Annemieke van Flugten (Mitchelton-Scott) has made the spring classics an important first objective in her three-pronged approach to the 2020 season race calendar.

The road racing world champion will wear the new rainbow jersey for the first time at this month's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and has set his sights specifically on April's Tour de Flanders.

"I really like the classics, the style of racing and it's always hard," Van Vleuten said of his race program.

"I'm usually a slow starter in the spring classics, but this time I think I'll be ready for the Nuusblad and I want to keep it that way.

Mitchelton-Scott revealed that Van Vleuten will defend his title at the Strade Bianche on March 7, followed by the Doire de Hlaanderen on April 1 and the Tour of Flanders on April 5. He will then take on the Amstel Gold Race on April 19, Flèche Wallonne on April 22, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (which he won last year) on April 26, followed by the Ardennes Classics.

"All of these races are perfect for me, I don't particularly like the weather, but I can deal with it," Van Vleuten said. There aren't many races, but the one I'm doing now is really the one I'm aiming for." [I'm really looking forward to racing with them again this year because we came so close a couple of times last year, and if we finish second, we have a good chance of winning.

"As a champion, I'm proud to wear the rainbow jersey in a race, and of course if I can wear the jersey and win, that's very special.

Last year, Van Vleuten started the season with a serious knee injury suffered in a crash at the 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck. Despite a long recovery process, she made a huge comeback to win Strade Bianche last March, followed by back-to-back second places in the Tour de Flanders, Amstel Gold Race, and Flèche Wallonne, and closed out her classic campaign with a victory in Liège-Bastonge-Liège.

"I think this preseason has been the best preparation I've had in the last five or six years. I think this preseason was the best preparation I've had in the last five or six years. [Happy, relaxed, had a vacation, and then the training went very well, especially the two trips to Colombia.

"I had a big setback and injury at the World Championships last year and still did very well in the Classic campaign.

In an interview with Cycling News last October, a few weeks after winning her first road race world title in Yorkshire, Van Vleuten said she would target the spring classics, the Olympics, and the 2020 world championships.

Among her Classics goals is a second win in 2020 at the Tour de Flanders, which she won in 2011. Despite her success as the world's strongest climber, she also wants to showcase her versatility as a strong cobbled rider.

"I have won the Tour de Flanders and I know parcours very well. Also, racing in the Classics is very special to me.

"It's always nice to race near my home country and now I can watch the race on TV. It's a race with a big impact and I'm really looking forward to starting the season well and making my jersey debut in the Classics."