Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) tempered expectations for his performance in next weekend's opening weekend, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, saying he will delay his peak until April, when he aims for his first wins in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

The Belgian, who is currently at a training camp in Tenerife, spoke to the media via video call and confirmed that he will start the road season next week in his home town, but that his goals go much further.

"Spring is always short and the opportunities are few," he said. I plan to peak a little later than last year." There is Omloop coming up soon. After Paris-Nice and from Tirreno, I want to be at my best."

The Tour de Flanders has been a longtime goal of Van Aert's, and in 2020, his longtime rival Mathieu Van der Pol (Alpecin-Phoenix) outpaced him in the two-up sprint at that race in October. That year, Van Aert took his first monumental win in Milan-San Remo, and he hopes to take at least one more this year.

"In the spring I want to take the next step and try for the Monument win," Van Aert said. 'I've already won Milan-San Remo. I'm especially looking forward to the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix."

While Van Aert is in Tenerife, Van der Poel is in Spain. The Dutchman, who ended his cyclocross season early with a back problem, has been training hard and on Friday he rode 180 km in over 6 hours, increasing his weekly mileage so far to over 700 km.

Van Aal was hoping that van der Pol would return to the top spot with the same race goal.

"I think he can definitely have a good run later in the spring," Van Aart said of the Dutchman.

"He's got a tough ride. He's riding tough. We need Mathieu in the race. I was a little nervous about whether he would be able to get back up to his level. I can't make good guesses about his preparation or injuries, but I'm keeping in mind that we'll see him on the Classics stage."

Jumbo Visma strengthened his team for the Classic, adding Tiesj Benoot, Tosh Van der Sande, and Rohan Dennis, solidifying Van Art with top-class talent.

"Of course we were strengthened. Of course we have strengthened. We have worked hard this winter to get better as a group. We've already had a lot of meetings about spring and we've trained a lot together.

"Most of us have also attended the camp in Tenerife. We are going to go to the finals with more members. That wasn't the case before. Being isolated so far from the finish always makes the race more difficult."