Wout van Aert will skip this year's Strade Bianche and will instead make his 2023 season debut at Tirreno-Adriatico.
The Jumbo-Visma rider revealed on Monday that he'd been ill during his altitude training camp on Mount Teide in Tenerife, and is not in the right shape to be competitive at Saturday's Strade Bianche.
Van Aert will still race Tirreno-Adriatico, the week-long stage race that gets underway in Italy next Monday, and will now extend his stay in Tenerife for a couple more days.
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"Unfortunately I was not feeling very well for several days last during the start of my training camp in Tenerife," Van Aert said in a video message from his training camp.
"Fortunately, it wasn't too bad and I felt better shortly after. However, it affected my training."
Van Aert won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on his season debut last year but this time he chose to forgo the Belgian Classics opener in favour of racing Strade Bianche, which he won in 2020, and Tirreno-Adriatico ahead of the main Spring Classics period in late March and early April.
"After taking a break following the Cyclocross World Championships, I again lost a few days in preparation for the season. We decided it's better to stay at altitude so I can reach my best shape possible for Tirreno," Van Aert said.
"We think it's not possible to perform at my best level in Strade Bianche. I want to race to win but that isn't possible for now. I need a bit more time, but sometimes changing the plans is necessary. That's how things are."
Van Aert indicated that this was only a minor setback and that he remains on track for Milan-San Remo on March 18 followed by the cobbled Classics, where he's looking to add the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix to his palmarès after COVID-19 struck him in the middle of last spring.
"For the upcoming Flemish Spring Classics I'm in good spirits," Van Aert concluded.
