Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[Ilmaestro99]

Got sick of seeing his team win everything when they don't have to ride for him

 

[DNP-Old]

Jumbo is just speed running disdain at this point.

 

[theyoungest]

Jumbo is just speed running disdain at this point.

If Van Aert feels he won't really be competitive at Strade, there's no point in riding it. He's not the kind of rider who goes there to come top-10. Disdain is a strong word anyway, when they have a former winner and last year's no. 4 at the start...

 

[KenFiamingo]

He wasn't that impressive in De Omloop to match the performance of Mathieu/Alaphilippe in 2021.

That's exactly why he'll score.

The Omloop is not an indicator for the Strade Bianche. We know Pidcock IS in a good shape and as far as i'm concerned Pidcock is better suited for hilly races than the cobblestone ones.

Add the gravel and he's the main favorite next Saturday IMO.

 

[DNP-Old]

If Van Aert feels he won't really be competitive at Strade, there's no point in riding it. He's not the kind of rider who goes there to come top-10. Disdain is a strong word anyway, when they have a former winner and last year's no. 4 at the start...

Disdain goes much further than just this instance, because there are more events out there. Plugge and the rest of their cult do not seem to respect the race all that much.

 

[theyoungest]

Disdain goes much further than just this instance, because there are more events out there. Plugge and the rest of their cult do not seem to respect the race all that much.

Do please explain.

 

[jono]

That's exactly why he'll score.

The Omloop is not an indicator for the Strade Bianche. We know Pidcock IS in a good shape and as far as i'm concerned Pidcock is better suited for hilly races than the cobblestone ones.

Add the gravel and he's the main favorite next Saturday IMO.

Where would you expect Pidcock to drop someone like Van der Poel, for example.

 

[DNP-Old]

Do please explain.

With pleasure.

• The first pancakes are for the children (RE: teams winning a race before Omloop)
• Forcing Kruijswijk to DNF in Gran Camiño just before the final climb because ''his work was done''.
• Wanting some sort of equivalent of the Super League in cycling, by cutting a third of all races from the calendar
• Completely booking out the only hotel near Teide through some dodgy scheme until at least(!) 2026(!!!), blocking other teams from using it. There isn't even room for one individual (Jasper Stuyven)
• This follows up on the two previous points: stowing away riders we as fans wish to see on some mountain for months on end, because racing is not most important.
• We are playing totaalwielrennen

 

[Andre]

sad that Wout won't be racing Strade

 

[Tim Cahill]

 

[theyoungest]

With pleasure.

• The first pancakes are for the children (RE: teams winning a race before Omloop)
• Forcing Kruijswijk to DNF in Gran Camiño just before the final climb because ''his work was done''.
• Wanting some sort of equivalent of the Super League in cycling, by cutting a third of all races from the calendar
• Completely booking out the only hotel near Teide through some dodgy scheme until at least(!) 2026(!!!), blocking other teams from using it. There isn't even room for one individual (Jasper Stuyven)
• This follows up on the two previous points: stowing away riders we as fans wish to see on some mountain for months on end, because racing is not most important.
• We are playing totaalwielrennen

You know you are being dishonest in at least half of these. The 'first pancakes are for children' comment (which you know is perfectly regular in Dutch) refers to a comment made by a French journalist last week, and in reaction Plugge jokingly said after the Omloop that 'les premières crêpes sont pour les enfants'. The comment about totaalwielrennen is about trying to make cycling more entertaining for the fans rather than less, by not just focusing on one thing (GC, sprints, or stage hunting) as opposed to the Team Sky approach.

I didn't know about that Kruijswijk story, but why do you care? Were you waiting for him to finish 45th? He's still in recovery from his crash in the Tour, and was only in that race as a workhorse. And as for 'stowing away riders on a mountain', it's funny because cycling fans used to be all about tradition and that only the 'real' classics matter. Now suddenly we should see Wout van Aert in the Tour of Oman?

All of this doesn't explain why according to you they don't care about Strade Bianche though. Yeah, maybe not as much as they care about the Ronde or Roubaix, but that's probably more because they haven't won either of those yet.

 

[KenFiamingo]

Where would you expect Pidcock to drop someone like Van der Poel, for example.

It's certainly possible. Not saying this WILL happen. Remains to be seen if MVDP2021 will participate.

But generally it's wrong to approach this as a duel where one needs to drop the other. It's about using the race circumstances and (team) tactics to your advantage. Most races are not won by dropping your main opponent but by beating them in every possible way.

 

[Boes]

He's still riding TA. So I am wondering if the extra 48 hours will make the difference.

Either they didn't plan right with the CX Worlds or they're using TA to train for MSR and other spring classics.
Either way, not the dream start of the season WVA will have wanted.

Could be a lot more second places for WVA this season.

 

[jono]

It's certainly possible. Not saying this WILL happen. Remains to be seen if MVDP2021 will participate.

But generally it's wrong to approach this as a duel where one needs to drop the other. It's about using the race circumstances and (team) tactics to your advantage. Most races are not won by dropping your main opponent but by beating them in every possible way.

It's certainly possible Pidcock wins SB, and he's likely to have the stronger team on the day, but I don't see enough evidence of his strength or the weakness of his main rivals (those will be racing), especially MVDP, to make Tom the top favourite.

 

[stonerider]

I think Wout's form was already on the decline at CX Worlds. I also believe he raced too many CX races this winter. For the best road prep they should shut down the CX racing the first week of January and skip CX Worlds to concentrate on preparing for the road Spring Classics.

 

[Panda Claws]

WvA will be stronk

 

[Peyroteo94]

His team is brilliant. He must win one north classic this year (Flanders or Roubaix) or I will call him flop

 

[Tim Cahill]

Who knows if it's WVA or the team making the decision in this instance, he can't be that bad otherwise I doubt he'd be doing TA starting right after. He doesn't seem like the kind of competitor to want to miss races like this because it doesn't sync up just right with his training.

Missed a few days of altitude training early on but apparently it was a long camp anyway, compare/contrast with VDP turning up to San Remo as his first race and with a bad back, without really knowing where he was at and making the selection anyway. Much like Sky years back, It's hard to argue with the methods as they're clearly working and winning everything, but that also doesn't mean we need to like them, as a team that appear to be completely devoid of romance. Fan-favourite Roglic doing little racing and a Giro he clearly doesn't want to be at springs to mind.

1983, a young Lemond puts too much pressure on himself to win the WCRR in Switzerland, subsequently stays awake all night worrying as he always did and ends up throwing all his breakfast up in the morning due to the nerves. He goes back to the car during the race looking like death, with no strength at all telling them he'd blown it and Cyrille Guimard tells him 'Greg, all the greatest rides were done on no sleep'.

 

[Netserk]

I don’t think it’s any more disrespectful than skipping the opening weekend. And if he wouldn’t have the form to win, it will allow his teammates to ride for the win. Sure, they could ride for Benoot with Van Aert also present, but if additional training better prepares him for the classics, it’s a no-brainer.

 

[theyoungest]

Who knows if it's WVA or the team making the decision in this instance, he can't be that bad otherwise I doubt he'd be doing TA starting right after. He doesn't seem like the kind of competitor to want to miss races like this because it doesn't sync up just right with his training.

Missed a few days of altitude training early on but apparently it was a long camp anyway, compare/contrast with VDP turning up to San Remo as his first race and with a bad back, without really knowing where he was at and making the selection anyway. Much like Sky years back, It's hard to argue with the methods as they're clearly working and winning everything, but that also doesn't mean we need to like them, as a team that appear to be completely devoid of romance. Fan-favourite Roglic doing little racing and a Giro he clearly doesn't want to be at springs to mind.

If Van Aert wants to ride Strade, he rides Strade. Simple as that. Roglic not having raced so far has a clear reason, I'm sure his fans wouldn't want to force him to race when he's not fully fit yet. Where's the 'romance' in that? Yeah, maybe if you see romance as a synonym for failure.

 

[SafeBet]

It's certainly possible Pidcock wins SB, and he's likely to have the stronger team on the day, but I don't see enough evidence of his strength or the weakness of his main rivals (those will be racing), especially MVDP, to make Tom the top favourite.

If the opening weekend was an indication, I'm pretty sure Jumbo will have the strongest team even without Van Aert.
Benoot has won this race before, Valter was 4th last year, Vader has MTB background and Tratnik looks in stellar form.

Sheffield and Kwiatkowski will need to step up their game significantly to be of any help.

 

[Red Rick]

If the opening weekend was an indication, I'm pretty sure Jumbo will have the strongest team even without Van Aert.
Benoot has won this race before, Valter was 4th last year, Vader has MTB background and Tratnik looks in stellar form.

Sheffield and Kwiatkowski will need to step up their game significantly to be of any help.

I think Strade is very different from the cobbles, depth is much less impactful and it's a much more climber friendly race than the cobbled races.

I'd mainly look at Benoot and Tratnik for Jumbo, which is a good duo but nothing outrageous. Vader has some way to go. He implied in a podcast last year he's top tier within the team on fresh short climbs but that he really felt he lacked the endurance from longer, harder races last year, and that he still has yet to develop that.

I'd be surprised if Van Baarle doesn't start. He hasn't started it ever, but he's generally done Paris Nice and is now on the list for Tirreno

 

[CyclistAbi]

Health comes first. Plenty of racing left to perform.

 

[Berniece]

Health comes first. Plenty of racing left to perform.

Health? He's riding Tirreno two days later. Maybe they want to try and win it with Wout again.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Health? He's riding Tirreno two days later. Maybe they want to try and win it with Wout again.

I read he had a bit of a health issues. As for TA and looking at the field and profiles. Indeed he has a chance. One stage is a bit problematic. But the rest should suit him.