Wout Van Aert took flight after attending the Rabobank sponsorship presentation in the Netherlands but was cautious about whether he could do the same in Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
The Belgian attended an event in Utrecht near Amsterdam as Rabobank confirmed it would return to professional cycling as a key jersey sponsor of the Visma-Lease a Bike team in July.
He then took a private helicopter for a flight to Western Flanders to join his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates for a final training ride and route reconnaissance on Friday.
Van Aert is the standout name on the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad start list and leads Visma-Lease a Bike alongside the USA's Matteo Jorgenson. His rivals include Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep), António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5).
Van Aert will only train at altitude after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and will miss Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo in the hope of peaking for the Spring Classics. His results and plans, plus his long recovery from his Vuelta crash injuries are behind his cautious ambitions for the first race of the season on home turf in Belgium.
"I'm a bit nervous, you can feel a bit of extra tension in everyone. It is also the first race where we race in front of a lot of people," van Aert said at the Rabobank event.
“I feel good. I have been home for a few more days and that was very welcome, I enjoyed it. Now I'm eager to ride the first Flemish Classics.
“I did some easy training at home and did not go looking for a good feeling. The preparation was good, but there are many other riders doing well and at the Opening Weekend there are always riders who stand out."
The Flemish media were concerned when van Aert struggled on his season debut at Clásica Jaén. He also failed to win a stage at the Volta ao Algarve but ended the week in Portugal on a high with second in the final time trial behind teammate Jonas Vingegaard.
"I look back on the first races with satisfaction," Van Aert said.
"The goal was to find an extra percent in those first races and I think I succeeded. I found the confidence and fun and that has pleased me a lot.
"I think after next weekend we will really be able to tell what my level is like. The most important thing is that I felt better every day and took a step forward."
Visma-Lease a Bike named Tiesj Benoot, Edoardo Affini, Per Strand Hagenes, Victor Campenaerts and young British rider Matthew Brennan in their Omloop Het Nieuwsblad squid alongside Van Aert and Jorgenson after losing several riders to injury and illness.
Van Aert, Jorgenson, sprinter Olav Kooij, Benoot, Affini, Loe van Belle and Campenaerts will ride Sunday's Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne race.
Visma-Lease a bike Head of Racing Grischa Niermann was more upbeat and optimistic than his team leader.
"Our goal is to win a race," he said.
"Despite the necessary changes we have had to make in the line-up, we have a very strong team for both days. We have prepared well and are motivated to get a nice result.
"Wout showed in the time trial of the Volta ao Algarve that he is in good shape. Nevertheless, we should not yet expect him to be in absolute top form this weekend. His peak is in late March or early April when the monuments are on the programme. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne are two nice benchmarks."
More is expected of Kooij in Sunday's Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. He won two sprints at the Tour of Oman but then quit last week's UAE Tour before stage 2 due to sickness.
"Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne is decided more often than Omloop in a sprint of a large group," Niermann predicted.
"The past two years we have been able to avoid a sprint but now that Olav is there, we have multiple options.
"Olav likes to ride these races and we think Kuurne is one of the Spring Classics that suits him best."
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