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Wout van Aert continues to be on monitor to guide the Belgian choice on the upcoming UEC Highway European Championships regardless of a current sickness, nationwide coach Sven Vanthourenhout has mentioned.
The 29-year-old missed out on a Tremendous 8 Traditional showdown with Mathieu van der Poel on the weekend after his Jumbo-Visma staff introduced he was “not fully match”, lacking a number of days of coaching within the course of earlier than returning on Sunday.
Van Aert will tackle each the time trial (September 20) and highway race (September 24) on the European Championships within the Netherlands, sharing co-leadership of the Belgian choice with Arnaud De Lie on the latter.
“Wout stayed off the bike for a day or two. These weren’t essential coaching days however, in fact, sickness isn’t the perfect situation. Restoration at all times makes use of up power,” Vanthourenhout informed Het Nieuwsblad.
“I anticipate Wout to be match. I do know he was in a position to do what he needed to when it comes to coaching for the highway race and time trial.”
The 42-year-old coach mentioned that his preparation for the race will not be as “intense” because it was for final month’s UCI Highway World Championships in Glasgow, the place he took second within the highway race and fifth within the time trial.
Nonetheless, after Van Aert received a stage and the general on the Jumbo-Visma-dominated Tour of Britain earlier this month, Vanthourenhout is not involved about his type.
“He hasn’t had the identical intense preparation as for the World Championships, however he ought to actually be aggressive,” Vanthourenhout mentioned. “I do not wish to be detrimental – I have a look at the Tour of Britain the place he was in good condition and mentally contemporary.”
The highway race, which runs for 200km from Assen to the Col du VAM, taking in seven ascents of the hill, ought to lead to a decreased bunch dash, mentioned Vanthourenhout. He famous that his two leaders, Van Aert and De Lie, must be well-suited to the route, saying that having a pair of co-leaders will solely assist Belgium’s possibilities of success.
“We explored the run-in to the native laps,” he mentioned. “We’ll have a nervous and chaotic race the place having two leaders solely provides worth. We’ll see a really thinned-out group and I do not anticipate a dash of greater than 10 or 15. Hopefully, there shall be two of us there.
“A selection will at all times be made which may’t be estimated upfront. I’ve a transparent concept about the place the playing cards lie in the mean time, however the race can at all times determine otherwise. We’ll make a very good settlement between two trustworthy guys who know that they may typically journey championships collectively in future.”
Van Aert and De Lie head up an eight-man choice for the highway race, with Jasper De Buyst, Tim Declercq, Yves Lampaert, Jasper Stuyven, Edward Theuns, and Florian Vermeersch additionally beginning.
Van Aert and Lampaert may also tackle the 29.5km time trial in Emmen, whereas Lotte Kopecky leads the Belgium girls’s groups for each the time trial and highway race.
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