Wout van Aert traces up because the favorite for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday together with his tremendous workforce Visma-Lease, a motorbike that goals to win three in a row. The Belgian admitted that with a workforce as sturdy as his, there isn’t any purpose to cover the very fact they will not settle for lower than a victory.
“With the workforce we’re at first with, we can’t disguise. We should dare to say that we need to win the race twice. Nevertheless troublesome which may be, it should be the ambition. There’s little level in hiding,” Van Aert mentioned in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad.
Van Aert received Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2022, and final yr, Dylan van Baarle rode away with the win, together with his teammate Christophe Laporte ending third. The workforce additionally dominated Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne final yr with a 1-2 end, with Tiesj Benoot taking the win and Nathan Van Hooydonck in second.
Van Aert is assured that he has the power to win from a spread of race situations, together with a dash end, however that the intention will likely be to make the race troublesome for the quicker sprinters like Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny), who was second in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad final yr.
“I can dash, too … We all the time need to make the sport powerful. And it’s actually not the intention to go to the end with Arnaud De Lie, for instance. Is he the favourite? Final yr that was a bit extra apparent as a result of his run-up to the opening weekend was tremendous sturdy. I would favor to eliminate Arnaud earlier than we go to the end.”
Van Aert would not rule out riders like Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), Tim Wellens (UAE Workforce Emirates), and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) because the riders to observe on Saturday’s 202.2km race between Ghent and Ninove.
“I spontaneously consider Mohoric, Tim Wellens, I noticed a powerful Pidcock within the Algarve. However there’ll nonetheless be numerous riders who I do not spontaneously consider proper now,” Van Aert mentioned.
He additionally pointed to Julian Alaphilippe main the Soudal-QuickStep workforce, suggesting that the Frenchman may need added motivation to carry out properly after the latest controversy of getting been unfairly and publicly criticised by his Soudal-QuickStep boss Patrick Lefevere.
In an interview with Belgian journal Humo, Lefevere advised that Alaphilippe’s life-style was accountable for his troublesome seasons. Alaphilippe’s accomplice, Marion Rousse, harshly rebuked Lefevere, stating that his feedback had been unacceptable.
“Alaphilippe? Why not? I all the time take into account somebody together with his qualities able to enjoying a decisive function, though lately, it has been much less so within the classics. I do not know whether or not he will likely be further motivated by the latest occasions. I am not going to touch upon that,” Van Aert instructed Het Nieuwsblad.
Van Aert additionally arrives at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in promising type and early-season confidence, having just lately received stage 3 on the Tour of Algarve.
“Gosh, not that that dash victory did me any particular good,” Van Aert mentioned. “It was extra the complete racing week that gave me confidence. I wanted that week to really feel how issues had been going for me.”
Following Opening Weekend‘s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and his first run at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, Van Aert is scheduled to journey to an altitude coaching camp however plans to return to racing in late March.
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