Olympics and world's will be his main goals, after that stage wins in any grand tour. If he can achieve those goals by riding the tour, then he will do that, otherwise Vuelta it is..
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A depressing time to be a fan of Wout van Aert. Very sad for him and cycling fans in general. Pogacar and Wout are the only riders in the world capable of doing anything to this Mathieu. Would pay a lot of money to see what Wout could have done today.
vwpe
BANNED
Not true for Roubaix imo, but im pretty sure he wouldve punctured, crashed or done sth stupid in a bad moment and the winner wouldve been the same
Yeah Mathieu was steamrolling Wout last Roubaix, my bad. Just gtfo
I am fed up with all the 'MdvP is 2 levels up WvA'. At his best, MvdP is one level above WvA in cobbled races / races with sharp short hills but given the PR they did together, they're pretty much the same strength in this race.
2024 WvA was the only one who would have (easily) followed MvdP and worked with him to sprint 1vs. 1 on the velodrome.
Just look at the competition when he goes. His biggest competitor is sitting 2nd freaking wheel and can not do nothing but look at him sail away 60 km from the finish.
People trying to tell me Wout cannot follow him there should be drug tested. Maybe he gets dropped at Carrefour, maybe not, maybe he loses in the sprint, but more likely Wout will get some untimely bad luck and get 2nd anyways.
Based on what WvA follows Mathieu?
Not being strong enough to attack Skujins at Omloop?
Being lured into going into the red zone by Mathieu in order to catch him and bonking completely at E3!?
Not being strong enough to attack Skujins at Omloop?
Being lured into going into the red zone by Mathieu in order to catch him and bonking completely at E3!?
It's really hard in Roubaix to drop someone mano a mano, so I think it starts with "would Van Aert have been dropped by the attack that actually happened" and I would say lol no because he had like 10s after coming off the pavé.
That implies WvA would have been in top shape. Which we haven't seen him in before his crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
He might have hit his peak at Paris-Roubaix. It's not as certain as y'all make it seem though as in 2022 he already looked stronger at both Omloop & E3! (Before Covid-19 sadly killed his shape)
He might have hit his peak at Paris-Roubaix. It's not as certain as y'all make it seem though as in 2022 he already looked stronger at both Omloop & E3! (Before Covid-19 sadly killed his shape)
I think the truth is in the preparation tbh, i.e. Van der Poel just seems to casually roll into town & collect the biggest prizes by crushing them. He's been performing since MSR & showing no signs of slowing down.
WvA meanwhile went to altitude & was preparing for a super peak right in time for his biggest objectives (namely today). He had very little margin for error & had to get everything spot on to stand a chance against VdP.
So... could he have competed today? Maybe, but everything would have to go perfectly for him. He'd also have to fight Alpecin as well, i.e. with Philipsen in particular a real pain in the backside because he offers 100% sprint guarantees by sitting on the wheel.
WvA meanwhile went to altitude & was preparing for a super peak right in time for his biggest objectives (namely today). He had very little margin for error & had to get everything spot on to stand a chance against VdP.
So... could he have competed today? Maybe, but everything would have to go perfectly for him. He'd also have to fight Alpecin as well, i.e. with Philipsen in particular a real pain in the backside because he offers 100% sprint guarantees by sitting on the wheel.
In 2022 WvA was flying as well.
In the end we can only suspect. I suspect he's been off the pace. Y'all assume he would have been on a super peak.
It's both possible. We'll never find out as he crashed.
In the end we can only suspect. I suspect he's been off the pace. Y'all assume he would have been on a super peak.
It's both possible. We'll never find out as he crashed.
He rode his best numbers according to his coach, and it was never the goal to come from that mountain and ride E3 in top shape. Top shape after altitude comes after a small dip just coming back from altitude, so normally in the week of DDV and RVV.
WvA got over his limit in E3 having to start chasing with 30s deficit after a crash, and he got to within 10s.
Fact is MvdP rode his numbers and was very unsure if he could hold it, but WvA rode 110% of his numbers so he bonked.
The only thing we know from E3 is that MvdP was at least as good as WvA. Maybe he was better, but he didn't even have to be in order to hold off WvA: he just had to be as good.
Just imagine WvA is chasing himself instead of MvdP, WvA would have bonked as hard. Would you have said WvA is a level ahead of a chasing WvA with a 30s deficit?
He had just been sidelined two weeks with covid...
Its really just the curse of rooting for Wout in Roubaix and Flanders. I was leaving for Flanders the day of the crash in Dwars and felt terrible, imagine how he felt.. well, we could hear and see it.
There's always 2025, but man must he feel depressed after watching these two races.
There's always 2025, but man must he feel depressed after watching these two races.
And how do you weight a difference between a rider who won 7 biggest races and another who won one?
In cobbles Flanders races he's one level above, but won 3 Ronde against none by Wout.
And in Paris-Roubaix he won twice, Wout won zero times, and they're on the same level?
Do you even read what you write?
I mean, he probably is not really two level's below, but now is certainly not a good time to state that.
You know very well Wva was mvdp’s equal I. 2020 and a win for Wva was just as likely.
Same with Wva in Roubaix 2022 and 2023.
And he rode a brain dead race and still got 2nd, beating MvdP who had no COVID issues.
Power for power, legs for legs, sure. I would agree. However, cycling is more than just legs. There is a mental edge to the game as well, and Wout seems to freeze whenever Mathieu is in a race.
Wout completely blew it in 2020 by making it a 150 meter sprint (though they both looked worse than Alaphilippe, I'd like to add). I would absolutely say Wout was far stronger in 2022 and looked ready to win, but COVID did him dirty in Vlaanderen, and in Roubaix (understandable) bad decision making cost him against Van Baarle.
Roubaix '23 is a write off, we simply will never know. Not a plus, not a minus.
The discussion is power for power and of Wva could have followed mvdp today, and the answer is a clear yes.
imo they are both great riders, and I always felt MvdP had more talent and upside and higher peaks, but lacked consistency and was mentally not as strong with WvA who was more consistent and therefore able to match him often. Now that MvdP has become equally consistent the biggest advantage WvA had is gone and all things being equal MvdP will come out on top more often.
Over the last few years the results speak for themselves. I have so many visuals of WvA just trying to follow MvdP, but very little the other way around.
Over the last few years the results speak for themselves. I have so many visuals of WvA just trying to follow MvdP, but very little the other way around.
this isn’t about the numbers of wins but occasions both were able to win / sprint for the win, responding to those who claim Wva couldn’t even have followed mvdp this Roubaix.
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