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Yes, i know. I'm just not really sure if one victory is enough to conclude that he can (not saying he can't, just that it might be presumptuous). While i've seen enough of him as an ITT'er and classics guy to conclude he has serious options going for stagewins that way. He could very possibly burn all his matches, come second or third in the green jersey classification, and not get any stagewin.
Which is i guess why this year it does make sense for him to try at TDF. But i'm still not entirely convinced.
Bonimenier
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TJV also seems to go full for yellow, so I predict he will have to work a lot and won't get a lot help. So it seems pretty hard for Wout to go for green. But you'll never know. Maybe he'll be close to green after 10 days and then it may become a goal.
If he ever wants to go full for green, he should not wait too long though. There is another cyclocrosser that might go for it as well one day and he isn't too bad.
If he ever wants to go full for green, he should not wait too long though. There is another cyclocrosser that might go for it as well one day and he isn't too bad.
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Really cursed luck if that other crosser is also going to steal Wout's thunder in the green jersey department. But definitely a possibility.
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Well, he said in an interview today (yesterday) that he won't be the team's sprinter, but that he'll just work for the team. Let's hope he gets his shot at a stage (be it an ITT or a sprint) if he gets a "day off". If they just brought him to pull the peloton, they could just as well have brought somebody else to do that.
Red Rick
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- Feb 20, 2012
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Why somebody else?
It's not like Van Aert has a lot of other targets in a year like this after the spring classics. They need him and Groenewegen is already doing the sprints in the Giro and Vuelta. Van Aert is a lot better than the next best option for that slot.
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Like i said, in a TDF void of sprinters, he could easily go for a few stagewins. He could go for green, he could go for an ITT... plenty of possible targets for him if you bring him specifically. If it's just to lead the peloton for 3 hours, you really don't need to bring van Aert for that, if he is constraint to that role.
Red Rick
Moderator
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Tis the way of classics rider in GTs. He doesn't really have a leg to stand on to take priority for stage wins over Groenewegen in lesser races, and the only reason Groenewegen won't do the Tour is cause they want to go 100% for yellow.
He's not the first big classics rider to be a helper in the Tour, and he won't be the last.
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Groenewegen won't do the Tour because there's nothing there for him regardless of them putting all eggs in one basket for yellow. One is as much a result of the other as it is the other way around.
And the way of the classics rider in GT's? Like Sagan? Van Avermaet? Gilbert? You see them pulling the peloton all day often? Degenkolb, Benoot, Kristoff... as well? Or are you referring to simply Asgreen? Even Naesen has a very specific role in the team, as a luitenant to Bardet. So, no. Not really. Unless you are talking about second/third tier classics rider who don't start as a favorite anywhere and have no other business in a GT anyway. To be clear, i'm not talking about an occasional pull. I think it would be a wasted chance for not only van Aert personally, but Jumbo Visma as well, if they don't give him at least a free role in a few specific stages (and haven't burnt him by the time those opportunities arise). That's all.
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I don’t think it’s really clear at this point who the semi “flat” staged at the Tour will be contested by. Of the big 5 sprinters this season, two won’t be there and neither will one of the two other guys most likely to be among the top sprinters (Jakobsen and Gaviria). How many of those stages will be for Ewan/Bennett/Gaviria/Viviani? How many will be for Sagan/GVA types? How many for Ala/Bala types?
Presumably WVA would have his best shot at winning Sagan type finishes. And he wouldn’t have to be the official team sprinter to be the man allotted to contest them. That said though, it really does look like they are all in for yellow.
Presumably WVA would have his best shot at winning Sagan type finishes. And he wouldn’t have to be the official team sprinter to be the man allotted to contest them. That said though, it really does look like they are all in for yellow.
Red Rick
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They're not on Tour winning teams.
Sagan worked for Contador when they rode Tours together, even when Contador was shitting the bed. Also have you seen Kwiatkowski's GT palmares? Did you see Cancellara work for the Schlecks?
Van Aert chances this year, I'd guess if it weren't an MTT he'd get to ride for his own chance in the ITT. And perhaps if the GT dudes are safe in an uphill sprint he may get a chance there. But that's it.
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Neither Sagan, nor Cancellara have wasted entire Tours pulling the peloton. Sagan has always been his own man. Doing some work, every now and then is not what is being discussed here. Cancellara was more to the Schlecks like Naesen is to Bardet. And he definitely was allowed to go all out for his own account when the stage suited him. Yes, Kwiatkowski... but that has nothing to do with "the way of the classics riders". It 's simply the way of Ineos/Sky.
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A very respectable fifth place in his first race back from injury today.
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Had he tried/dared/been ready to jumb the barriers and the adjacent ditch (like all other riders) i'm sure he could have been 4th or maybe even 3rd. Now he wasted seconds and energy every lap, by hopping off the bike. Still much better than i expected. Maybe i shouldn't have seen Stybar as a point of reference, since he's been riding CX already for a few weeks and is nowhere near the level Wout already has in his first race after a 6 month recovery from injury. Anyway, looking very good. Let's hope there won't be a relapse (not just from the injury itself, but from months of inactivity).A very respectable fifth place in his first race back from injury today.
The crowd went berserk when he sprinted towards the ramp in first position. Didn't last long though
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Jos van Emden apparently said in a podcast, that of all the ITT specialists in the team (Roglic, Martin, Dumoulin, van Aert) the only one that is really too good for him to beat on the courses where he (van Emden) usually excells, is van Aert.
- Mar 13, 2009
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on flat 10-20km courses. Yeah i can totally understand that. Both Roglic and Dumo are hilly TT specialists and have never really excelled at the short flat stuff. (Dumo did win a few, but he was also a few KG more than now).
And Van Emden is world class in those, but Van Aert did those efforts all his life and clearly has more power
And Van Emden is world class in those, but Van Aert did those efforts all his life and clearly has more power
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Really wonder what his level on the road will be this spring
I'm guessing slightly worse than 2019 because he is still on the way back. He'll be good again near the summer
I'm guessing slightly worse than 2019 because he is still on the way back. He'll be good again near the summer
Bonimenier
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I'm not sure his spring will be worse. Seems like he is training a lot for the road season and pretty little for CX.
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I guess it depends on what curve he's on. Last year was by far the worst CX winter he ever had, but his level was still clearly much better than it currently is. On the other hand, there might have been an issue with "freshness" at the end of the CX season last year. That should not be an issue this year. My gut feeling is also, that he'll be slightly worse than last year, but on the other hand, he might be able to improve throughout the spring classics, while last year, i think his form clearly went down.
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