Wout van Aert will skip Gent-Wevelgem in preparation for his major goals this year!

Wout van Aert will not participate in Gent-Wevelgem this season. The Belgian rider from Visma | Lease a Bike is currently at an altitude training camp in Tenerife and will resume racing at the E3 Saxo Classic, but he will not line up for Gent-Wevelgem two days later. His team confirmed this upon request.

The provisional entry list for Visma | Lease a Bike at Gent-Wevelgem includes defending champion Christophe Laporte, who crossed the finish line with Van Aert last year, along with Tiesj Benoot and Olav Kooij. Per Strand Hagenes, Tosh Van der Sande, Mick, and Tim van Dijke are also listed as participants.

Visma | Lease a Bike has stated that the Belgian leader will indeed skip the race, which he won back in 2021. However, he will be back in action at Dwars door Vlaanderen the following Wednesday, before focusing on his main objectives: the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Van Aert is confident in his approach

Speaking from Tenerife, he shared his thoughts. "I just hope to make a final step forward by racing a few events and focusing on recovering as well as possible each time. I've often found it challenging to maintain my top condition, especially over a longer period. Now, I'm about to start a final major training block and will soon shift to racing, much closer to my key objectives."

"So, this is indeed a completely different approach. It will be much more through training that I aim to be ready for the biggest races," said Van Aert. "During a training camp, you can control the stimuli you're exposed to much more. Especially at an altitude camp, I've always had very good experiences, so I feel confident about it," he explained via his team's channels.