Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[Rackham]

It has to be said Wout van Aert has emerged as a one day star... just when there seems to be an abundance of one day superstars crushing it in monuments & the Worlds.

I think the bar in these types of races is higher than it's been in a while.

 

[theyoungest]

He'll get his revenge in Paris next year.

You mean on another city circuit with lots of corners and short climbs?

 

[Monte Serra]

You mean on another city circuit with lots of corners and short climbs?

Yes, one can hope. It's not a bad parcours for Van Aert. I think it would be great if Wout could land a big win after all those second places.

 

[theyoungest]

Yes, one can hope. It's not a bad parcours for Van Aert. Even though I hold a Dutch passport, I think it would be great if Wout could land a big win after all those second places.

Oh sure, he's certainly due a big win, but Van der Poel pretty much always has the better of him. So unless VDP focuses on the mountainbike, seems like another tall order for Van Aert.

 

[Davesta]

OK so everyone here know I have been one of the biggest wva detractors on the forum the last couple of years.

But I think it's clear that if VDP was here in the best shape he would win, the course just suits his capacities perfectly. Twisty, short explosive efforts repeated a ridiculous number of times over 270km, bad weather, steep climbs but never longer than 30 seconds.

I don't really understand how wva beats a top level VDP. 2nd was about the best he could get and he got it. Maybe he did a bit too much work at some points in the race but not like he made a silly mistake. He is a similar talent but not the same kind of rider as VDP.

In the past seasons I was calling him Belgian pozzato because he was incredibly physically strong but wasted opportunities with defensive and unintelligent racing, poor decision making, lack of initiative. I think however this season he just had a bit of bad luck and faced 2 simply stronger opponents. Van der poel and pogacar both have their best years right now, and with the exception of roubaix, where wva had his flattire, the courses of the other big races favour their repeated accelerations

I’m a big WvA fan, but I quite enjoy your Belgian Pozzato jibes! This is a v fair assessment though…
I think his best (only?) chance to beat a top level MvdP is to risk a lot more. Even today I thought Wout was too defensive - he was well positioned throughout and put in a couple of soft attacks to counter Remco and tire people’s legs, but there were times around 50-60km to go where I thought he could’ve gone for a full gas attack when others (including mvdp) were badly positioned. Of course if it didn’t work it would be game over, but he surely has to try something like that at some point when the alternative is to watch MvdP power away up the road…?

 

[IndianCyclist]

At this rate he is going to have the gold medal in 2nd places

 

[Red Rick]

I don't get the idea that Van Aert should attack more. It's kinda ridiculous.

He's not just gonna be allowed to ride away. Van Aert responds quite a bit to moves, and drives the pace qutie a bit more than MvdP. It's not as if others will allow Van Aert to just ride away. Everyone is completely dead at the end, so it's not like that proves Van Aert should be going solo earlier.

If anything he should be doing less and use the Belgian team more to tire MvdP out.

 

[Aimar16]

At this rate he is going to have the gold medal in 2nd places

The Belgian Sagan, except Sagan also had a lot of (big) wins, not just many second places

 

[Red Rick]

At this rate he is going to have the gold medal in 2nd places

Could do worse and become a meme track cyclist

 

[DNP-Old]

Could do worse and become a meme track cyclist

Don't act like you didn't just enjoy the hell out of the IP.

 

[Red Rick]

Don't act like you didn't just enjoy the hell out of the IP.

I find it some events entertaining, I just don't rate most of them. I also don't rate riders who are good on track only but completely suck on the road.

There's also so many events it gets so easy to rack up an insane medal count.

 

[DNP-Old]

I find it some events entertaining, I just don't rate most of them. I also don't rate riders who are good on track only but completely suck on the road.

There's also so many events it gets so easy to rack up an insane medal count.

There are some ludicrous events in there, and they even made it worse by making the omnium a pure endurance event, but overall it's a nice mix between power and endurance. Watching Lavreysen and Ganna go to work in their respective area is pure art.

Let's be real though, no matter how ridiculous they make it, nothing could compare to the medal dump that is swimming.

 

[Red Rick]

There are some ludicrous events in there, and they even made it worse by making the omnium a pure endurance event, but overall it's a nice mix between power and endurance. Watching Lavreysen and Ganna go to work in their respective area is pure art.

Let's be real though, no matter how ridiculous they make it, nothing could compare to the medal dump that is swimming.

Yeah, swimming is compeltely ridiculous.

I hate they removed the IPs from the Olympics, it's my favorite track event. I find the sprinting events okay because that's pure specialist stuff with no crossover to road, but when I see a washed up Viviani be world class at the omnium I just find it hard to respect it much.

I feel like Van Aert could do a drunk bet, train on track for 3 weeks and crush the omnium guys.

 

[Panda Claws]

I wonder if WvA would have beaten MvdP at the Tokyo road race.
I feel he may be able to contest heavier parcours better than MvdP can. Of course he would then still need to beat Pogacar etc. but who knows.

 

[ice&fire]

I wonder if WvA would have beaten MvdP at the Tokyo road race.
I feel he may be able to contest heavier parcours better than MvdP can. Of course he would then still need to beat Pogacar etc. but who knows.

I believe WvA is better than MvdP when hills are longer than 2km. WvA beat Pogacar in Tokio. MvdP would have had to work for Mollema.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The Belgian Sagan, except Sagan also had a lot of (big) wins, not just many second places

hmm no

for me it's this way. It's both a blessing and a curse for Wout, (but in lesser sense also for Mathieu and Pogi) that he has MVDP and Pogi in these races. Yes, they are hard to beat, but also, they will ride with him, work with him. If it was Wout alone vs the rest, or VDP alone vs the rest, or Pogi alone vs the rest, they would win less classics because literally everybody and their mother would ride on the wheel (like with Sagan) and tire/empty them out until they can't respond any longer.

The fact that they work together just makes them nearly overpowered since those 3 usually flatten everyone else. Even when in RVV for instance a group of basically 4 star favorites (consider VDP/WVA/Pogi 5 stars) went away, had a 2 minute lead and still got absolutely shat on by Pogi/VDP...
But yeah, the flipside is it's very hard for WVA to win a mano-e-mano with VDP or Pogi at the minute. Especially when it's 250k+. He seems to do better in stages and classics to 200km~

 

[Aimar16]

hmm no

for me it's this way. It's both a blessing and a curse for Wout, (but in lesser sense also for Mathieu and Pogi) that he has MVDP and Pogi in these races. Yes, they are hard to beat, but also, they will ride with him, work with him. If it was Wout alone vs the rest, or VDP alone vs the rest, or Pogi alone vs the rest, they would win less classics because literally everybody and their mother would ride on the wheel (like with Sagan) and tire/empty them out until they can't respond any longer.

The fact that they work together just makes them nearly overpowered since those 3 usually flatten everyone else. Even when in RVV for instance a group of basically 4 star favorites (consider VDP/WVA/Pogi 5 stars) went away, had a 2 minute lead and still got absolutely shat on by Pogi/VDP...
But yeah, the flipside is it's very hard for WVA to win a mano-e-mano with VDP or Pogi at the minute. Especially when it's 250k+. He seems to do better in stages and classics to 200km~

It was just a lame joke comment. I have a similar opinion as you - https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threads/offical-wout-van-aert-thread.33925/page-163#post-2878038

 

[Ilmaestro99]

I’m a big WvA fan, but I quite enjoy your Belgian Pozzato jibes! This is a v fair assessment though…
I think his best (only?) chance to beat a top level MvdP is to risk a lot more. Even today I thought Wout was too defensive - he was well positioned throughout and put in a couple of soft attacks to counter Remco and tire people’s legs, but there were times around 50-60km to go where I thought he could’ve gone for a full gas attack when others (including mvdp) were badly positioned. Of course if it didn’t work it would be game over, but he surely has to try something like that at some point when the alternative is to watch MvdP power away up the road…?

For sure, he doesn't seem to have that instinct to risk it all. Even today as you say a little bit defensive, but unlike in previous races I think today it might not have worked. VDP just the strongest.

Anyway that 50-60km window can be a great time to place an explosive and well timed attack. Look how sagan won roubaix. And this is what these big classics are about. To be unafraid of losing. To play your card, roll the dice. It's how Nibali win sanremo, how ballan win the worlds, how van der poel win the big races. Maybe WVA need to accept that he has to roll the dice and anticipate more, as he gets older and isnt the top star of the race. To be that rider who is unafraid of losing. But it doesn't seem to be in his nature..

It's always baffled me how his top rival, MVDP, is exactly the guy who will just launch a nuclear attack at a certain point in the race, and will win from it. And yet WVA has never learned to try that. In omloop when he win, in strade in 2020, in gent wevelgem this year, he does it and wins. But in the biggest stage its always tentative, always holding back.

 

[Peyroteo94]

He needs to understand he is not in the same level of Pogacar and specially MVP when we talk about ceilling in monuments. He doesn't have the watts to beat them. He needs to race smarter, risk a big move early on or play with the numbers (Laporte, Van Baarle). I still think he can't accept MVP is better than him and tries always to follow him and share the same amount of work during a race. However I already saw this outcome a lot of times. He works with MVP and MVP lauches a nuclear bomb that WVA can't resist.

 

[Panda Claws]

After winning MSR in 2019 2020 which was coincidentally the first time he stood on the podium of a monument he has proceeded to end up as second or third for nine times in a row.
It is crazy how well this mirrors Raymond Poulidor's career who also won MSR in 1961 (first time making the podium of a monument/GT) and then got eight more podiums in monuments/WCRR. Of course, Poulidor also won the Vuelta in 1964 though.
If we count Monuments + GT's then Poulidor couldn't get the first spot 14 times in a row.

I actually believe Wout Van Aert now holds the record for most podiums in the biggest one-day races without winning any of them with nine.

Raymond Poulidor sits at eight if you start counting after Milano-Sanremo 1961 and not after Vuelta a España 1964 (MSR 1961 - WCRR 1974).
Frans Verbeeck sits at eight (never won one) (LBL 1970 - LBL 1976).
Felice Gimondi had a streak of eight between Giro di Lombardia 1966 and WCRR 1973 (again discounting any GT wins here).
Alejandro Valverde had a streak of seven between Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2008 and Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2015. (or eight if you count his result in Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2010).

I also don't think I am really missing anyone. There have been people like Aleksandr Kolobnev who famously never won a monument but he for example 'only' sits at five.

I looked at quite a few riders and I found no others at six or seven. It is really rare to grab many podiums and not get wins. Classic examples like Greg Van Avermaet mostly got top-10's.

Stunning consistency! Notice how much his faster he got to this number than the others I've named.

 

[Peyroteo94]

After winning MSR in 2019 which was coincidentally the first time he stood on the podium of a monument he has proceeded to end up as second or third for nine times in a row.
It is crazy how well this mirrors Raymond Poulidor's career who also won MSR in 1961 (first time making the podium of a monument/GT) and then got eight more podiums in monuments/WCRR. Of course, Poulidor also won the Vuelta in 1964 though.
If we count Monuments + GT's then Poulidor couldn't get the first spot 14 times in a row.

I actually believe Wout Van Aert now holds the record for most podiums in the biggest one-day races without winning any of them with nine.

Raymond Poulidor sits at eight if you start counting after Milano-Sanremo 1961 and not after Vuelta a España 1964.
Frans Verbeeck sits at eight (never won one).
Felice Gimondi had a streak of eight between Giro di Lombardia 1966 and WCRR 1973 (again discounting any GT wins here).
Alejandro Valverde had a streak of seven between Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2008 and Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2015. (or eight if you count his result in Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2010).

I also don't think I am really missing anyone. There have been people like Aleksandr Kolobnev who famously never won a monument but he for example 'only' sits at five.

I looked at quite a few riders and I found no others at six or seven.

He won 2020 MSR.

 

[Oldermanish]

It has to be said Wout van Aert has emerged as a one day star... just when there seems to be an abundance of one day superstars crushing it in monuments & the Worlds.

I think the bar in these types of races is higher than it's been in a while.

It seems so for so many riders. The relatively close second group was honestly contentious until it was clear they couldn't win. You had every type of rider finishing well on a tough course.
It was still an amazing race for the front 4 and Bettiol should have no regrets. He helped create the epic finale.

 

[senna6541]

Pulling for Wout in the ITT. As far as winning in the Road WC's, too bad he didn't capitalize when MVDP was compromised/out in Leuven/Australia. Of course MVDP missed a couple opportunities there himself. Especially in Leuven where an on form MVDP beats APH pretty easily IMO. I can't see how Wout doesn't win at least one Paris-Roubaix. The big wins will come for Wout.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Man I just really want Wout to win something big. He’s way too good for his record in Monuments + WCRR.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Man I just really want Wout to win something big. He’s way too good for his record in Monuments + WCRR.