that Alaphilippe's lifestyle was to blame for his difficult seasons. Alaphilippe's partner, Marion Rousse, harshly rebuked Lefevere, stating that his comments were unacceptable.
"Alaphilippe? Why not? I always consider someone with his qualities capable of playing a decisive role, although in recent years, it has been less so in the classics. I don't know whether he will be extra motivated by the recent events. I'm not going to comment on that," Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad.
Van Aert also arrives at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in promising form and early-season confidence, having recently won stage 3 at the Tour of Algarve.
“Gosh, not that that sprint victory did me any special good,” Van Aert said. “It was more the full racing week that gave me confidence. I needed that week to feel how things were going for me.”
Following Opening Weekend's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and his first run at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, Van Aert is scheduled to travel to an altitude training camp but plans to return to racing in late March.
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