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Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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theyoungest

Jan 11, 2010
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Berniece said:
Health? He's riding Tirreno two days later. Maybe they want to try and win it with Wout again.
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The reason isn't health, he could have raced if he wanted to. But now he gets a few extra days on altitude after his illness.

Their GC leader for Tirreno is Kelderman, another of their riders who hasn't been racing yet.

Red Rick said:
I'd mainly look at Benoot and Tratnik for Jumbo, which is a good duo but nothing outrageous.
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They also have Attila Valter, who came 4th last year. Benoot looked alright, but not great (a bit weird to say when he's just won Kuurne, but he was clearly weaker than Wellens and Mohoric on the climbs). To me Tratnik looked stronger, I hope they won't let him sacrifice himself for Benoot because I think that's the wrong choice.
 
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frisenfruitig

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theyoungest said:
The reason isn't health, he could have raced if he wanted to. But now he gets a few extra days on altitude after his illness.

Their GC leader for Tirreno is Kelderman, another of their riders who hasn't been racing yet.


They also have Attila Valter, who came 4th last year. Benoot looked alright, but not great (a bit weird to say when he's just won Kuurne, but he was clearly weaker than Wellens and Mohoric on the climbs). To me Tratnik looked stronger, I hope they won't let him sacrifice himself for Benoot because I think that's the wrong choice.
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I don't know, Strade is a different kind of race. More climbing prowess is required and I think that suits Benoot better than Omloop. I also think Wellens is stronger at the moment though.
 
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Ricco'

Ricco'

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He indeed said in the video that he was going to stay in the volcano to arrive in Tirreno-Adriatico in his best possible condition.

Let's hope they are intelligent enough to not come with all guns blazing next week only to happen like 2021 and be subpar 3 weeks later in Flanders. I wouldn't be to bothered about it but don't want no asterisk next to VdP's name.
 
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BR2

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Ricco' said:
He indeed said in the video that he was going to stay in the volcano to arrive in Tirreno-Adriatico in his best possible condition.

Let's hope they are intelligent enough to not come with all guns blazing next week only to happen like 2021 and be subpar 3 weeks later in Flanders. I wouldn't be to bothered about it but don't want no asterisk next to VdP's name.
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They always come out blazing after their camps, but after a short while they look kinda human - the effect doesn't seem to last that long.
 
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theyoungest

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Ricco' said:
He indeed said in the video that he was going to stay in the volcano to arrive in Tirreno-Adriatico in his best possible condition.
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No, he didn't say that. The subtitles did, but Wout didn't :) He literally said "I hope to use Tirreno to make the final step toward my top shape".

It's been pretty obvious all along that they're really peaking for Flanders and Roubaix this time. Whether it works remains to be seen, of course, but that's the goal.
 
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Ricco'

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theyoungest said:
No, he didn't say that. The subtitles did, but Wout didn't :) He literally said "I hope to use Tirreno to make the final step toward my top shape".

It's been pretty obvious all along that they're really peaking for Flanders and Roubaix this time. Whether it works remains to be seen, of course, but that's the goal.
Click to expand...

Thanks! As the subtitled video was shared by Van Aert himself I thought that it was an accurate translation.
 
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Nick2413

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Red Rick said:
Did he start ahead or behind Pogacar on Hautacam?

Did he finish ahead or behind Pogacar on Hautacam?

In reality Van Aert was 3'35 slower on the climb to Hautacam.

Prati di Tivo is the much more relevant comparison.
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How dare you bring relevant key facts to this argument.

That said, if Wout can get 2nd to only Pogacar and handily beat the likes of Bernal directly before his Giro victory, as well as Landa, Almeida etc. by minutes, I think he has a strong chance of winning here. Mas may be too good though.
 
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theyoungest

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Nick2413 said:
How dare you bring relevant key facts to this argument.

That said, if Wout can get 2nd to only Pogacar and handily beat the likes of Bernal directly before his Giro victory, as well as Landa, Almeida etc. by minutes, I think he has a strong chance of winning here. Mas may be too good though.
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Once again, Wout isn't going for GC. Kelderman is. He's a better climber than Wout anyway.
 
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Red Rick

Red Rick

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tobydawq said:
Factual my ass. You take any chance you get of belittling Van Aert. Especially this broken record of "but he didn't have to ride all the way to the line on Hautacam" is getting especially tiring.
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I only posted the times because I get mildly annoyed when people make grandiose claims unsupported by data. That's my mistake.

But I don't always have an agenda, and I'm not browsing the forum specifically so I can put down Van Aert, Valverde or Evenepoel for that matter.

Frankly I think Van Aert has had clearly better climbing performances than Hautacam, including Prati di Tivo, Mikuni Pass, Mont Ventoux, and Col d'Eze. He could win Tirreno. But I don't think he'll even try. But that he could win is much better supported by Prati di Tivo than it is by Hautacam.
 
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tobydawq

tobydawq

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Red Rick said:
I only posted the times because I get mildly annoyed when people make grandiose claims unsupported by data. That's my mistake.

But I don't always have an agenda, and I'm not browsing the forum specifically so I can put down Van Aert, Valverde or Evenepoel for that matter.

Frankly I think Van Aert has had clearly better climbing performances than Hautacam, including Prati di Tivo, Mikuni Pass, Mont Ventoux, and Col d'Eze. He could win Tirreno. But I don't think he'll even try. But that he could win is much better supported by Prati di Tivo than it is by Hautacam.
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I don't agree with that. At least they are equally supportive of the fact. It wasn't just one hard pull which you tend to make it sound like. He was bossing the race day in and day out, and on Hautacam it was definitely only Vingegaard and Pogacar who were clearly stronger than him.

I do agree that he probably will not try to win Tirreno, though. I think the scars of 2021 are still there.
 
DNP-Old

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tobydawq said:
I do agree that he probably will not try to win Tirreno, though. I think the scars of 2021 are still there.
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We also play / have played our part in this. No individual specifically, just watchers of cycling in general. It's more or less the same development that has been going on in the NBA for decades, where great players get slaughtered by journo's, analysts and fans if they don't win the championship. It's all about rings. Ringz Erneh. Thus, players do not take the regular season seriously and sit out a third of the year in order to retain freshness for the postseason.

We have practically done the same to Wout. He will be deemed a failure, a loser and so forth if he does not win a(nother) monument. Anything and everything he does before or after does not seem to matter anymore. In the past 7 days alone I've heard Boonen, Bakelants and Museeuw spread this message.
 
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Boes

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Meh, never forget Cancellare was 28 when he won his first RVV (not even Roubaix).
WVA is... 28.

I wouldn't at all be suprised if he manages to win at least 2-3 more monuments before his carreer is over. In all fairness he still has 5-6 good years in normal circumstances. But he'll never outshine the likes of Boonen or Cancellare in the Cobble classics eventhough he arguably is more talented.

Furthermore, if he doesn't ride himself to oblivion in this years tour as he did last year, he's my main favourite to become WC. He's always so strong in TdF and has proven in Olympics he can use TdF to his advantage.

For all we know he'll win Flanders or Roubaix and become WC in August and everyone will be having an interely different discussion.
 
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Peyroteo94

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Boes said:
Meh, never forget Cancellare was 28 when he won his first RVV (not even Roubaix).
WVA is... 28.

I wouldn't at all be suprised if he manages to win at least 2-3 more monuments before his carreer is over. In all fairness he still has 5-6 good years in normal circumstances. But he'll never outshine the likes of Boonen or Cancellare in the Cobble classics eventhough he arguably is more talented.

Furthermore, if he doesn't ride himself to oblivion in this years tour as he did last year, he's my main favourite to become WC. He's always so strong in TdF and has proven in Olympics he can use TdF to his advantage.

For all we know he'll win Flanders or Roubaix and become WC in August and everyone will be having an interely different discussion.
Click to expand...
Cancelaara won 2006 Paris Roubaix at the age of 26 and Flanders with 30 years old
 
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Nick2413

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Boes said:
Meh, never forget Cancellare was 28 when he won his first RVV (not even Roubaix).
WVA is... 28.

I wouldn't at all be suprised if he manages to win at least 2-3 more monuments before his carreer is over. In all fairness he still has 5-6 good years in normal circumstances. But he'll never outshine the likes of Boonen or Cancellare in the Cobble classics eventhough he arguably is more talented.

Furthermore, if he doesn't ride himself to oblivion in this years tour as he did last year, he's my main favourite to become WC. He's always so strong in TdF and has proven in Olympics he can use TdF to his advantage.

For all we know he'll win Flanders or Roubaix and become WC in August and everyone will be having an interely different discussion.
Click to expand...
I expect him to win at least 1 of Flanders or Roubaix this year, probably Roubaix.
 
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