After missing the Tour of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race and a suspended campaign in COVID-19, Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) will make his unscheduled debut in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday. Van Aert, who previewed the course on Thursday, said in an interview published in Het Nieuwsblad, "I only have a small chance to win."

Van Aert was among a large group of men and women who took advantage of the route preview, especially on the final Côte de la Roche aux Faucons climb and descent to the Liège finish, and the Côte de la Redoute, which makes the race uphill with 29.4 km to go for racers.

"I give myself a small chance to win and a big chance to get a good result," Van Aert said of the route.

Jumbo Visma will be without 2020 Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Primoš Roglic. Slovenian Roglic led the La Doyenne team along with Thijs Benoot, who trained with the team in sunny Belgium.

Van Aert had to change bikes at the foot of the Haute-Louvet and explained that he wanted to try a different handlebar.

"I was a bit shocked when I realized that the roads in Walloon were even worse than those in Flanders," Van Aart said. 'I already knew the climb, and I knew the order.'

"It was tricky scouting, but I already knew that. I train here a lot. The most interesting part was the descent to the finish. I didn't know that yet. It's a beautiful finish. You arrive right after that descent. If you're not at the top of the Roche aux Faucons, there's no way you can turn back."

VanArt knows the race will be broken up by the final climb and hopes to hang on. 'Usually the race explodes there,' he said. But of course you have to get there. It's hard to keep up."

He rode La Redoute to test his legs after finishing second behind Dylan Van Baar (Ineos) in Paris-Roubaix last weekend.

"That climb suited me today," he said. But on Sunday, after all those kilometers on the counter, I might not have been able to climb more. But I was able to recover from that. No more corona infection. After Roubaix, I rested for two days. On Wednesday and today I finished two workouts to stay in condition."

After winning Milano-San Remo in 2020, Van Aert has finished in the top 10 in every monument he has started and finished second in the Tour of Flanders and last weekend in Paris-Roubaix.

Van Aert called his debut in Liège-Bastogne-Liège a "good opportunity" and noted the importance of getting to know the Ardennes Classics. He added: "The fact that I've already run here will be good for the future. I believe I can do something here, otherwise I wouldn't start."