Teams & Riders Lennert Van Eetvelt

[Logic-is-your-friend]

And Uijtdebroeks isn’t in top form?

LVE seems to have a less crap TT at the moment, and he is much zappier than Uijtdebroeks. There are finishes where he could finish a few seconds ahead and grab boniseconds as well. I could easily see Uijtdebroeks needing to find 2-3 minutes in the hard MTF to make up for what he loses left and right.

 

[Berniece]

LVE seems to have a less crap TT at the moment, and he is much zappier than Uijtdebroeks. There are finishes where he could finish a few seconds ahead and grab boniseconds as well. I could easily see Uijtdebroeks needing to find 2-3 minutes in the hard MTF to make up for what he loses left and right.

I don’t know about 2-3 minutes, that would be a lot. Uijtdebroeks also showed in the Giro that he’s getting better at more explosive finishes, while I haven’t seen LVE perform the way Cian did on hard mountain finishes last year

 

[Rob5091]

Follow the GC guys for Lenny VE -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...nnert-van-eetvelt-eyes-final-top-10-at-vuelta

(original article at Het Nieuwsblad)

A place in the top 10 would be a good result for me," he tells Het Nieuwsblad. "I will try to follow the favorites and ride at a consistently high level for three weeks. It is certainly not my ambition to sneak into a breakaway. Following the favorites as long as possible, that is my plan."
I am also happy that I can start here with experienced riders like Victor Campenaerts, Andreas Kron and Thomas De Gendt. The course is very tough, but I have done a good recon of the last seven mountain stages. The first week is also difficult with the heat and the course, but the focus is on the final week."

 

[Rob5091]

He'll be a marked man now with a 2nd spot on stage 4, but showing he's in good shape!

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

Why mark a guy who will just follow?

 

[jmdirt]

Note: cross finish line, THEN celebrate!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I don’t know about 2-3 minutes, that would be a lot. Uijtdebroeks also showed in the Giro that he’s getting better at more explosive finishes, while I haven’t seen LVE perform the way Cian did on hard mountain finishes last year

I take it back! I meant to say 4-5 minutes!

 

[Rob5091]

Why mark a guy who will just follow?

"Mark" as in don't drag him to the finish if you're not Roglic, or let him go in a break.

 

[Berniece]

I take it back! I meant to say 4-5 minutes!

Haha, yeah I have no clue what’s up with Uijtdebroeks. He was never good at these type of finishes, but he lost a lot of time.

 

[Lequack]

Why does he roll up his sleeves? Is it just a Belgian thing?

 

[scribers]

open carry his guns

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1826234355381133482

View: https://x.com/BikeBlz/status/1826234355381133482

 

[Rob5091]

Stage 8 and having to chase as he was held up by the crash - still 6th now on GC. Hang on in there!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827433346516889778

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1827433346516889778

 

[Samamba]

Didn't pass his first test in the real mountains sadly. A bit disappointing (should've been in the Skjelmose/Rodriguez group at least imo). Also didn't crash, he was held up, but that didn't hinder his performance. Not sure what the reason is, maybe it was just a bad day (he did say he didn't feel good), maybe it was the heat (he complained about it afterwards for the first time this week), or maybe he just isn't the guy for these kind of hard stages. Just like Skjelmose, wouldn't be anything to be ashamed of, but he is in a bit of an annoying position now. Still in GC, but also not really and not feeling the greatest, just when there's a lot of breakaway stages coming up that would suit him.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Didn't pass his first test in the real mountains sadly. A bit disappointing (should've been in the Skjelmose/Rodriguez group at least imo). Also didn't crash, he was held up, but that didn't hinder his performance. Not sure what the reason is, maybe it was just a bad day (he did say he didn't feel good), maybe it was the heat (he complained about it afterwards for the first time this week), or maybe he just isn't the guy for these kind of hard stages. Just like Skjelmose, wouldn't be anything to be ashamed of, but he is in a bit of an annoying position now. Still in GC, but also not really and not feeling the greatest, just when there's a lot of breakaway stages coming up that would suit him.

The good news for him is that 'not really out of GC' has been no hindrance whatsoever when it comes to getting into breaks this race.

 

[Keldergoat]

Didn't pass his first test in the real mountains sadly. A bit disappointing (should've been in the Skjelmose/Rodriguez group at least imo). Also didn't crash, he was held up, but that didn't hinder his performance. Not sure what the reason is, maybe it was just a bad day (he did say he didn't feel good), maybe it was the heat (he complained about it afterwards for the first time this week), or maybe he just isn't the guy for these kind of hard stages. Just like Skjelmose, wouldn't be anything to be ashamed of, but he is in a bit of an annoying position now. Still in GC, but also not really and not feeling the greatest, just when there's a lot of breakaway stages coming up that would suit him.

He's having a really good Vuelta so far, which performance in his career suggested that he could battle for GC top-5?

 

[Samamba]

The good news for him is that 'not really out of GC' has been no hindrance whatsoever when it comes to getting into breaks this race.

This is absolutely correct. The question is if he will feel good again after the rest day.

He's having a really good Vuelta so far, which performance in his career suggested that he could battle for GC top-5?

Don't really see the point of this response, never said he should top 5 this Vuelta. I literally said "or maybe he just isn't the guy for these kind of hard stages" insinuating that it's also possible he simply isn't a top GC rider (yet), just like Skjelmose isn't right now. Who knows.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

The heat is a serious issue. At this point I literally wouldn't rule out anyone in the top 20 as a potential winner as crazy as that sounds. The rest of the way there are almost no breaks and nasty stages up ahead. This is going to end up as one of the most brutal Vueltas of all time.

 

[Keldergoat]

This is absolutely correct. The question is if he will feel good again after the rest day.



Don't really see the point of this response, never said he should top 5 this Vuelta. I literally said "or maybe he just isn't the guy for these kind of hard stages" insinuating that it's also possible he simply isn't a top GC rider (yet), just like Skjelmose isn't right now. Who knows.

Well starting with phrasing like sadly and disappointing I think that's just a bit too harsh on a rider that showed some great stuff in the first week and his best ever result in a GC is 38th.

 

[Rob5091]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...s-the-rest-day-and-im-looking-forward-to-that

"I felt at the start that I didn’t have the best legs, I knew it was going to be tough," said Van Eetvelt in an initial reaction shortly after the finish. "I think I wasn’t the only one. I did lose a lot of time, but I fought against myself. I couldn’t do more."
"I didn’t feel super good and I had the feeling that I had found my rhythm, but that turned out not to be the case. That’s a shame, because the team did a super good job. But tomorrow is the rest day and I’m looking forward to that," he laughs.

At the very least, there was no crash able to stop Van Eetvelt today. "Woods fell in front of me and I had to avoid him. I didn’t crash myself, but I had to put my foot down and was out of the race for a while, but afterwards it wasn’t a problem," he explains.

He's said top 10 is good for him, and I originally thought top 15, so as long as he stays upright, and with some cooler weather, he could still do well.

 

[Samamba]

Well starting with phrasing like sadly and disappointing I think that's just a bit too harsh on a rider that showed some great stuff in the first week and his best ever result in a GC is 38th.

Cause it is somewhat sad and it is disappointing? Nothing to do with being harsh. Ask Lennert himself what he thinks of his performance yesterday... There's a difference between cracking in week 3 (which I kind of expected) and already in the first mountain stage (again could be a good reason for it like not being to cool himself properly in comparison to other stages).

Also I don't get that last argument at all. First of all, he was 32nd in his first and only GT so far, and that was without even thinking about a GC and getting sick mid Vuelta. He was still really good in the last week. He was also already top 15 in his frist every WT stage race (Catalunya) as a neopro and literally won the UAE Tour this year (against the current red jersey btw). The only reason he hasn't had more results is because of injuries, sickness and a french doping agency being annoying. Aiming for a top 10 here wasn't that unrealistic, so in that sense it is a bit disappointing that he's already far behind after the first real mountain stage.

If you're gonna use the "but he's never proven it in a GT" argument Skjelmose also shouldn't aim for a top 10 here or shouldn't be disappointed (and he is and he did better than LVE) or someone who literally wins every one week stage race shouldn't even aim for a top GC in a GT. And just to be clear for a podium or even top 5 you definitely could use the "untested" argument, but that doesn't mean getting 19th place and being so far off the top 10 in the first real mountain stage isn't a disappointment.

 

[yaco]

The heat is a serious issue. At this point I literally wouldn't rule out anyone in the top 20 as a potential winner as crazy as that sounds. The rest of the way there are almost no breaks and nasty stages up ahead. This is going to end up as one of the most brutal Vueltas of all time.

I suspect that the race will be more controlled with fewer spikes in performance, once, we reach the cooler climate of the North of Spain.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He's having a really good Vuelta so far, which performance in his career suggested that he could battle for GC top-5?

Before one rides a GT... nobody has performances that suggest (s)he can battle for a GT top 5, if you look at it that way. And i would generally agree in most cases. Van Eetvelt was 2nd in the U23 Giro, won Course de la Paix, won UAE Tour. So while i wouldn't automatically expect him to finish top 10, considering he is a latebloomer, he would be a rider you wouldn't be surprised to see in the top 10. I don't think anybody spoke about top 5 yet.

 

[Keldergoat]

UAE-Tour is not a serious test for a GC with only one decent climb in it, but fair point to the U23 Giro, that can be a good indicator indeed.

 

[Andre]

Personally I'm bummed out by the last stage. I had higher hopes for him. I honestly thought a top 5 was reachable. But now...I don't know...can he still reach top 10? I hope so.