
‘I have too much ambition and talent to be a helper’ - Ilan Van Wilder, the other 22-year-old Belgian superstar
The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider tells Rouleur about his climbing passion and why he won't be settling for a role as super-domestique

I think he should support Evenepoel at the Giro first, and try and be competitive at 1 week races in 2023. Evenepoel is starting his season in San Juan, i don't think he'll be going to Algarve this time as he claims to take it slowly early on. That would be an excellent test case for Van Wilder. It usually has a long TT. He should be able to do a top 5 or even podium there. He already finished top 20 in Algarve when he was 19 three years ago. If there had been a TT in Burgos, he could have been on the podium there already.Thank you for the article Logic. I also believe Van Wilder has a bright future. Maybe he'll get his chance at La Vuelta in 2023. I'm also thinking he could win some monuments as well.
I think he'll probably be needed in the Giro, and i'm not sure he should be doing 2 GT's already.Since currently Quickstep doesn't have anyone specifically targeting the Vuelta I would hope Van Wilder gets a shot. Let him skip TDF/WC, and focus on the Vuelta just like Remco did last year. I can definitely seeing him finish top 10.
Yeah he’s definitely a helper in the Giro, but why do you think he shouldn’t do the Vuelta too? There’s more than enough time between them to rest properly, and charge your batteries again. Do you think it will take such a big toll on his body?I think he'll probably be needed in the Giro, and i'm not sure he should be doing 2 GT's already.
His development basically stalled while at Sunweb/DSM, he has not done nearly as many kms as he should have. Last year was also riddled with bad luck and few race days before the Vuelta. I think he would benefit more from doing a normal season for once (he hasn't had a normal season since turning pro imho) and that he might be better off doing more smaller races, after the Giro, than again not doing many races but the Vuelta on top of that. I think he might learn more from doing 4 one week races and some 1 day races, than doing 3 weeks of Vuelta, after having done the Giro.Yeah he’s definitely a helper in the Giro, but why do you think he shouldn’t do the Vuelta too? There’s more than enough time between them to rest properly, and charge your batteries again. Do you think it will take such a big toll on his body?
I watched the last 5 kilometers. He looked super strong.3rd last week.
2nd today.
If he can drop Küng and Ganna on saturday by some 30 seconds or more, while finishing with the other GC TT'ers, he has a shot to win this thing on sunday.
Good show old chap.
It's what i hoped for him, a podium. I had put Martinez, Küng and Ganna ahead of him before the race. Küng stayed under expectations, so he took that podium spot.third place overall...not bad
What are you talking about exactly?I get he has good numbers, but to say he's a "winner" seems a stretch. Looking up his palmarès I see three wins as a junior and zero as a pro.
The article you posted which stated how much he doesn't want to be pigeonholed into a support role, because of his abilities and since he is such a "winner." No disrespect, mind you. I was just wondering what all the wins were?What are you talking about exactly?
It's simply a liberal interpretation of the journalist that needs to be read within its context. Nobody has ever said Van Wilder has many wins, or wins easily. Clearly the journalist was only saying that in a sense of him having the skills to be a team leader, instead of a domestique. Someone who should get the chance to ride for himself. He could have said "top competitor" or "leader" instead of "winner" but i think it's clear that's what he meant. The article isn't about him being a serial winner, but about him having what it takes to be a stage racer in his own right.The article you posted which stated how much he doesn't want to be pigeonholed into a support role, because of his abilities and since he is such a "winner." No disrespect, mind you. I was just wondering what all the wins were?
To the bolded, I did get that actually. However, if the journalist put it in an odd manner (hence my moderately ironic perplexion and wry remark), it seems to me this was in part owing to Illan's forthrightness.It's simply a liberal interpretation of the journalist that needs to be read within its context. Nobody has ever said Van Wilder has many wins, or wins easily. Clearly the journalist was only saying that in a sense of him having the skills to be a team leader, instead of a domestique. Someone who should get the chance to ride for himself. He could have said "top competitor" or "leader" instead of "winner" but i think it's clear that's what he meant. The article isn't about him being a serial winner, but about him having what it takes to be a stage racer in his own right.
However, of his generation, not a lot riders were able to win a lot as a junior because Evenepoel won everywhere he started. Van Wilder however, did amass more season points behind Evenepoel, than many other riders did at the top of the ranking in other years. So imagine had Evenepoel been a year older (in fact had Evenepoel been born 3 weeks earlier) and he didn't have to face him that year. He would indeed have had his share of wins and he would have had the same amount of hype as Uijtdebroeks for instance.
As a first year U23, he won the queen's stage of the Course de la Paix, which is considered to be the 3rd most prestigious stage race at that level. And he got on the podium of Tour de l'Avenir, which is considered the most prestigious stage race at that level. Behind riders who were 1 and 3 years older. To put that in context, he was the youngest and only 19 year old of the entire top 25. He was also the youngest on the podium of the 2020 ECC TT, and he was also the youngest in the top 10 of the 2019 ECC TT.
His pro career so far has been littered with bad luck. As a neopro he didn't get a lot of chances during covid season. A year later DSM royally F'ed him over by keeping him from races in the 2nd part of the season. He did however get two top 5 TT at WT level in the first part of the 2021 season. Considering he now is still only 22, it should tell you something. Last year he crashed out 3 times iirc, and he also had covid, which put him back early in the season. Little over a month or so before the Vuelta, he got sick again (not covid) which messed with his preparation for the Vuelta, and he had to do Burgos (which he finished 5th in GC) instead of the original schedule which would have had him on training camp at that moment.
So, basically every rider in the world should ride for either Pogacar or Evenepoel as soon as they join that team. Ayuso and Almeida should no longer be able to ride their own races, because regardless of them being top 10 talents in the world, they are not as big a talent as Pogacar. Philipsen should not be allowed to ride for himself as long as he stays on the same team as Van der Poel. Etc.To the bolded, I did get that actually. However, if the journalist put it in an odd manner (hence my moderately ironic perplexion and wry remark), it seems to me this was in part owing to Illan's forthrightness.
Now I suppose such candor could be construed as a positive. One feels confident in what one can achieve and states so openly to leave no room for misunderstandings. At the same time, however, I'm left wondering if he hasn't yet become the "winner" he's been made out to be, even if we know what the journalist meant, because he happened to come along in the shadow of another who actually is a winner, how can he liberate himself from a supporting role?
I'm not suggesting he won't or can't become a world beater, as age and evidently metrics are on his side, but how can he not provide Evenepoel with the his total support over the forseeable next GTs given the track records so far? I mean, he outright put it that he thinks he might be going ahead in GTs to support Remco or, in his own words, "have a free role." Is this what Patrick thinks, what the team envisions, will sanction? What does "free role" mean? I'm off helper duties and can go for my own victories, including GC? That's gonna be a tough one to manage, given the other team plans.
As I see it, for now at least, unless he can clearly out-perform Evenepoel in the big GT goals, then he's getting ahead of himself. The article says they are good friends. Well let's hope so, because they will need to get along and see eye to eye regarding how their careers at Soudal-QS will be conducted. The problem, since both are so young, nobody is retiring anytime soon and so this could be tough to manage amicably and to each's satisfaction. My two cents.
To the bolded, who said that? Although what happens, and Almeida and Ayuso are cases in point, if you ride on Pogacar's team at the Tour or any other race he is participating in you will ride for him and that is that, unless Tadej decides otherwise or is off form. Whilst neither Ayuso nor Almeida have been as forthright in their stated ambitions, knowing full well that if they form part of the team that supports Pogacar that's what they will be doing until it's no longer necessary. Sure, the calendar is long and varried, so there are enough opportunities to go around in theory, but there is a hierarchy of objectives and the best means to achieve them.So, basically every rider in the world should ride for either Pogacar or Evenepoel as soon as they join that team. Ayuso and Almeida should no longer be able to ride their own races, because regardless of them being top 10 talents in the world, they are not as big a talent as Pogacar. Philipsen should not be allowed to ride for himself as long as he stays on the same team as Van der Poel. Etc.
Evenepoel is not going to be riding 3 GT's. As i already explained to you in the Evenepoel topic, their biggest sponsor has already said they do not want to put all their eggs in one basket (Evenepoel) and want the team to be competitive in more stage races with more riders than just Evenepoel. Now, unless they can buy out Ayuso or Uijtdebroeks, i'm not sure who you think those other riders should be. Unless you think they now have the budget to outright sign Pogacar or Vingegaard. Other than those guys, you could just as well try with Van Wilder, than you would with any other young GC rider out there, not already named.
To the bolded, who said that? Although what happens, and Almeida and Ayuso are cases in point, if you ride on Pogacar's team at the Tour or any other race he is participating in you will ride for him and that is that unless Tadej decides otherwise or is off form. Sure, the calendar is long and varried, so there are enough opportunities to go around in theory, but there is a hierarchy of objectives and the best means to achieve them.
My perplexion and the questions that arrise from it, however, stems from the fact that Soudal-QS is only in the transition phase of building a team that can possibly see a Belgian win the Tour again for the first time in four decades. But already we should be talking about "having more options" to play with? Call me crazy, but I'd have thought that first seeing the transition through successfully would be the absolute priority and then, of course, actually winning the Grande Bouclé. And I'd have thought the whole organization gives this precedence, before considering who might be allowed to have a "free role" on the team.
Precisely because Soudal-QS is playing catch-up to teams like Jumbo-Visma, UAE and Ineos in becoming a GT powerhouse, they can't yet, for example, send a Roglic to the Giro and a Vingegaard to the Tour, or again a Pogacar to the Tour and an Ayuso to the Vuelta, and still have the firepower to support Remco in his GT ambitions. So if Soudal-QS wants to not have "all their eggs in one basket" now in this sense, then Patrick better start writing some checks. Until he does that and builds more depth, you'd be crazy to have loose canon in a GT in which Evenepoel is racing.
I'm left wondering if he hasn't yet become the "winner" he's been made out to be, even if we know what the journalist meant, because he happened to come along in the shadow of another who actually is a winner, how can he liberate himself from a supporting role?
I'm not suggesting he won't or can't become a world beater, as age and evidently metrics are on his side, but how can he not provide Evenepoel with the his total support over the forseeable next GTs given the track records so far?
There’s not going to be much internal conflict when one rider is obviously stronger than the other, and that rider is the established leader. Which will be the case for the foreseeable future, whatever IVW’s ambitions might be.