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

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.”

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.