After almost a month away from racing, Wout van Aert is set to make his return on Friday at the E3 Saxo Classic as the Belgian Classics star prepares for another tilt at the two cobbled Monuments, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Van Aert, who was last in action winning Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on February 25, has spent much of his time in the interim away on Mount Teide at a Visma-Lease A Bike altitude training camp.
According to the Belgian’s Strava account, in Tenerife he clocked up more than 50,000 metres of climbing across more than 75 hours of training.
In one training ride alone, Van Aert climbed over 5,000m and spent over seven hours on the bike. Elsewhere during the trip, he equalled a record set by Miguel Ángel López on the ascent of Granadilla.
Now, he’s returning to Belgium and getting back to the racing action at E3 and then Dwars door Vlaanderen (March 27) before the two big ones. He told Het Laatste Nieuws that he’s confident in himself and his team following his time away at camp.
“I feel good. The weather was beautiful, training went well, and that gives me confidence,” Van Aert said. “It was nice to be able to prepare in peace. We’ve learned from the past that I always return well from altitude training camps.
“We’re also in good shape with the team. Jan Tratnik has started the season very well and he should be even better now. Tiesj Benoot had a difficult start with his crash at the Volta ao Algarve and the camp came just in time for him. He’s a hard worker with a good attitude and he’s someone I like to have by my side.”
Van Aert’s time away from racing has seen him miss the WorldTour stage races Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice as well as two major races he’s won in the past – Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo.
He doesn’t regret missing out on the chance to add more of those titles to his palmarès, however, instead saying that he felt relaxed watching them while at camp.
“We’ve had a tightly planned schedule that allowed us to race the most important races,” he said. “Do I regret not racing there? No, it was decided for a long time that I wouldn’t take part. I watched San Remo and I found it relaxing.
“Mathieu [van der Poel] looked very strong. Milan-San Remo is very far removed from the Flemish Classics but it looks like he will ‘make the appointment’.”
Van Aert, who will face his eternal rival Van der Poel only once before…
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