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Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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Yes, Van Aert failed so hard in Tour of Flanders, he got completely wrecked by Mathieu and Tadej that day. How he couldn't respond to those weak attacks from his kingsize bed is beyond me. Doesn't deserve any praise, especially not when all he did in France was showboating with some fancy breakaways and pulled for Vingegaard once in a while.

Sheer stupidity on this forum man.
 
Regarding politics in Velo d'Or, was there any specific case where we could say that some political interference directed the award to someone who on the road wouldn't be worthy of it?

I look at the yearly historic and I say they have been consistent and their reasoning can be analysed by the results: favoring wins in the biggest cycling races instead of all-year performances who rack up points but come short on big wins: a reason why Valverde and Purito, who dominated the beginning of last decade point-wise, didn't won the award often.
 
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Yes, Van Aert failed so hard in Tour of Flanders, he got completely wrecked by Mathieu and Tadej that day. How he couldn't respond to those weak attacks from his kingsize bed is beyond me. Doesn't deserve any praise, especially not when all he did in France was showboating with some fancy breakaways and pulled for Vingegaard once in a while.

Sheer stupidity on this forum man.
People do indeed say the craziest *** if you make up 80% of it.
 
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Yes, Van Aert failed so hard in Tour of Flanders, he got completely wrecked by Mathieu and Tadej that day. How he couldn't respond to those weak attacks from his kingsize bed is beyond me. Doesn't deserve any praise, especially not when all he did in France was showboating with some fancy breakaways and pulled for Vingegaard once in a while.

Sheer stupidity on this forum man.

Following that logic, I don't know why they didn't give Velo d'Or 2020 to Remco. The guy won everything before his crash, was on the leading group in Lombardia. Surely he would won Lombardia, WC and any GT he entered that year.

It's simple, WVA wasn't on Flanders, so any hypothetical scenario he could there shouldn't be taken into consideration. Be that a 100km solo, a miserable failure, or waiting for a sprint in a 20 men group after Paterberg.
 
Giving Pog *** for underperforming while saying Van Aert didn't underperform in Sanremo, Roubaix or Liege is just next level

No Red Rick, allow me to explain. Pogacar was the big favourite in TdF and ended up second with quiete a big difference to winner Vingegaard. It wasn't the case for Van Aert.

  • MSR: top 3 favourite, ended up being second best rider behind Pogacar - was the most dissapointing result
  • Roubaix: 2 weeks after his covid you can't say he was the big favourite. Ended up being second best rider behind Van Baarle
  • LBL: Last minute added to his scedule, again, you can't say he's the absolute favour next to those smaller pocket climbers. Ended up podium

Don't get me wrong about Pogacar. If he wins the Vélo d'Or he more then merits it. But for me, WVA had the better season.

This point is the problem with the velo d'or discussion we are having

The final races of the season will likely decide the velo door, because there are no clear winner. But you can't award it based on expectations, we just have to wait

I'll grant you that. Outcome can still change depending on WC, Vuelta and Lombardy
 
Most patriotic Belgian fan on the forum says he doesn't care for these awards, but then passionately declares that Belgian Wout Van Aert is the prime candidate because he is 'majestic'.


Hahahahahahaahahahahaa!!

Can't make that up

Apparently winning velo d'or is about doing random stupid breakaways in tour de france and working for your team leader.

All the Van Aert fans are saying velo d'or is not about results, because Van Aert doesn't have the results to be velo d'or.

He doesn't have a big win and is far outclassed on points argument by Pogacar.

Saying Van aert is the best overall rider when Poagacar can do anything Van aert can do plus win grand tours. Just brilliant.

What about the "using your eyes" thing didn't you understand?
 
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Regarding politics in Velo d'Or, was there any specific case where we could say that some political interference directed the award to someone who on the road wouldn't be worthy of it?
You may be right, it's probably the tendency to chose the winner of the TDF regardless of that rider doing f-all the rest of the year or not that has me not care about it. Maybe i mistook that for politics (which in a way, actually might also be politics looking at major organizations - did a Giro or Vuelta winner ever get favored over a Tour winner?). The best classics riders of the past decades combined won it as many times as Armstrong did, for instance.
 
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Regarding politics in Velo d'Or, was there any specific case where we could say that some political interference directed the award to someone who on the road wouldn't be worthy of it?

I look at the yearly historic and I say they have been consistent and their reasoning can be analysed by the results: favoring wins in the biggest cycling races instead of all-year performances who rack up points but come short on big wins: a reason why Valverde and Purito, who dominated the beginning of last decade point-wise, didn't won the award often.

Not that I think that was particularly shocking but Alaphilippe in 2019 winning the Velo d'Or was somewhat controversial given that although he won Sanremo, Strade and Fleche Wallone plus 5th in the Tour with 2 stages but we could also argument that Roglič or Bernal should have have got the prize (the former was the most consistent rider during the whole season while latter won the Tour and podium a monument).
 
You may be right, it's probably the tendency to chose the winner of the TDF regardless of that rider doing f-all the rest of the year or not that has me not care about it. Maybe i mistook that for politics (which in a way, actually might also be politics looking at major organizations - did a Giro or Vuelta winner ever get favored over a Tour winner?). The best classics riders of the past decades combined won it as many times as Armstrong did, for instance.
Armstrong was an absolute media darling in his day, Giro and Vuelta were less prestigious than they are now, and fewer riders were succesfully combinging GCs and monuments. Also doing 2 good GTs in a year was a lot more rare.

I do think Velo d'Or is pretty inconsistent, especially the list of top 3s has some really weird ones in it.
 
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Yes, Van Aert failed so hard in Tour of Flanders, he got completely wrecked by Mathieu and Tadej that day. How he couldn't respond to those weak attacks from his kingsize bed is beyond me. Doesn't deserve any praise, especially not when all he did in France was showboating with some fancy breakaways and pulled for Vingegaard once in a while.

Sheer stupidity on this forum man.
Van aert is a very good rider and he had a good season. He deserves praise. He is just no the primary candidate for velo d'or

What about the "using your eyes" thing didn't you understand?
Using my eyes, the most majestic rider is Landa. Another velo d'or candidate?
 
Maybe you should try reading. No, i don't care about velo d'or as for reasons i have stated, just like ballon d'or, actual performances only matter after the politics have been discussed.

Hahahahahahahaahaha!! The guy claiming Masnada is a better rider than Van Aert and Evenepoel is now the voice of reason who will point out bias among other posters! Whahahahaa.

Indeed, can't make that stuff up.

If you bothered to read, you would understand i am not saying it does NOT have to be points/results based. I'm merely saying that IF the idea for the reward is to reward the best overall rider, and not the rider with the best results per se, then yes, in that case Van Aert has to be considered a/the prime candidate. If you do NOT want that, and only look at results, then just look at PCS and decide.
But Pogacar is a better overall rider than Van Aert. He can do what Van Aert does and also win grand tours.
 
Van Aert can't win Velo d'Or if he stays at this results, he must win something big (WC, or maybe Lombardia).
Pogacar also...
Vingegaard is the prime pick for now, but things could change dramatically after Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia.

16 times out of 30 Tour winner was Velo d'Or
6 times Worlds winner was Velo d'Or
1 time Giro/Vuelta winner was Velo d'Or
1 time double Monument winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Vuelta + Monument winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Vuelta winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Monument winner was Velo d'Or

Not a single time Velo d'Or winner was someone who didn't won either a Grand Tour, World Championships or a Monument.
 
You may be right, it's probably the tendency to chose the winner of the TDF regardless of that rider doing f-all the rest of the year or not that has me not care about it. Maybe i mistook that for politics (which in a way, actually might also be politics looking at major organizations - did a Giro or Vuelta winner ever get favored over a Tour winner?). The best classics riders of the past decades combined won it as many times as Armstrong did, for instance.
Yeah Armstrong being picked over Cunego in 2004 was crazy when Armstrong just had 1 more GT stage win while Cunego had a monument and more wins.
 
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Van Aert can't win Velo d'Or if he stays at this results, he must win something big (WC, or maybe Lombardia).
Pogacar also...
Vingegaard is the prime pick for now, but things could change dramatically after Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia.

16 times out of 30 Tour winner was Velo d'Or
6 times Worlds winner was Velo d'Or
1 time Giro/Vuelta winner was Velo d'Or
1 time double Monument winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Vuelta + Monument winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Vuelta winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Monument winner was Velo d'Or

Not a single time Velo d'Or winner was someone who didn't won either a Grand Tour, World Championships or a Monument.
Thanks.
 
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Van Aert can't win Velo d'Or if he stays at this results, he must win something big (WC, or maybe Lombardia).
Pogacar also...
Vingegaard is the prime pick for now, but things could change dramatically after Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia.

16 times out of 30 Tour winner was Velo d'Or
6 times Worlds winner was Velo d'Or
1 time Giro/Vuelta winner was Velo d'Or
1 time double Monument winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Vuelta + Monument winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Vuelta winner was Velo d'Or
2 times Monument winner was Velo d'Or

Not a single time Velo d'Or winner was someone who didn't won either a Grand Tour, World Championships or a Monument.
Where did you put the monument + worlds combos?

It's pretty hard for everyone to brick so that Vingegaard can still have the same claim to Velo d'Or that he has now.

Evenepoel can win one of Vuelta, Worlds or Lombardia
Hindley can win Vuelta.
Pog can win Worlds or Lombardia
WvA can win Worlds or Lombardia
MvdP can win Worlds
Mohoric and Van Baarle are probably Worlds outsiders with a shout if they win that.

And even if they all brick, I suspect they will still give it to Van Aert.
 
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Where did you put the monument + worlds combos?

It's pretty hard for everyone to brick so that Vingegaard can still have the same claim to Velo d'Or that he has now.

Evenepoel can win one of Vuelta, Worlds or Lombardia
Hindley can win Vuelta.
Pog can win Worlds or Lombardia
WvA can win Worlds or Lombardia
MvdP can win Worlds
Mohoric and Van Baarle are probably Worlds outsiders with a shout if they win that.

And even if they all brick, I suspect they will still give it to Van Aert.

Vingegaard could also win Lombardia.
 
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Pogacar was the strongest, WVA cancelled his attacks out, Mohoric was able to make use of his descending skills and Poggy who left a gap.
I must have watched another MSR...

It wasn't just Van Aert that responded to Pogačar's attacks, Van der Poel and a Movistar rider (Aranburu?) did the same and when Kragh attacked it was Van der Poel that brought him and Pogačar back otherwise I think they would have drop everyone honestly.

Returning to the Velo d'Or discussion, Van Aert in a results based rating is only the 4th best rider of the season so far which means that he needs to become World Champion and hope that the others ahead of win (Vingegård, Pogačar and Evenepoel) don't score anything big, especially Vingegård, until the end of the season.
 
It wasn't just Van Aert that responded to Pogačar's attacks, Van der Poel and a Movistar rider (Aranburu?) did the same and when Kragh attacked it was Van der Poel that brought him and Pogačar back otherwise I think they would have drop everyone honestly.

Looked back at it, and decided to write it out for you ;-)
  • 8.2 km to go: Attack 1 by Pogačar. Only van Aert can hold his wheel, Van der Poel tries to bridge it, but only after Pogačar holds back because he couldn't shake off WvA, the others returns.
  • 7.8 km to go: Attack 2 by Pogačar. García Cortina follows in his wheel, WvA closes the gap with Van der Poel and Roglič in his wheel. The rest returning when that gap has been closed and Pogačar slows down.
  • 7.2 km to go: Attack 3 by Pogačar. WvA immediately on his wheel, neutralizing yet another attack and Pogačar holding back fast.
  • 7 km to go: Attack by Roglič, Van der Poel follows, but this attack does not lead to any gaps and isn't of the same quality really.
  • 6.6 km to go: Attack 4 by Pogačar. WvA immediately on his wheel again. Van der Poel follows as well, no gaps. Pogačar holds back.
  • 6.4 km to go: Attack by Søren Kragh Andersen. Pogačar tries to follow and gets to SKA. WvA tried to follow Pogačar but has to leave a little gap, Van der Poel in his wheel. WvA looking back for assistance at Van der Poel, Van der Poel doesn't move until WvA has almost closed the gap himself, Van der Poel then closes the final 4 bike lengths and they get over the top of the Poggio with 4, and a small gap to the rest.
So really:
  • Pogačar looked strongest. Biggest attacks, again and again.
  • Van der Poel definitely wasn't stronger than van Aert, on par at best, but van Aert definitely did more work, responding faster.
  • Søren Kragh Andersen did 1 attack, after playing hide and seek while the other 3 were playing tag on the Poggio.
Returning to the Velo d'Or discussion, Van Aert in a results based rating is only the 4th best rider of the season so far which means that he needs to become World Champion and hope that the others ahead of win (Vingegård, Pogačar and Evenepoel) don't score anything big until the end of the season.

Agreed. He needs another big win.
At the moment I'd give it to Vingegaard, only Pogačar, WvA or Evenepoel could beat him if they still win something big.
Even if Hindley would go on winning the Vuelta I'd go for Vingegaard. No matter how much I like watching the Giro, Hindley can't be considered the best GT rider of the season when he's actually avoiding the big guys by not going to the tour. No "best rider of the season" award for you Jai, sorry ;-)
 
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People do indeed say the craziest *** if you make up 80% of it.

I always wanted my 'quote' - "Red Rick, probably" to become a meme.

And maybe it did :)

Anyway, I agree with you about Vingegaard. I had thought Pogacar best rider of the year so far, but as you pointed out, Vingegaard hasn't just performed in July, with those solid performances in T-A, P-V, and Dauphne.

But decent one week race performances are very underrated around here, especially if you don't win.

I still rate Vingegaard above Hindley even if Jai wins the Vuelta. Pogacar probably needs a late season big win. Evenepoel probably takes it with Vuelta win and a Lombardia or WC podium. If WVA wins WC then that's a close call vs. Vingegaard.
 
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