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Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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If Wout wanted a team built solely around him in the Tour he could choose from at least 9 or 10 teams who would be happy to do it and forget the GC. When he renewed his contract with Jumbo he know what the team wants to do for GC and what he would he could have to do in the Tour for that goal.
Did it occur that the opposite might be true? Jumbo might have been the main party in favor of him staying, while knowing his intensions? Jumbo might believe in him more than their other leaders? Why did they get Van Hooydonck, Benoot, Laporte? Why are all 3 of those riders in this very Tour squad and where are the mountain doms for the GC guys? Is it really that much of a stretch for people to see why a team is banking on the #2 ranked rider in the world and serial winner, at least as much as on their GC guys who have both come up short in past editions?

Isn't it obvious that Van Aert, unlike some insane theories here, hasn't gone rogue?
 
Van Aert isn't selfish & he's a great rider.

Having the yellow jersey for the cobbles stage is also a very good idea (team car positioning in case of mechanicals) so it made total sense to solidify WvA's GC lead. But, this still doesn't entirely explain what went down yesterday & the 'plot holes' are obvious, i.e. mainly Jonas going full gas for no reason.

And when there's a chance at taking GC time on Pog, Jumbo needs to prioritize the bigger picture.

Did it occur that the opposite might be true? Jumbo might have been the main party in favor of him staying, while knowing his intensions? Jumbo might believe in him more than their other leaders? Why did they get Van Hooydonck, Benoot, Laporte? Why are all 3 of those riders in this very Tour squad and where are the mountain doms for the GC guys? Is it really that much of a stretch for people to see why a team is banking on the #2 ranked rider in the world and serial winner, at least as much as on their GC guys who have both come up short in past editions?

Isn't it obvious that Van Aert, unlike some insane theories here, hasn't gone rogue?

I'd argue Roglic has won bigger prizes for Jumbo than WvA has over the past 3 years. They're both at one monument each & Rog has 3 Grand Tours.

It would be pretty sh*tty of Jumbo to discard the #3 ranked rider in the world with a "you've come up short, f-off" in the TdF (his biggest objective).
 
The people criticizing Jumbo better not criticize defensive and boring racing at the same time.
Just for the record. After today stage van Aert said he checked on the radio if Rogla is OK. If the answer would be no he said he would turn the bike around with no hesitations whatsoever.
And you really believe that considering Jumbo was massively represented in that group while Wout was cruising for a stage? That woulda made no sense what so ever on a stage like this.
 
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Did it occur that the opposite might be true? Jumbo might have been the main party in favor of him staying, while knowing his intensions? Jumbo might believe in him more than their other leaders? Why did they get Van Hooydonck, Benoot, Laporte? Why are all 3 of those riders in this very Tour squad and where are the mountain doms for the GC guys? Is it really that much of a stretch for people to see why a team is banking on the #2 ranked rider in the world and serial winner, at least as much as on their GC guys who have both come up short in past editions?

Isn't it obvious that Van Aert, unlike some insane theories here, hasn't gone rogue?
Funny thing is, this was Jumbos plan all along to drill it (and mainly for a stage win). Vingegaard was very happy, sitting with a big smile on his face after the stage when faced with question from Danish TV reporters. When asked if Wout shoulda waited, Jonas said no, he definitely shouldn't have. To me it just looked like: "finally, we got to race and I was damn near Wout on a climb like this, this bodes well!". And it definitely does - if Vingo was 1% stronger, he woulda made it, but he wasn't, so theres that.

Vingegaard is super happy for Wouts success and I can only presume vice versa. This cannot be understated - he is genuinely happy for Wout, riding with him and witnessing stuff like this (as should everybody else, this is history). Screw all the 'one goal through 3 weeks', you know what that usually means? Conservative, dead ass boring racing.
 
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How is WVA not a team player, Roglic wouldn't even have won PN without him never mind all the work he did last year. It's not his fault Jonas & Roglic weren't strong enough to sit on his wheel and it's completely normal a rider like WVA gets to do his own thing. They've got enough other riders who can do the dirty work for them.

Hopefully he doesn't need to play caretaker today on the cobbles either, let Benoot and Van Hooydonck do it.
 
They would have likely been caught if Van Aert waits for Vingegård and Yates and this was no second place discussion but a first place one...

Exactly. You cannot wait in such a situation, in the finale of such a stage of the TdF.

Jumbo, until yesterday, did not win anything in this Tour. Now, they have a stage win. No one can take that away from them, any more.

Also don‘t forget about Covid. For all the 176 riders, the Tour could suddenly be over after a positive PCR test.

Plus, the decisions to be made in the finale of such a stage have to be made within seconds. No chance of thinking about the possibilities for too long.

JV did everything right, yesterday. Their Tour, now, is already a small success. The pressure has decreased.
 
Did it occur that the opposite might be true? Jumbo might have been the main party in favor of him staying, while knowing his intensions? Jumbo might believe in him more than their other leaders? Why did they get Van Hooydonck, Benoot, Laporte? Why are all 3 of those riders in this very Tour squad and where are the mountain doms for the GC guys? Is it really that much of a stretch for people to see why a team is banking on the #2 ranked rider in the world and serial winner, at least as much as on their GC guys who have both come up short in past editions?

Isn't it obvious that Van Aert, unlike some insane theories here, hasn't gone rogue?

I feel that JV 2022 Tour squad has a strong GC oriented team members and support in it. Likely the strongest of all teams. Maybe Ineos is close but still i would give JV the edge.
 
And you really believe that considering Jumbo was massively represented in that group while Wout was cruising for a stage? That woulda made no sense what so ever on a stage like this.

I believe that if that is what would be asked van Aert would do it. Nobody asked as they wanted for van Aert to win the stage. Mixing in GC guys would make that harder. They knew stage 5 is more suited for that anyway.
 
Exactly. You cannot wait in such a situation, in the finale of such a stage of the TdF.

Jumbo, until yesterday, did not win anything in this Tour. Now, they have a stage win. No one can take that away from them, any more.

Also don‘t forget about Covid. For all the 176 riders, the Tour could suddenly be over after a positive PCR test.

Plus, the decisions to be made in the finale of such a stage have to be made within seconds. No chance of thinking about the possibilities for too long.

JV did everything right, yesterday. Their Tour, now, is already a small success. The pressure has decreased.
Actually, Jumbo held Yellow since stage 3.
 
My analysis lol: Wout not selfish. Just more motivated by his own goals than by helping others (compare to Kuss who generally is better helping others than helping himself!) . Today Jonas was lucky that Wout almost lost yellow as it made it possible for him to get back as he did.
 
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