E3 Saxo Classic: Wout van Aert eyes third title after 'tried and tested' altitude training
Published 27/03/2025 at 17:09 GMT
Visma-Lease a Bike's Wout van Aert will be out to reclaim his E3 Saxo Classic title when he comes up against the likes of defending champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) on Friday. The two-time winner has taken on a "tried and tested recipe" in preparation for the race, where he has gone through an altitude training camp in Tenerife.
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Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) is pinning his hopes on the "tried and tested recipe" of altitude training as he looks to seal a third E3 Saxo Classic title.
The Belgian has spent three weeks on Mount Teide in Tenerife in preparation for the start of his Spring Classics campaign.
Van Aert, who won the one-day race in 2022 and 2023, will battle Alpecin-Deceuninck rider and 2024 champion Mathieu van der Poel in a bid to reclaim the crown.
"We had a good and nice training camp in Tenerife, but of course, as a cyclist, what you want most of all is racing," he said ahead of the race on March 28 - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
"I'm really looking forward to pinning on a race number once again. There's always a bit of a wait-and-see in such a first race after an altitude camp. You saw that last year in the E3 Saxo Classic as well.
"But we have a strong team, including Matteo Jorgenson, who showed great things in Paris-Nice."
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He added: "The E3 Saxo Classic is one of my favourite races and I am proud that I have already won it twice."
Van der Poel is in good nick after his altitude training spell in March, before he rode to victory at Milano-Sanremo earlier this month.
Van Aert was absent for that race, as well as Strade Bianche, to focus on his form once he hits the cobbles, while he will also miss Sunday's Gent-Wevelgem.
Visma head of performance Mathieu Heijboer said: "For Wout and for us, it is now a tried and tested recipe.
"He worked hard, but we know he can handle that load. An important condition for this success, and which we as a team always try to fulfil, is that everything is done right."
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The team tried to put a similar plan in place last year, but Van Aert struck trouble in the E3 Saxo Classic before finishing third.
He then crashed out at Dwars door Vlaanderen in a high-speed collision, which ruined the remainder of his spring season.
"That was when we first applied this approach," Heijboer explained. "Unfortunately, we were unable to reap the benefits due to his heavy crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen.
"The only thing that remained and that Wout is now holding on to was the very good feeling after that training camp.
"We will never know what it would have yielded in concrete terms. But he certainly did not forget it. It gave him the necessary motivation to do it again."
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