With a big block of training at altitude in Tenerife in his legs, Wout van Aert is heading into the heart of the Spring Classics with high aspirations for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. However, he will be without his teammate Christophe Laporte in Friday's warm-up race, the E3 Saxo Classic.
Laporte was at Van Aert's side for his victory in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne last month but felt ill during Milan-San Remo and was forced to abandon on the Capo Berta with just under 40km to go.
"It's a big loss for us. Hopefully, a few days of rest will do him good for the rest of the classics season," Van Aert said.
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Visma-Lease a Bike director sportif Grischa Niermann has been able to get reinforcement for the team, however.
"Even without Christophe, we still have an excellent team at the start," Niermann said about Friday's WorldTour race.
Tiesj Benoot will be back in action at the E3 Saxo Classic after suffering a small fracture in his sacrum in a crash during the Volta ao Algarve.
This season Van Aert is determined to fill in some gaping holes in his impressive palmares, namely the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
To improve on his pair of podiums in Roubaix and single runner-up finish at the Tour of Flanders, Van Aert opted to skip Milan-San Remo and devote three weeks to altitude training, clocking more than 75 hours of training and over 50,000 metres of climbing.
"The last three weeks have gone well," Van Aert said. "I have spent many hours in a quiet and beautiful environment and have completed my entire schedule. Of course, it is always exciting to try something new. I have often responded well to a training camp at altitude. I am confident that it will be the same this time."
After an abbreviated cyclocross campaign, Van Aert raced only two one-day races in Spain and the Volta ao Algarve before the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, but Niermann is hopeful the change was the right decision.
"Wout has not raced many races yet, but he was strong on the opening weekend. We expect him to come back well from his altitude training. After Paris-Roubaix, we will know if we made the right choice," Niermann said.
Van Aert will get some answers at the E3 Saxo Classic.
"E3 is very similar to the Tour of Flanders," Van Aert said. "It's a lovely race. I'm curious to see how strong I am after the altitude training. I have been feeling good all winter and have kept my biggest goals in mind."
Van Aert will skip Gent-Wevelgem this weekend and use Dwars door Vlaanderen as his final race before his key goals at the end of the month.
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