Wout van Aert is arguably one of the strongest and seemingly multi-talented riders in the WorldTour peloton but even the Belgian cannot avoid illness and setbacks.
At his best, Van Aert would be a contender in the opening Tirreno-Adriatico time trial, throw himself into the sprint finishes, fight for other stage wins in the Italian hills and maybe even fight for overall victory.
Not this year.
Van Aert was struck by illness after arriving at a key Jumbo-Visma altitude camp in mid-February and has been playing catch-up as he suffered on Mount Teide in Tenerife. That forced him to miss Strade Bianche and turn Tirreno-Adriatico into a final preparation race for the spring Classics.
“I’m good enough to race and I’ll be competitive but I was supposed to start my season at Strade Bianche at 100%. Due to the circumstances, I’ll start racing at Tirreno a bit lower than 100% and I’ll be trying to catch up this week,” Van Aert revealed to Cyclingnews and other media in Italy on Sunday.
“I had five days off after the World Cyclocross Championship, which was of course needed after the cross season. But then, after two days at altitude, I was forced to take another five days off training.
“Adding these two periods of rest together was just too long to maintain the same level of fitness. I did my first quality training ride two weeks after the cyclocross worlds. That was at least one week later than we’d hoped and that’s why we had to change the plan.”
Van Aert’s winter base training and his cyclocross season meant he did not have to start from zero, even if it felt like it.
“For a few rides, it felt like I was back to zero but luckily my form came back faster than normal in the winter period. It’s a setback, with really bad timing but sometimes things make you stronger, you learn from it and you try to get better,” he explained, not overly concerned and hoping his slowed start to his 2023 road season could be a blessing in disguise.
“I was disappointed after the cyclocross worlds and my illness but after a few days, I got up again and restarted.
“There’s no reason to panic because it will not help me. It’s always important to make new plans when it’s necessary and that’s what we did. I stayed an extra week at altitude instead of tapering for Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico. In fact, I didn’t really taper, I just trained until yesterday, when I had the flight here.
“I hope that after Paris-Roubaix I can tell you that it was a good thing, but for now it’s about trying to focus on what I’m doing day by day and get ready. Maybe not everybody believes me when I say Tirreno is now a training race but it’s true. Now I just have to wait how I feel.”
Van Aert’s main goal for the spring is to win a monument: a second Milan-San Remo would be nice but the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix or perhaps even both are his and Jumbo-Visma’s major goal for the spring.
“This is a really big team goal for us,” Van Aert confirmed.
“That’s why I was so happy to see the strength of the guys last weekend in Belgium. We’re a strong team.”
Van Aert didn’t see much of Tom Pidcock’s solo victory at Strade Bianche because he was on a plane from Tenerife to Italy. His setback means he was unable to ride the Italian Classic or taper for his race debut as he usually would.
Monday’s opening time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico will be a first blowout and a shakedown for the major containers. Van Aert indicated he will not contest the expected sprints on stage 2 in Follinca and stage 3 in Foligno.
“I think I’ll focus on the second part of the week and use the first three days to get in the race,” he said, explaining to Cyclingnews how he can feel the benefits of more-oxygenated air at sea level but that he will need time to adapt to racing.”
Van Aert is part of a powerful Jumbo-Visma team that includes Primoz Roglic, who is also returning to racing after his winter shoulder operation and long rehabilitation. Wilco Kelderman and Tiesj Benoot are the designated Jumbo-Visma team leaders for Tirreno-Adriatico.
“We had a meeting this morning about who was supposed to come to the top riders’ press conference because we couldn’t go with the whole team. Unfortunately, I was the guy who had to come,” Van Aert joked, tongue-in-cheek.
“I think we have a few guys who can target the GC. For sure Wilco has had a really good preparation and I think Tiesj is showing good form too. Primoz is a last-minute addition to the team. He’s here without pressure but you never know with him he can surprise even us.”
“Besides all the riders just mentioned, we also have super strong domestics. I’ll also do what I can, as will Dylan van Baarle, who is also preparing for the Classics. I hope to improve in the opening days and to have a nice result in the stages near the end of the week.
“I believe we will be strong enough to combine all these goals. It’s important to have a plan for the race; pick the stages where you want to go for a result and dig deep. That’s what you need to improve your form.”