Wout Van Aert will be looking for his first career monumental victory in Saturday's Milan-San Remo. The day before the race, the Jumbo Visma rider said he had several cards up his sleeve, including the possibility of a late-race attack in Poggio.

"It's a dream week to win at Monumento," he said. 'Of course I want to step up and with the legs I have now I need to believe in that. 'Of course I want to step up and with the legwork I have right now, I need to believe in it.

Van Aert includes Amund Grondahl-Janssen (open in new tab), Bert-Jan Lindemann (open in new tab), Paul Martens (open in new tab), Timo Roosen (open in new tab), and Antoine Torhoek (open in new tab) The team will arrive in Milan - San Remo.

Race organizer RCS Sport announced that the route was changed on Friday due to severe thunderstorms that hit Alessandria. This change extended the race distance to 305 km. Organizers had already been forced to change this year's route and set a new inland course after the mayors of 12 towns on the Ligurian coast refused to close their roads during the peak tourist season.

The route avoids the mid-race climb of the Ponte Turchino and the Capi, and descends to the coast in the second half of the race. The final 40 km, including the Cipressa and Poggio climbs, would be the same course as before the descent to San Remo. Van Aert said the attack on Poggio will be the first chance to win the race.

"Milan-San Remo is a really special race, really hard because of the distance. Normally I should be able to handle the climbs a little easier than the fastest sprinters in the world and this will help me or suit me in the final sprint," Van Aert said.

"On the other hand, I have other cards to play. Last year I found that attacking in the poggio still worked and I was able to get away with a small group, it's nice to have more than one option."

Van Aat's revised season is off to a great start with a win in Strade Bianche last Saturday.

Also in third place in Wednesday's Milan-Torino behind Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Caleb Yuan (Lotto Soudal), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Nasser Bouhani (Alcare Samsic) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), who finished third.

Van Aat said he did not think Demare or Ewan were faster than him, but that the final was a failure because he crashed in the last few kilometers, leaving him alone in the lead-out.

"I don't think they were faster," Van Aert recalled of his sprint in Turin. "Going into the last corner, I wasn't in the best position. I wasn't in the best position going into the last corner, but there were two great guys ahead of me, Amundo [Grondahl] and Timo [Roussen]. When I started the sprint I was further away from Demare than I was at the finish, so it was good to see that.

Last year, Van Aert was part of the decisive move to clear Poggio. The lead group led by eventual winner Julian Alaphilippe also included Matteo Trentin, Peter Sagan, and Alejandro Valverde. Van Aert finished sixth from a small group sprint.

He said the most important thing he learned between last year's Milano-Sanremo and this year's Milano-Sanremo on Saturday was to believe he could sprint among the best riders in the world.

"The most important learning point regarding last year was my sprint. 'Last year, I was already pretty good, but I didn't believe in sprinting as a necessary move in the last few kilometers. I thought I had to attack to win. Now, thanks to my other performances in the sprint, I know I can wait for the sprint with more confidence."