Wout Van Aert will kick off his Belgian Spring Classics campaign with the E3 Saxo Bank Classic on Friday.

The E3 Saxo Bank Classic will be an important test race in preparation for next week's Tour de Flanders. Jumbo Visma will be looking for success and fine-tuning tactics and team cohesion around van Aert before the biggest races of the spring, the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Tiesj Benoot, who suffered a knee injury in Strade Bianche, has returned to the Jumbo Visma Classic roster. Although he missed Tirreno-Adriatico, he is an essential rider for Jumbo Visma's race tactics since the E3 Saxo Bank Classic.

Christophe Laporte, faithful domestique Nathan Van Hooydonk, Italian ruler Edoardo Affini, Mike Tunissen, and Tosh Van der Sande also make up the seven riders. The same riders will head to Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday, with only Timo Roussen replacing Van der Sande.

Van Aert won the 2021 Ghent-Wevelgem and Amstel Gold Race, but only finished 11th in the 2021 E3 Saxo Bank Classic after Caspar Asgreen and Dečuninck-Quickstep dominated the race.

This year, the Belgian team was hit by illness and injury, and Jambovisma signed Benoot and Laporte to bolster his team for the Classic.

Van Aert finished sixth in the Tour de Flanders and seventh in Paris-Roubaix at the end of the season. Rival Mathieu Van der Pol (Alpecin-Phoenix) will return to the Classics after overcoming a back injury, but hopes that a stronger team and a more selective race calendar will give him a better chance in the Monument Classics.

With a strengthened Jumbo-Visma team, Van Aert won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and was part of the 1-2-3 with Laporte and Primoš Roglic in Paris-Nice, winning the time trial and helping the Slovenians win the overall.

"Spring is always short and chances are few," Van Aert told Sporza early in the season.

"I plan to peak a little later than last year. In the spring I want to take the next step and win at Monumento. I have already won Milan-San Remo. I'm especially looking forward to the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix."

The E3 Saxo Bank Classic will show if Van Aert can win big.