Teams & Riders Offical Wout Van Aert isn't a new Zdenek Stybar

[KZD]

the scary thing is he is 26 and might still improve

Or as Richard Plugge said in in het Wiel the other day "He is still continiously improving from what we see. The Van Aert in 2021 is much much stronger than the one in 2019 before the crash even."

I would say that the Van Aert that we just saw in Tirreno is already stronger than the one from last year. Better on the climbs and TT.

 

[will-10]

I think he is the best prospect in the peloton of winning all 5 monuments.

 

[Oldermanish]

Van Aert noted he gained confidence beating Stage Racers.......He can beat everyone unless it's a day he trades 1st with MVP. A little more confidence makes him scary. We sure have a wealth of really strong and brilliant racers these days. Never seen this deep of a talent cross-section! It is very fun to watch!

 

[OlavEH]

I think he is the best prospect in the peloton of winning all 5 monuments.

Most definitely. And probably the best prospect for this in at least 20 years. Gilbert wasn't at PR contender until the later years of his career. Van Aert could probably battle for the victory in every monument already this year if he was able to peak his form for the given races (which will probably be impossible for all the spring monuments in the same year).

 

[Spine Concept]

Did anybody say that?

No, but @Spine Concept seems to be obsessed with Pogačar

hm, I guess we will see; i think pogacar will beat VVA

Did you forget TDF2020 TT? Pogacar put almost 1 minute and half on Wout. Van Aert is top TT but not Ganna. I think Wout and Tadej will be close, maybe short course is more to liking of mr. bunch sprinter.

or maybe Pogacar is just a better TTer,;what we do know for sure is, in the last TT Pogacar beat WVA by a big margin, so until that changes I see no reason to expect WVA to gain time on pogacar

Some doubted, some outright said it, so no, I’m not obsessed with Pogacar as he’s a great rider and definitely (one of) the best GT racer around currently.

Can’t be bothered to go through all of the posts but you asked if “anybody” said it, and that’s definitely somebody. I never said the majority said it if I’m not mistaken.

Quote me ONE single post where I said anything bad about Pogacar. You’ll be sorely disappointed.

@Lui98 Try doing some research before posting out of your emotions, not a good look. Makes it seem like you’re the one obsessed with anyone even mentioning Pog.

 

[Lui98]

Some doubted, some outright said it, so no, I’m not obsessed with Pogacar as he’s a great rider and definitely (one of) the best GT racer around currently.

Can’t be bothered to go through all of the posts but you asked if “anybody” said it, and that’s definitely somebody. I never said the majority said it if I’m not mistaken.

Quote me ONE single post where I said anything bad about Pogacar. You’ll be sorely disappointed.

@Lui98 Try doing some research before posting out of your emotions, not a good look. Makes it seem like you’re the one obsessed with anyone even mentioning Pog.

I didn't see any of the aforementioned posts before, so I apologize for my judgement. I rushed to conclusions, my mistake.

 

[Spine Concept]

I didn't see any of the aforementioned posts before, so I apologize for my judgement. I rushed to conclusions, my mistake.

It’s all good. Happens to everyone. Respect for the acknowledgement and rectification. All forgotten and now let’s look forward to the next races with these beasts!

 

[Jagartrott]

I think for GC in the big three races: it's something different to go up these cols day after day, never being able to relax or rest than either a one-week stage race or being part of the train. If he doesn't loose weight, I don't think it's possible he could hang in there for three weeks. Or they'd have to start including 60 km time trials again.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I think for GC in the big three races: it's something different to go up these cols day after day, never being able to relax or rest than either a one-week stage race or being part of the train. If he doesn't loose weight, I don't think it's possible he could hang in there for three weeks. Or they'd have to start including 60 km time trials again.

they said the same about Dumoulin after his surprise Vuelta though. Then on 2nd GT attempt he won. And 3rd and 4th GT attempt he was 2nd. (and then injury mental issues took care of the rest). But in the first 3 GT as leader after break through finishes 1st/2nd/2nd

Van Aert is, quite evidently, an even more impressive physical talent than Dumoulin....

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

they said the same about Dumoulin after his surprise Vuelta though. Then on 2nd GT attempt he won. And 3rd and 4th GT attempt he was 2nd. (and then injury mental issues took care of the rest). But in the first 3 GT as leader after break through finishes 1st/2nd/2nd

Van Aert is, quite evidently, an even more impressive physical talent than Dumoulin....

I agree on the last part, but Tom really transitioned completely from being a classics/ITT rider, to a GT/GC guy. If Wout wants to improve upon that (and i do think he could), he won't be able to do so without completely transitioning as well. Does he want to? Should he? It would mean cutting back immensely on his current program. And does he have any guarantees with Pogacar, Evenepoel and Bernal? While Tom won an amazing Giro, finished 2nd in the TDF... it's "only" one GT he won, and "only" the Giro, while i think competition now is more fierce than it was in2017.

 

[Volderke]

To those who argue that Pogacar is maybe better in a TT because he topped WvA in a very atypical TT with a 5-6km steep uphill finish, I would give the advice of first defining / framing how you see the fine art of TT.
It's clear that the 50-70K TT of the old days isn't in fashion much lately, but the 30K TT with a 5K uphill finish is still an outlier, just like the mountain TT. Most TT are 10-40K with some hills but almost never the combination of long and steep. So if you take those average flat / rolling 30-40K TT (the staple food of modern day TT), it's very hard to argue that Pogacar would be better than WvA.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

To those who argue that Pogacar is maybe better in a TT because he topped WvA in a very atypical TT with a 5-6km steep uphill finish, I would give the advice of first defining / framing how you see the fine art of TT.
It's clear that the 50-70K TT of the old days isn't in fashion much lately, but the 30K TT with a 5K uphill finish is still an outlier, just like the mountain TT. Most TT are 10-40K with some hills but almost never the combination of long and steep. So if you take those average flat / rolling 30-40K TT (the staple food of modern day TT), it's very hard to argue that Pogacar would be better than WvA.

This is a hopeless debate, because people will argue Pogacar was also faster on the flat section of the course. While it's quite possible van Aert was pacing himself there, because he wanted to save energy for the climb. Or because he wanted to finish faster (like he seems to do on longer ITT's), or because he was simply more fatigued after 3 weeks.

It's a shame that during covid there wasn't more time to spread races, maybe had the WCC been scheduled later, then maybe we could have seen Pogacar compete there. Until they face again on a longer non-MTF ITT, the issue will remain. I also think as an all-round ITT'er, that Wout would come out on top, but that doesn't mean Pogacar hasn't impressed me, and nothing would surprise me at this point.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Speaking about WVA GC aspirations hypotetically he would have a good shot at a victory under favourable circumstances:

1. Route favouring him: i.e. 70-80 km of flat TT, moderate amount of mountains (steady climbs instead of steep walls).
2. Very strong team pacing him well on climbs (he has it)
3. The field without best GT all-rounders (Pogacar, Roglic, soon Evenepoel).
4. Losing a few kilos would help as well (not easy to do but points 1)-3) may be enough anyway).

 

[Blanco]

Van Aert is, quite evidently, an even more impressive physical talent than Dumoulin....

And heavier..

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Resume of epic MVP vs WVA rivalry ahead of the big one:

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/mathieu-van-der-poel-and-wout-van-aert-the-anatomy-of-a-rivalry/

 

[Lequack]

View: https://youtu.be/KVNXzr5pzRk

 

[topcat]

Wout plans to win all 5 monuments before he goes on to dominate the tour. He was unsuccessful with his title defence at MSR but he's already won that so no biggie. The uncertainty about Paris Roubaix means he might be delayed by a year.

 

[will-10]

Wout plans to win all 5 monuments before he goes on to dominate the tour. He was unsuccessful with his title defence at MSR but he's already won that so no biggie. The uncertainty about Paris Roubaix means he might be delayed by a year.

Nah, only delayed until October.

 

[Blanco]

Wout plans to win all 5 monuments

No, not Wout, we're planning that for him . We did that for the others too, he's just the last in line...

The only one who really plans that is Phil Gil, but he's running out of time...

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Wout plans to win all 5 monuments before he goes on to dominate the tour.

If PR is postponed to October then this year's Tour will be the last chance for other guys to win...

 

[Bonimenier]

He added BP and AGR to his program after the postponement of PR.

 

[red_flanders]

No, not Wout, we're planning that for him . We did that for the others too, he's just the last in line...

The only one who really plans that is Phil Gil, but he's running out of time...

I think sadly Phil has already run out of time.

 

[Ripper]

I said it in the race thread, but I think vA needs to lose weight before the classics. He's just putting out that little bit extra effort on each climb and acceleration, and in a race like the Ronde, that'll end it early for you. He looks just a bit heavier than he did at last season's restart.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I said it in the race thread, but I think vA needs to lose weight before the classics. He's just putting out that little bit extra effort on each climb and acceleration, and in a race like the Ronde, that'll end it early for you. He looks just a bit heavier than he did at last season's restart.

He looks indeed a bit heavier than when he won Strade, but i think he was also not expecting Roubaix to be cancelled again. I think with Roubaix in mind, he didn't want to be that lean. Last year, Strade, MSR came right before the TDF, so he was always going to be skinnier. While Flanders and Roubaix were cancelled or postponed at that time already.

 

[Ripper]

He looks indeed a bit heavier than when he won Strade, but i think he was also not expecting Roubaix to be cancelled again. I think with Roubaix in mind, he didn't want to be that lean. Last year, Strade, MSR came right before the TDF, so he was always going to be skinnier. While Flanders and Roubaix were cancelled or postponed at that time already.

He's all been stated that Flanders is more important to him than Robaix. The weight is hurting him in Flanders, or at least that's my opinion