After missing the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday, Classics star Wout van Aert has started In Flanders Fields on Sunday in a notably upbeat mood, insisting that he "wants to put up a fight" for a repeat victory in a race he won in 2021.
Second in 2023 when he allowed Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Christophe Laporte to clinch the win in the race then known as Gent-Wevelgem after their two-up break, Van Aert told Sporza on Sunday morning at the In Flanders Field start that the race is traditionally one which "always goes either way." A breakaway could take the victory in Wevelgem on Sunday afternoon, in other words, or it could end up in some kind of sprint.
Despite the spectacularly close victory for arch-rival Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) on Friday in the E3 Saxo Classic, Van Aert said he did not rue not taking part. Rather he preferred to rest up following his promising third place finish in Milan-San Remo the weekend before.
"No, I wasn't disappointed - just for my teammate Per (Strand Hagenes), who just missed out on the win."
"Just like all of Flanders, I was watching the race on TV. But you make choices, and then you look at the race in a different way."
Van Aert explained that he would be forming part of a two-pronged plan at Gent-Wevelgem, his first major Belgian Classic of the season after illness forced him out of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. At the same time, Visma-Lease a Bike have a second option with speed machine Matthew Brennan, winner of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne - a race with a similar profile to In Flanders Fields - back in early March.
"There are a lot of things that can happen between the start and the finish, Gent-Wevelgem is a race that can always go either way, although nowadays the breakaway riders often come out on top," Van Aert warned.
"In any case, I want to put up a fight." As for Brennan, he added that, "It would be logical for him to speculate on the sprint and for me to make the race."
Meanwhile E3 winner Van der Poel told Sporza that he will likely race quite defensively in his bid to win In Flanders Fields, one of the few cobbled Classics he has yet to conquer.
As he put it, after his breakaway bid nearly unravelled on Friday, he is opting for a more conservative mode 48 hours later, although - like Van Aert and Brennan - Alpecin-Premier Tech also have Jasper Philipsen as a major second option for the race.
"We share the leadership. We both have a chance to win this race. It will become clear which card we play during or after the hilly section," Van der Poel concluded.
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