Visma-Lease a Bike released its team schedule for 2024 on Thursday, with Wout van Aert missing the Tour de France for the first time in five years but racing both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana for the first time.
In that handful of Tours, the Belgian won eight stages and the 2022 green points jersey, while finishing in the GC top-20 twice.
Earlier in the month, van Aert won his first cyclocross race of the season on his first try, whipping the field at the Exact Cross round in Essen. After three more cyclocross races but no World Championships, the V-LAB rider will debut on the road February 2 in the Spanish UCI 1.1-rated Clásica Jaén Paraiso. Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Amstel Gold Race and the Giro are along Wout’s route to the Paris Olympic Games Road Race on August 8. V-LAB means to take more than one Grand Tour again this year, as Jonas Vingegaard, champion Sepp Kuss and Brit Ben Tullett will join van Aert at the Vuelta starting August 17.
At van Aert’s first Giro, he’ll race alongside new teammate and compatriot Cian Uijtdebroeks. Tour and Vuelta-bound Sepp Kuss will not race all three Grand Tours like last year, skipping the Giro, where he finished 14th helping Primoz Roglic to his first pink jersey and fourth Grand Tour triumph.
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