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Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

Page 81 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Wout: "Haha, go ahead, you win"
Laporte: "Haha, no, you go ahead and win"

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I'm glad Wout has changed his strategy for these classics. It seems in years past he played defense, always chasing down attacks and trying to rely on his sprint to win from a small group. I said in the past that with his superior time trialing abilities, he should be the one to attack first and then settle into a time trial to the finish and force others to chase him. Doing that, he's now won two northern classics this spring.
 
Just so hard to decide if hes that much stronger than last year or if the opposition so far is that much weaker. Probably a bit of both along with a much better team

A bit of both. His 4-5 weeks pauze after WC in Leuven and not riding the WC Cyclo cross has certainly added some depth in his current form but don't forget the only real top cobble rider he dropped on the Paterberg yesterday was Asgreen. All respect to guys like Girmay and Mohoric but they're not (yet) the same level as MVP, Pogacar or Alaphillipe.

Flanders will be a completely different race. I don't believe WVA will finish solo. It'll be a sprint of 2-4 guys.
 
Just so hard to decide if hes that much stronger than last year or if the opposition so far is that much weaker. Probably a bit of both along with a much better team
He is fresher than last year...not necessarily stronger. He isn't racing as much so he's able to be fresh and taper properly for his big targets. If you are motivated and have a good training plan, you can get fit better training versus racing. People who need racing to get fit just aren't motivated to push themselves hard enough in training on certain days.
 
Only 12th today. Worst result in a one-day race since Amstel 2019...

28 one-day races started and finished in that period.
Pretty impressive.

And he showed the last time on Kemmelberg that he is a BIG favorite next weekend. Only Laporte seems anywhere close to following him on the cobbled hills now. Next weekend I will be suprised if anyone other than VdP can beat him (given no sickness or accidents of course).
 
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Pretty impressive.

And he showed the last time on Kemmelberg that he is a BIG favorite next weekend. Only Laporte seems anywhere close to following him on the cobbled hills now. Next weekend I will be suprised if anyone other than VdP can beat him (given no sickness or accidents of course).

Pogacar will be an interesting factor too.
 
He looked so much stronger than Laporte at the end of Harelbeke the other day but then the opposite happened today, was this just positioning or a bad day?
He was stronger on Kemmelberg today compared to Laporte then he was on Paterberg on Friday. Poor positiong cost him a few seconds, but still I don't think he would have stayed clear for the whole distance. It would have been to many men chasing him.
 

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