Wout van Aert strains up because the favorite for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday together with his tremendous workforce Visma-Lease, a motorcycle that goals to win three in a row. The Belgian admitted that with a workforce as robust as his, there is no such thing as a 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 not cover. We should dare to say that we wish to win the race twice. Nonetheless tough which may be, it have to be the ambition. There may be little level in hiding,” Van Aert mentioned in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad.
Van Aert received Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2022, and final 12 months, Dylan van Baarle rode away with the win, together with his teammate Christophe Laporte ending third. The workforce additionally dominated Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne final 12 months 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 variety of race situations, together with a dash end, however that the goal might be to make the race tough for the sooner sprinters like Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny), who was second in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad final 12 months.
“I can dash, too … We all the time wish to make the sport robust. And it’s definitely not the intention to go to the end with Arnaud De Lie, for instance. Is he the favourite? Final 12 months that was a bit extra apparent as a result of his run-up to the opening weekend was tremendous robust. I would like to do away with Arnaud earlier than we go to the end.”
Van Aert does not rule out riders like Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), Tim Wellens (UAE Crew 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 robust 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 effectively after the current controversy of getting been unfairly and publicly criticised by his Soudal-QuickStep boss Patrick Lefevere.
In an interview with Belgian journal Humo, Lefevere urged that Alaphilippe’s life-style was in charge for his tough seasons. Alaphilippe’s associate, Marion Rousse, harshly rebuked Lefevere, stating that his feedback have been unacceptable.
“Alaphilippe? Why not? I all the time contemplate somebody together with his qualities able to taking part in a decisive position, though lately, it has been much less so within the classics. I do not know whether or not he might be further motivated by the current 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 not too long ago 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 total racing week that gave me confidence. I wanted that week to really feel how issues have 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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