Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[Didinho]

Looks like 71,5kg according to his latest Strava/Zwift photo.

 

[jmdirt]

WOUT!

 

[Lequack]

Ever since he started wearing the new sunglasses he started winning. Coincidence, I think not?

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Wow peaking too early and winning another semi classic.

 

[tobydawq]

Wow peaking too early and winning another semi classic.

Oh God.

Very creative.

 

[stonerider]

Wow peaking too early and winning another semi classic.

He will now go on training camp at high altitude to reset for E3, Flanders, and Roubaix. No racing for 3 weeks. Thankfully he is skipping Tirreno stage race which has left him weakened in the past by the time Flanders came around on the calendar.

 

[DNP-Old]

He will now go on training camp at high altitude to reset for E3, Flanders, and Roubaix. No racing for 3 weeks. Thankfully he is skipping Tirreno stage race which has left him weakened in the past by the time Flanders came around on the calendar.

Yes, that Tirreno didn't just leave a physical toll, it also severely damaged Wout's brain. That race was such an anomaly, where everyone went so deep into the red to Casterlfidardo in horrific conditions that nobody was able to reach their best form come April. Two or three years later, and it still has Wout shook to an extend, while he could just choose to not go so deep again if the situation arises.

 

[tobydawq]

Yes, that Tirreno didn't just leave a physical toll, it also severely damaged Wout's brain. That race was such an anomaly, where everyone went so deep into the red to Casterlfidardo in horrific conditions that nobody was able to reach their best form come April. Two or three years later, and it still has Wout shook to an extend, while he could just choose to not go so deep again if the situation arises.

The real victim of that stage was Fabio Felline who was fourth. After that, he would only ever go on to record a single other top 4 result in his career and is now just reduced to an ordinary helper.

 

[Salvarani]

Wow peaking too early and winning another semi classic.

Credit where its due, you always end up being right.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Yes, that Tirreno didn't just leave a physical toll, it also severely damaged Wout's brain. That race was such an anomaly, where everyone went so deep into the red to Casterlfidardo in horrific conditions that nobody was able to reach their best form come April. Two or three years later, and it still has Wout shook to an extend, while he could just choose to not go so deep again if the situation arises.

I have to rewatch that year’s TA. It was amazing. Some battles are just epic and WVA is often a part which makes him a favorite rider of mine. When the WVA, MVDP, Pog and Remcos are gone who’s to worship then…

 

[DNP-Old]

I have to rewatch that year’s TA. It was amazing. Some battles are just epic and WVA is often a part which makes him a favorite rider of mine. When the WVA, MVDP, Pog and Remcos are gone who’s to worship then…

That Tirreno was a race where every stage winner was a world champion except for … Pogacar. Hilarious.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Ever since he started wearing the new sunglasses he started winning. Coincidence, I think not?

They have a hidden motor.

 

[Unchained]

Van Aert clearly isn't in decline, but he simply improved less than his main competition in his target races. When Van Aert looked on top of the world in like 2020/2021 MvdP was kinda hit and miss and Pogacar had yet to become an insane world beater Flandrien style one day races

These riders all have sub objectives, and Wout looks on track for classics.. I hope that his targets will be hit for sure, but he is not in decline..
I think there may appear to be some internet attitude superimposed on bike racing even great racers don't win every race..and in his day before interview he was happy to be on the podium, he wasn't disappointed but the Internet was..

 

[theyoungest]

Van Aert clearly isn't in decline, but he simply improved less than his main competition in his target races. When Van Aert looked on top of the world in like 2020/2021 MvdP was kinda hit and miss and Pogacar had yet to become an insane world beater Flandrien style one day races

It's not a coincidence that Van Aert's best season was the covid one. It was ideal for someone who trains very structurally on a team that operates very structurally. No races for a few months, the only difference could be made in training. Since then Van der Poel has taken a page from the Van Aert playbook and also changed his training approach to a more focused and structured one. If they both have similar professionalism it's just about who's more talented... and that's obviously Van der Poel.

 

[Oldermanish]

Oh God.

Very creative.

Wout has very full cheeks from that photo. Those are the cheeks I can see and he clearly doesn't look like an end-of-the-season GT racer. He's not totally peaked and I think he'd likely on a track to crush some races with less emphasis on GT domestique work.
Of course I don't know sh*t about the actual team assignments but he's got the credentials to dictate his program to a certain extent.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Indeed likely a cheeky season ahead for Wout. Stage wins at GTs and winning one day races, on where likely at least one big goal is doable this season. We'll see.

 

[Volderke]

He looks chubby.

With regards to WvA declining or not: he has the biggest engine in the peloton. Not the best in W/kg (Vingegaard, Pogacar), not the most explosive (MvdP), but the biggest. For the last 5 years, and probably for the next 5 years as well.
A rider like WvA is a once in a decade affair. But we're all spoilt these days with many fantastic riders (like Masnada). Those who downplay WvA at this moment in time don't seem to realize they could simply enjoy watching his incredible power, whatever his results / classic wins.

 

[Wyndbrook]

I believe he is now level again with MvDP on 46 Road wins.

 

[Berniece]

I believe he is now level again with MvDP on 46 Road wins.

I didn’t expect MVDP to have as many road wins as WVA

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I didn’t expect MVDP to have as many road wins as WVA

He has 7 WT wins more than MvdP (25 vs 18), but 3 monuments and a WCC less.

 

[Berniece]

He has 7 WT wins more than MvdP (25 vs 18), but 3 monuments and a WCC less.

I was surprised because in my mind, MVDP races way less than WVA, so I expected WVA to have more wins. So then I thought, the % of wins must be much higher for MVDP, but that's actually also not the case. WVA didn't race that much more than MVDP.

WVA raced 331 days (13.9% wins) and MVDP 313 days (14.7% wins).

 

[Bolder]

He looks chubby.

With regards to WvA declining or not: he has the biggest engine in the peloton. Not the best in W/kg (Vingegaard, Pogacar), not the most explosive (MvdP), but the biggest. For the last 5 years, and probably for the next 5 years as well.
A rider like WvA is a once in a decade affair. But we're all spoilt these days with many fantastic riders (like Masnada). Those who downplay WvA at this moment in time don't seem to realize they could simply enjoy watching his incredible power, whatever his results / classic wins.

With great power comes great responsibility.

I still say he needs to be more aggressive. Granted Omloop and KBK aren't monuments, but racing from the front both days paid off well enough. And he could have had a chance to win Omloop if he'd rolled an attack after Jorgensen.

 

[Sciatic]

He looks chubby.

With regards to WvA declining or not: he has the biggest engine in the peloton. Not the best in W/kg (Vingegaard, Pogacar), not the most explosive (MvdP), but the biggest. For the last 5 years, and probably for the next 5 years as well.
A rider like WvA is a once in a decade affair. But we're all spoilt these days with many fantastic riders (like Masnada). Those who downplay WvA at this moment in time don't seem to realize they could simply enjoy watching his incredible power, whatever his results / classic wins.

Hmm, trying to think if anyone comes to mind . . .

 

[Oldermanish]

He looks chubby.

With regards to WvA declining or not: he has the biggest engine in the peloton. Not the best in W/kg (Vingegaard, Pogacar), not the most explosive (MvdP), but the biggest. For the last 5 years, and probably for the next 5 years as well.
A rider like WvA is a once in a decade affair. But we're all spoilt these days with many fantastic riders (like Masnada). Those who downplay WvA at this moment in time don't seem to realize they could simply enjoy watching his incredible power, whatever his results / classic wins.

It's a cold, wet part of the season where he actually could be healthier with some fat stores. Classics don't have the feeding opportunities that a GT has so he pretty much knows what'll work for him now. I do think he'll find Jorgensen as his kind of team player, too. He's not in decline...quite the contrary and is a rarity as you so eloquently point out.
We should also give credit to MvP; his chief motivator. It's been an impressive rivalry between those two.

When they retire they should buy a big family house in Kauai and drink Maitais, surf and snorkel. Almost no ridable roads and nothing to do but appreciate their mutual nature love of nature. Particularly when it rains: it's still 76 degrees F.

 

[proffate]

He looks chubby.

With regards to WvA declining or not: he has the biggest engine in the peloton. Not the best in W/kg (Vingegaard, Pogacar), not the most explosive (MvdP), but the biggest. For the last 5 years, and probably for the next 5 years as well.
A rider like WvA is a once in a decade affair. But we're all spoilt these days with many fantastic riders (like Masnada). Those who downplay WvA at this moment in time don't seem to realize they could simply enjoy watching his incredible power, whatever his results / classic wins.

Ganna, Tarling have bigger engines, FWIW, which as far as entertainment value goes, is not much.