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Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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The article said he underwent an operation. I don't know how severe this is, but I wouldn't expect it to influence him much.
The article said he underwent an operation. I don't know how severe this is, but I wouldn't expect it to influence him much.
An appendectomy is one of the most common surgery procedures. He should be back on the bike after a few days and back to his strongest self in a week or two.
 
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An appendectomy is one of the most common surgery procedures. He should be back on the bike after a few days and back to his strongest self in a week or two.
An appendectomy is common and not problematic for a non-athlete. But two weeks rest is needed. Then, one can reboot carefully. A top riser also can start cycling after two weeks, but not yet really train. In fact, Van Aert is going to miss almost three weeks of training. Fortunately for him, this happens during a training period, and not during a competition period. But Van Aert will somehow have to make up for those three weeks. He will be able to train properly, at the end of May, being at a much lower level then early May. But the Dauphiné is starting on may 30th. It would be irresponsible to let him start there. The best thing to do is start altitude training, not as planned from 11 to 19 th of june, but starting a week earlier. And hoping he will be ready for the Tour without competition. Exc the Belgian championship on june 20 th.
 
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Court decides: Wout van Aert must pay €662.000 to Nick Nuyens after he broke his contract with his then team in 2018 to switch to Jumbo-Visma. The Labor Court in Antwerp decided on this on Wednesday. (source Sporza)
 
Hope not. He'll be wasting enough energy keeping Roglic out of the wind. I'd like to see him in decent form for the Olympics and not be completely knackered. Better to focus on a few stages for stagewin, than trying to go for points every day.

I think he'll go for green in 2022. If MvdP decides to do the same thing, that could literally be enough to make it the greatest Tour of all time. Imagine their battle for green giving color and drama to every single stage - would be far more compelling than the usually uneventful and boring GC battle or breakaway faux-drama
 
I think he'll go for green in 2022. If MvdP decides to do the same thing, that could literally be enough to make it the greatest Tour of all time. Imagine their battle for green giving color and drama to every single stage - would be far more compelling than the usually uneventful and boring GC battle or breakaway faux-drama

Or maybe he'll go for yellow in 2022. :) Who knows.
 
Court decides: Wout van Aert must pay €662.000 to Nick Nuyens after he broke his contract with his then team in 2018 to switch to Jumbo-Visma. The Labor Court in Antwerp decided on this on Wednesday. (source Sporza)
I wondered what ever happened with this case...now I know. That's a pretty big chunk of change, about $800,000 USA.
 
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Or maybe he'll go for yellow in 2022. :) Who knows.

His original plan was to grab yellow after the stage 5 TT this year. Might still be a feasible scenario despite his medical setback. If he can gain some time on the muritos on stage 1 and 2 vs the other time trialists, he won't even have to beat Dennis or Ganna on day 5.

I wondered what ever happened with this case...now I know. That's a pretty big chunk of change, about $800,000 USA.

A big chunk that Lefevere wishes he had paid a few years back when he had the chance.
 
A nice win after not been racing more than two months. Partly to do with his appendix surgery . But he admitted he had to undergo the race, and found his (good) legs back in the final. So unfortunately he won't be top at the start of the Tour.
A real shame, because he could have finished with the better ones on the first two stages that end on a slope. To take the yellow yersey after stag 5, a time trial.
But only being top during the second half of the Tour can ultimately be an advantage for his team and Roglic, and of course for his participation in the Olympics.
 
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I just read this interview with Merijn Zeeman about Van Aert: https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20210622_97857711 (Dutch and paywalled).
Not sure if this can be pasted in full then, but this are imho the most interesting parts;

Is this the very best Wout? No! From the moment that appendicitis came up, getting in perfect shape was impossible.
....
Even before there was talk of appendicitis, we had made a plan with Wout to ride a dosed Tour. Even then it was not the intention that he would stay with the very best in the mountain stages for very long. Before the appendicitis it was a choice, now it is not an option because it does not fit within his possibilities. In the stages where it is a lot of uphill, he will no longer be among the best and therefore will not have to force himself.
...
At the moments when we have already crossed a mountain and the selection has been made, he will no longer be there. We now rely on other riders for the uphill routine. The reason is simple: he is not prepared for that job. Because time was limited, his trainer Marc Lamberts had to make choices. There was no focus on climbing ability.

"In the first week, Wout's role for the team is super important. Either to try to win a stage or be very important in the service of Roglic. If it turns out that stage win with this condition level is too ambitious, I can say for sure that Wout will have been very important for Jumbo-Visma.'

The 27 kilometer time trial on day five is certainly an important goal. Together with the team, Wout has made a goal this year for the time trial at the Games and the time trial at the World Cup. With a view to those two goals, he will also go for it in the time trial of the Tour.'

The focus in his training was on time trial and sprinting.

So go get those stage wins Wout! And get ready for the Olympics ;-)
 
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Big question for me is Van Aert able to go for the stage himself or does he need to shepherd Roglic? I do expect VdP to get his position wrong.

I think there's a certain "fandom" (I'm talking within the media here, but also some fans) who believe WvA is too good to "shepherd" Roglic & that task is beneath him.

Even from a neutral point of view I'd take exception to such a notion, i.e. the Tour de France is a very specific race on the calendar where riders can target certain objectives only if they've made the career choice years in advance to do so. That means if someone wants to ride for green they sign for a team which will back that mission, if someone wants to target stage wins they sign for a team which will back that. But if someone finds himself on a team aiming for the yellow jersey, then the mission is self-evident, i.e. win the Tour.

I was joking about a scenario earlier with some people I know, but it goes as follows: Kruijswijk is having a bad day, Sepp Kuss gets a puncture/or crashes & Vingegaard is missing in action, so what does Wout van Aert do? Ease off the pedals because he's aiming for the Olympics & world championship?

No. He rides tempo & does what Roglic needs him to do, whether he's on a climb or not, if he has the legs. They're not going to beat Ineos or UAE for yellow if there's even one rider on the team not 100% committed to the task.

That's how I see it in any case.
 
He should be the leader of a team. Sagan has a whole team behind him. He should be able to go for stage wins/green/top 10. However he is paid extremely well by JV to forgo those chances. JV has no need for stage wins only the TDF win makes sense for their sponsors.
I dont think he will be competitive in the first week. He should be in full flow by third week but in the service of Roglic.
 
I think there's a certain "fandom" (I'm talking within the media here, but also some fans) who believe WvA is too good to "shepherd" Roglic & that task is beneath him.

Even from a neutral point of view I'd take exception to such a notion, i.e. the Tour de France is a very specific race on the calendar where riders can target certain objectives only if they've made the career choice years in advance to do so. That means if someone wants to ride for green they sign for a team which will back that mission, if someone wants to target stage wins they sign for a team which will back that. But if someone finds himself on a team aiming for the yellow jersey, then the mission is self-evident, i.e. win the Tour.

I was joking about a scenario earlier with some people I know, but it goes as follows: Kruijswijk is having a bad day, Sepp Kuss gets a puncture/or crashes & Vingegaard is missing in action, so what does Wout van Aert do? Ease off the pedals because he's aiming for the Olympics & world championship?

No. He rides tempo & does what Roglic needs him to do, whether he's on a climb or not, if he has the legs. They're not going to beat Ineos or UAE for yellow if there's even one rider on the team not 100% committed to the task.

That's how I see it in any case.
Van Aert came out of cyclocross and debuted fairly late in top level roadracing. The moment he signed for TJV, he had a role on the same level as Teunissen and some others at the team, can you imagine? Neither Van Aert himself, nor the team knew what his potential was. There was no "planning years in advance".
 

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