Team Ineos became the latest team to be affected by early season health problems before Saturday's Omloop Het Niusbrod.

Philippe Gilbert (Lot Soudal) also missed a week of training before the Volta ao Algarve, admitting that he is not in the best shape.

Van der Pol made his 2020 road debut at the Volta Ao Algarve after dominating the cyclocross season. However, he was revealed to be suffering from the flu and high fever on Wednesday night, and his team announced his absence, posting on Instagram that members of the race. Van der Pol will now return to racing at Strade Bianche and will then target the Cobbled Classic.

The adaptable Leonardo Basso will join the team, supporting Ben Swift, Gianni Moscon, Owain Doull, Luke Rowe, Chris Lawless, and two-time Omloop Het Newsblad winner Ian Stannard. Honatan Narvaez will replace Moscon in Sunday's Kuhne Brussel Kuhne.

Juan Barre was expected to be one of the leaders of Team Ineos on the opening weekend in Belgium after starting the 2020 season strong in Australia. However, he failed to get off to a good start at the Volta ao Algarve and needed more training before returning to racing.

"I'm okay now, but I'm not ready to race yet," van Baarle told the Dutch website WielerFlits. 'I didn't make a serious effort this past week. I need a few training sessions to remedy that, and I have some important races coming up."

Van Baar's next race is expected to be Paris-Nice, where he will line up alongside 2019 Tour de France winner Egan Bernal.

Team Ineos already has an opening weekend of racing in Belgium. During a training ride on Thursday, several riders tested their bikes and warm clothing as snow flurried and the cobblestones of Heringen were covered with water.

The wind and rain that has been blowing across northern Europe for the past month will make for a grueling early round of this weekend's Classic. For the past 15 years, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Coure Brussel-Coulomb have been cancelled due to snow, and Coure Brussel-Coulomb was hit by a cyclone in 2010, to name just a few.

The current forecast calls for continued heavy rain and southerly winds, with gusts to 80 km/h and temperatures around 5°C.

Cycling News will provide live coverage of the race in Belgium over the weekend.