Why? In 2021 he lost 45s to Pogacar at Tirreno during this stage. I don't remember how the stage unfolded anymore though. He also showed at the TDF that he could climb, so if he's able to lose a couple of pounds I can see him compete for GC.
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Yeah and he might end up top 5 or if he gets into a good break maybe top 3.Why? In 2021 he lost 45s to Pogacar at Tirreno during this stage. I don't remember how the stage unfolded anymore though. He also showed at the TDF that he could climb, so if he's able to lose a couple of pounds I can see him compete for GC.
But his change in physique will cost him results in the classics.
Not everyone can Pogacar his way trough the season winning GC's and one day races. There's no shame in being a classic rider and sprinter. I hope he realizes that.
Any chance he can stay in pink after stage 2? If he can hold onto it, that could be 7 days in pink total considering the parcours.
Not sure what the hell Wout is thinking here. He's not a GC racer and even if won the Giro he would just be another second tier GC racer like the other guys who are good enough to win the Giro but not the TDF (i.e. Jai Hindley, etc.). Whether he likes it our not, his career will be defined by his palmares in the big 1 day races. I'm a MVDP honk, but I have no doubt Wout will get at least a couple more big ones (including PR and RVV) if he just stays the course and doesn't play donkey for skeletor. With his climbing ability I could see him maybe shifting his focus for a year to the hillier Monuments like LBL and Lombardy. But this GT GC stuff is just garbled nonsense.
If they announce his spring campagn, and L-B-L is on his list, I think we will know where his intentions lie.
Well, if he wins the Giro, that will definitelly define his career and become his biggest achievement by far. But I don't believe for a second such thing is possible.
There was no real action until the final climb and Wout was dropped fairly early but settled into a decent TT type rhythm to moderate his losses enough to still finish top 10 in the stage and close enough for his bonus seconds and flat TT to get him the podium.Why? In 2021 he lost 45s to Pogacar at Tirreno during this stage. I don't remember how the stage unfolded anymore though. He also showed at the TDF that he could climb, so if he's able to lose a couple of pounds I can see him compete for GC.
If he Almeidas the climbs when they get harder he can limit losses especially if the climbers go stop start and play games with each other.
He probably does need to slim down a bit to keep up with Pogacar when he goes full gas on Oude Kwaremont.
We don't have a lot to go on because Pog isn't going on random solo breakaways in the tour and doesn't target flat TTs but I'd take Pog over Wout on a flat course. They're at least in the same ballpark.
Wout does edge him on flat sprints. But technically Pog has more victories on the same time as 2nd place than Wout does. (Mainly because Wout doesn't win enough.)
I think it's fine for Wout to go for Giro GC but he shoudln't do it at the expense of his classics campaign. Target the classics, then go to the Giro and see what happens. Ship time on some MTF and you can just pull an Evenepoel and spend the rest of the race bagging stages. But if it goes pretty well then consider going all in on a future GT (if that's what he fancies).
Literally anything is better than domming the tour.
Literally anything is better than domming the tour.
If they properly go for the GC, I think some weightloss is implied after the classics. Hardly an ideal prep for a GT.
Ditto for classics performance if they drop the weight before them.
IMHO the least risky strategy would be to keep a cool head and target the classics, grab and hold the pink for a while in the giro if that is important, then build for the Olympics and the worlds.
Ditto for classics performance if they drop the weight before them.
IMHO the least risky strategy would be to keep a cool head and target the classics, grab and hold the pink for a while in the giro if that is important, then build for the Olympics and the worlds.
I've been thinking, could an attempt at the Giro GC lead to him missing out on being selected for the Olympics?
Belgium has only 4 spots - Remco will get one of them, what happens if Giro prep (weight loss) leads to WVA having a less than stellar Classics season and De Lie +/or Philipsen have an amazing Spring?
What's the timeline for Belgium selection for the Olympics? Are they even taking 2 leaders? Or will it be three to support Remco?
I suspect he goes anyway - Belgium has two TT spots and you can only have 4 male riders in the road team to cover road race & TT - so two will have to double up - Remco & Wout presumably?
What do you think?
Belgium has only 4 spots - Remco will get one of them, what happens if Giro prep (weight loss) leads to WVA having a less than stellar Classics season and De Lie +/or Philipsen have an amazing Spring?
What's the timeline for Belgium selection for the Olympics? Are they even taking 2 leaders? Or will it be three to support Remco?
I suspect he goes anyway - Belgium has two TT spots and you can only have 4 male riders in the road team to cover road race & TT - so two will have to double up - Remco & Wout presumably?
What do you think?
He is not doing Giro GC. Everything in this post becomes invalid after that.
He would never be skipped, Belgian coach has a hard on for him
WVA also now considering vuelta and worlds. Him and MvP doing intervals from the gruppeto in the Spanish mountains?
Also skipping SR? Of course he's won it before, but as the Great One said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Maybe shaking things up will pay off, but some of this schedule decisions seem a bit rash. He was very, very close last year - especially at PR. We'll see how this supposed Giro GC thing goes - or actually we won't here in the US after this horrible announcement about GCN.
Has anyone with any connection to Van Aert or his team actually said anything about Giro GC? Or is it just another wild specualtion frenzy that happens to all strong riders regardless of specialization, like Sagan early career? I thought this whole thing originated with some Dutch or Belgian journalist who wanted to see WvA try GC?
It's wild speculation. I hope he goes for it, but apparently he also said that the biggest goal is still to win a classic. So if he really wants to go for the classics, he'll ride the Giro like MDVP did.
This is now also confirmed by his new coach that the classics are his biggest goal. Now I don't expect a GC try anymore unfortunately.
According to Horner, Van Aert can win the Giro.
His love for Wout is boundless.
His love for Wout is boundless.
No Remco in Giro and no GC for WVA. Maybe in Belgian nationals but other then that no belgian wunderkids showdown.
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