Van Aert gets luxury trip home and really does seem set to disappoint E3 organisers

Sunday, 22 March 2026 at 11:01

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Wout van Aert flew back home to Belgium in record time on Sunday after Milan-Sanremo. The Van Aert family had travelled to La Primavera, and sponsor Red Bull arranged a luxury trip home following Van Aert's third-place finish in Sanremo. That extra comfort and rest, however, do not appear to be changing anything in his schedule, according to reports in Belgium.

Although Tadej Pogačar won Milan-Sanremo on Saturday, it is Van Aert’s third place that has made major headlines in Belgium. The way he rode in Italy impressed many observers and gave supporters fresh belief heading into the Flemish classics that are now just around the corner.

That is where Van Aert wants to deliver, so his podium finish on the Via Roma was mainly seen as a huge confidence boost. “If Wout had avoided that crash, I would have liked to see how it played out. I really thought he was very strong,” Karl Vannieuwkerke said Sporza.

José De Cauwer, his regular studio partner, shared that positive view after what he saw in northern Italy. “This performance will do him a huge amount of good. A podium in Milan-Sanremo should give him confidence.”

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Will Van Aert really skip E3 after all?

Despite those encouraging legs, Van Aert still seems set to follow a very clear plan through the cobbled spring. According to HLN, Visma | Lease a Bike and their leader are not being tempted into changing the programme they mapped out earlier in the season

That means Van Aert is still not expected to start the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday. The race, which he has already won twice, does not currently feature on his programme. He is instead expected to return to racing on Sunday, 29 March, at Gent-Wevelgem. He will then line up at Dwars door Vlaanderen as his final preparation race for the Tour of Flanders.

Everything is then meant to come together on 12 April on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, one of the major goals of his spring. “I have always said that this season we will look at what is needed from week to week in order to build toward the Monuments,” Van Aert said.

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Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief

Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.

Bram van der Ploeg | Lindkedin | Email

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