79th Dwars door Vlaanderen - A travers la Flandre ME (1.UWT) April 2nd 2025

[E_F_]

Visma found a very impressive way to kill Wout's morale.

 

[scribers]

Powless carrying that look like he pulled off the heist of the century

 

[scribers]

I think this makes Powless only the second American to ever win DWARS

 

[Rackham]

Watching Wout's interview, I just don't get where the hate leveled at him, comes from?

He's not blaming anyone but himself, and said it was his decision to wait to the sprint. He like everyone else thought he would beat Powless, heads up.

The problem is 3 against 1 on a flat finish is p*ss easy tactically. One attacks, Powless follows, another counters and job done. Voilà.

 

[Escarabajo]

What happened? I had a meeting at work and I left 3 Vismas riding with Neilson Powless and when I came back He had won????? how was that possible?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Just a question, have the mods or someone forbidden anyone from posting about the forbidden site? It's always cryptic regarding that.

If you ask, I might feel obliged to point out the rules on the top of the forum:

Please don't...

• Engage in any illegal activity. Asking for help pirating, cracking, or bypassing copyright protection is not allowed.

If nobody asks, I don't need to mention it...

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Van Aert: "I'm fully responsible, I made the call to go for a sprint. I cramped in the sprint."

When Marco van Basten started his coaching career with the Dutch national team, then-AZ trainer Co Adriaanse famously and prophetically remarked that 'a good horse is not yet a good jockey'. Turns out Van Aert is neither.

 

[scribers]

What happened? I had a meeting at work and I left 3 Vismas riding with Neilson Powless and when I came back He had won????? how was that possible?

Houdini

 

[Lequack]

Wout's face looks like he lost some weight. His cheeks look even more sunken than Roglic. Maybe lost some top end power to gain climbing endurance?

 

[Ripper]

He was completely spun out at the end for sure

Yup. He is saying he cramped, but I think they really need to look at whether shorter cranks are what he needs. There are benefits, but they are not a panacea. And he just continually has been looking undergeared. That could be a knee/strength thing as well, so who knows. And this year could end up being a rebuilding year after nearly destroying his knee. But clearly an odd thing going on.

As for taking the responsibility for going for the sprint, I dunno. It sounds like the car made that call and Wout went along with it, rather than Wout asking for it.

 

[AmRacer]

Visma wanted Wout to win, any of the other two could win with tactics. But Powless would've marked Wout so sprint was the only way.

 

[Mlarsen]

The stupidest tactic I've ever seen. When you're 3 against one, you shouldn't just bet on winning a sprint, no matter how good you think Wout is in a sprint. You have to test whether you can run Nilson out of energy first, with the 2 other Visma people, and if that fails, Wout has been saving energy and can decide it in the sprint, where Nilson has spent a lot of energy before.... There's something completely wrong with the sports directors sitting in the Visma car.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Typical. I have been talking about this for 4 years now. Belgian pozzato

My friend, Pozzato had an aura wva will never come close to.

 

[Balthazar]

The problem is 3 against 1 on a flat finish is p*ss easy tactically. One attacks, Powless follows, another counters and job done. Voilà.

Yeah Tiesj after said they were so focused on winning with Wout because of what happened last year. Big mistake

 

[BigCoward]

This is equivalent of missing an open goal in football by Visma.

Or 3 open goals.

 

[scribers]

Ah, the “never work at the front” gripe from the armchair bros.

He’s pulling through in a group of 4. He’s taking short pulls. Not a lot of extra effort, and he’s probably feeling good.

No reason to piss off the other riders with this far to go. He can back off later.

These guys race together for years, and bunch dynamics matter. Not always black and white, the tactics.

This post should really be the subtitle for the entire forum

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Hang it in the Louvre

 

[Sciatic]

I don't really get all the 'HAHA's' after everything Wout has been through.

Sincere congratulations to Powless though.

I don’t either, it’s like he’s become the family dog to kick around

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I think this makes Powless only the second American to ever win DWARS

In as many years.

 

[Rackham]

Yeah Tiesj after said they were so focused on winning with Wout because of what happened last year. Big mistake

It's one of the worst screw-up I've seen in a bike race, bar very few. There's just no way you're allowed to lose that one. No offense to Powless. He played his only card and won the jackpot. But Visma... god, what a disaster.

There's no sugar-coating this one. The logical choice for first attacker versus Powless (anywhere in the final 10km's really) would have been Benoot as well. If he breaks free, he wins, if Powless closes him down, then one of the other two can counter - even Van Aert.

 

[Salvarani]

Hang it in the Louvre

Timeless

 

[Heston]

Still, it was good to see some fighting spirit from Visma. They did ride a perfect offensive race until the last 5 km.

 

[E_F_]

EF tactics masterclass. Never in doubt.

 

[red_flanders]

The stupidest tactic I've ever seen. When you're 3 against one, you shouldn't just bet on winning a sprint, no matter how good you think Wout is in a sprint. You have to test whether you can run Nilson out of energy first, with the 2 other Visma people, and if that fails, Wout has been saving energy and can decide it in the sprint, where Nilson has spent a lot of energy before.... There's something completely wrong with the sports directors sitting in the Visma car.

Dunno if I'd blame the car. Wout said it was his call, and I believe him. From all we've seen behind the scenes over the years, he carries a LOT of weight on that team, and this is his part of the season.

I mean of course there was some risk, but if your team leader, a guy who usually has a massive sprint, says he's good and wants to sprint for the win, you support him. A few people pointed it out, but even Powless thought he had no chance and was sprinting for second.

Wout made the wrong call. They all recognize it, they all took responsibility to some extent in the interviews. Tough day. Now they face the questions.

 

[Red Rick]

Dunno if I'd blame the car. Wout said it was his call, and I believe him. From all we've seen behind the scenes over the years, he carries a LOT of weight on that team, and this is his part of the season.

I mean of course there was some risk, but if your team leader, a guy who usually has a massive sprint, says he's good and wants to sprint for the win, you support him. A few people pointed it out, but even Powless thought he had no chance and was sprinting for second.

Wout made the wrong call. They all recognize it, they all took responsibility to some extent in the interviews. Tough day. Now they face the questions.

This is where the DS should simply overrule van Aert though. He is not blameless.