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Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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WVA going for GC makes the Giro much more interesting regardless of his real chances. He could start the Alps with 4 or 5 minutes on the best climber.
And Jumbo will likely have other cards to play in case he fades during the third week.
Combined with Merijn Zeeman's comments about giving young guys opportunities in the Giro, and top-10 on GC could already be a good result, I actually think he's not going for GC. It doesn't suit Jumbo's approach either to train for the classics and then a month later to go for GC in the Giro.

But I didn't expect him to go to the Giro at all so maybe it's a complete turnaround.
 
Combined with Merijn Zeeman's comments about giving young guys opportunities in the Giro, and top-10 on GC could already be a good result, I actually think he's not going for GC. It doesn't suit Jumbo's approach either to train for the classics and then a month later to go for GC in the Giro.

But I didn't expect him to go to the Giro at all so maybe it's a complete turnaround.

VWA has to go to the Giro at some stage in his career and 2024 is as good a time as any, though I doubt he'll ride for GC.
 
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He is not going there for GC, lol.

He will be going there for stages and the points jersey.

In the spring he will likely race Strade, T-A, MSR, E3, Flanders and PR before the Giro.

Belgium nationals and then he will go all in on the Olympics.

In the Tour, he cant ride for Jumbo like VdP did for Alpecin last season. A lot more is expected of him.

This program makes a lot more sense for Van Aert next season. He will probably win 4-5 stages in the Giro.
 
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Yes but can he do that AND still maintain power and ability to win Flanders, Paris-Roubaix etc? Sounds amazing but is it feasible?
No that won’t be possible, he’ll have to choose, and I think he’ll choose the Giro. Maybe his nee physique might help him in Flanders. At Jumbo they might have thought of Pogacar can win it when weighing much less, maybe we can do the same with Wout
 
No that won’t be possible, he’ll have to choose, and I think he’ll choose the Giro. Maybe his nee physique might help him in Flanders. At Jumbo they might have thought of Pogacar can win it when weighing much less, maybe we can do the same with Wout

Losing weight to help him defeat Pogacar and MVDP at Flanders whilst targeting a decent GC finish in the Giro does make some crazy sense. I think the biggest question is whether he could avoid one really bad day (he is obviously going to lose some proper time in the high mountains to seasoned GC riders, but a minute or two here and there could be possible and could keep him close to the podium).
 
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Losing weight to help him defeat Pogacar and MVDP at Flanders whilst targeting a decent GC finish in the Giro does make some crazy sense. I think the biggest question is whether he could avoid one really bad day (he is obviously going to lose some proper time in the high mountains to seasoned GC riders, but a minute or two here and there could be possible and could keep him close to the podium).
I think the bigger issue might be that you can’t be in top shape for that long, from beginning of April to end of may. 9 weeks at the top of your game is too long. It makes more sense to target Liege if you lose weight anyway