Bullet through church: Wout van Aert starts in Paris-Roubaix | cycling

Only after Roubaix will they look at Jumbo-Visma whether Van Aert will also add Liège-Bastogne-Liège to its program. He will not be there on Thursday afternoon when his teammates explore the final of the 119th edition of Paris-Roubaix, but he will join them on Sunday, at the start in Compiègne.

Van Aert is staying in sunnier places for a while, where he has been improving his condition for a while. That he cannot participate in the reconnaissance is obviously a loss, but given the circumstances it was the only possible option. Last Tuesday, after a corona infection just before the Tour of Flanders, he received permission to resume the training sessions. The medical management of Jumbo-Visma follows him very closely. All values ​​and physical parameters have been thoroughly analyzed for days.

Loss of shape

The decision to let Van Aert start is accompanied by the long training that he only recently completed. It approached the race duration of a race like Roubaix and there was not a single speck in the air. That instilled the necessary confidence within the team, giving Van Aert a place in the seven-man selection for Paris-Roubaix. He will not get the role of absolute leader this time. By being in isolation for a week and only then being able to gradually boost the training rhythm again, there is indeed a loss of form at Van Aert. That is why Jumbo-Visma opts to fully utilize the breadth of the selection. Riders such as Teunissen, Laporte, Van Hooydonck and Roosen will start on an equal footing with Van Aert on Sunday and may take their chance.

Jumbo-Visma did not happen overnight. Every possible risk was tested until all possible obstacles could be ticked off one by one. The health of the Belgian champion is given absolute priority. The team takes it for granted that Van Aert will not have his very best legs. Only after Roubaix will there be a new evaluation and then it will have to be seen what the rest of his program will look like. That he also race Liège-Bastogne-Liège next week is an option at the moment, but that will depend on how he survives Hell.

Source: The newspapaer