Championships Wout van Aert was this afternoon presented with his new team, Team Jumbo Visma. That happened in the Netherlands, Veghel, in the headquarters of main sponsor Jumbo. Of Aert posed with his new team mates in the yellow-and-black armour of the WorldTour team. Schaatslegende Sven Kramer, who is also part of the team, was at his side.
In a first interview on the stage showed Of Aert is a happy rider. “This is a relief. It has some feet in the earth had to be up here, but I’m glad that it succeeded. It was nice to immediately be able to connect on a placement in Sant Feliu de Guixols and knowledge to be able to make with the other boys of the team. I felt immediately included and accepted in the group. This feels a bit like a first day of school. But it feels good. They are Jumbo with a lot of details involved. That is new for me. Nice to see that that happens. I feel that I’m here, a big step forward. I have the classics once drove, and felt how important it is to get into the final with as much as possible strong pawns to sit in front. We have a very strong group for the classics, which everyone together can help and assist. Here is something beautiful possible.”
The program Of Aert for the spring looks filled to the brim. He drives successively the track, Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo (for the first time), E3, Gent-Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold Race (also for the first time).
In the edge left team manager Richard Plugge about the case Of Aert still has to run for the labour court, after his breach with Sniper Cycling. “We are not afraid of the judgment of the court,” says Plugge. “We have to leave everything unraveling by our lawyers, and run no risk. We expect us not to like surprises and are quite sure of our case.”
three Belgians
With Maarten Wynants, Floris De Tier and Laurens The Plus signs three other Belgians present in the Team’s Jumbo-Visma. The Plus starts his season in the UAE Tour, and also runs Tirreno-Adriatico and the Walloon classics. Then follows the Giro, which is fully in function of Primoz Roglic. “Because if there is one of us, a large round can win, is he,” says The Plus. “Personally, I get my own chance in the Walloon classics and after the Giro in the shorter rondewerk. For the rest, it is ‘everything for Roglic’.”
