Wout van Aert takes Tirreno time trial ‘relaxed’: “I want to compete for stage wins later in the week”

Wout van Aert didn’t go all out in the time trial on day one of Tirreno-Adriatico, and for the Visma | Lease a Bike rider, that was a deliberate choice. He aims to make his mark later in the stage race.

Van Aert started very early but didn’t have to sit on the ‘hot seat’ for a second, as Tobias Halland Johannessen was even faster. "Today, the plan was to take it ‘easy’ anyway. We mainly wanted to see this as a good warm-up for the rest of the week. That went perfectly. After Strade Bianche, the feeling was good; it’s something I can build on," he told VTM.

So, what are Van Aert’s concrete ambitions for the upcoming Tirreno-Adriatico? "It’s a super tough week with many challenging stages. In a few stages, I want to fight for the stage wins myself, that would be really nice. And with Matteo Jorgenson, we aim for a strong general classification result. It promises to be a great week," the Kempen rider said enthusiastically.

Starting on Tuesday. "There will be a nice stage right away, with the gravel sections at the end it will be quite tough. I’m looking forward to it. During the reconnaissance, the gravel was very loose; I’m curious if they’ll do anything about it by then."