“I became a cyclist to race,” says Van Aert ahead of E3, Visma | Lease a Bike is ambitious with Kooij as well

Van Aert is back from a high-altitude training camp on Mount Teide in Tenerife, where he trained hard with Tiesj Benoot and Wilco Kelderman to sharpen his form—still not quite at 100% after spending the winter recovering from his crash at the 2024 Vuelta a España. The Belgian faced criticism for skipping the Italian spring races and disappearing from the radar after the opening weekend. It’s the same prep as last year, when he finished third in the E3.

“We had a good and productive training camp in Tenerife, but in the end, I became a cyclist to race,” Van Aert said. “I’m really looking forward to pinning on a race number again. The E3 Saxo Classic is one of my favorite races, and I’m proud to have won it twice already,” he said, referring to his victories in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, Mathieu van der Poel was simply too strong—helped by the fact that Van Aert crashed.

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In addition to Wout van Aert, Visma | Lease a Bike has several strong cards to play. Christophe Laporte is out due to a nasty virus, but Paris–Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson will be at the start, along with Dylan van Baarle, Tiesj Benoot, Edoardo Affini, Per Strand Hagenes, and Tosh Van der Sande. “The E3 Saxo Classic is a beautiful race that covers much of the same course as the Tour of Flanders,” said sports director Grischa Niermann. “It’s often seen as a kind of dress rehearsal. For us, it will be interesting to see how Wout and Tiesj are feeling after their altitude training camp.”

That’s also a bit of an unknown for Van Aert himself. “That’s always a bit of a wait-and-see in your first race after altitude. You saw that last year in the E3 Saxo Classic too. But we have a strong, well-rounded team, especially with Matteo, who showed some really great things at Paris–Nice,” said the Belgian. “We’re not the favorites,” added Niermann, “but we need to take advantage of our team depth. We’re going to do everything we can to still be there with as many riders as possible in the final.”

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After the E3, Wout van Aert will not ride Gent–Wevelgem, which means the role of team leader will fall to Olav Kooij. At Visma | Lease a Bike, the hope is for a sprint finish. “Olav has shown that he’s taken another step this winter when it comes to racing the classics. He deserves our full support in Gent–Wevelgem. We’re aiming for a sprint with Olav, but in this race, it’s always a tactical battle between attackers and sprinters. So a bunch sprint is never guaranteed, but we’ll do everything we can to guide Olav to the finish.”

With Benoot and Van der Sande once again on the squad, and joined by Loe van Belle, Dan McLay, Victor Campenaerts, and Julien Vermote, Kooij will have a full-fledged sprint team around him on Sunday. “I think it’s a beautiful race,” said Kooij. “Especially the edition Christophe Laporte won for us—it was brilliant thanks to our great teamwork. For us, it’s crucial to be alert in the hill zone and then assess the race situation as we head toward Wevelgem. Hopefully, we can create a scenario where we can fight for the win.”

Wout van Aert
Matteo Jorgenson
Dylan van Baarle
Tiesj Benoot
Edoardo Affini
Per Strand Hagenes
Tosh Van der Sande

Olav Kooij
Tiesj Benoot
Tosh Van der Sande
Loe van Belle
Dan Mclay
Victor Campenaerts
Julien Vermote