Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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He looks so bad. He is lacking confidence for sure.

I think tbh the TT today he was not pushing fully... now, ofc he is not in top form either... but he was never winning this TT even at his best... would probably be top 5 but not going to beat Evanepoel and Pogi is he?

and probably because even in the shape he is in he has stage 8 and 9 circled as ones he thinks he can win depending on how they are raced.
 
Interesting that he crashed about a week or so ahead of Vingimort, seemed to fair better in the immediate aftermath (lengthy hospital stays do not suggest a prognosis of speedy recovery), but he seems farther off his game
 
As an MVDP fan I have a healthy respect for Wout, but starting to think maybe time is working against him now. Still has the physical talent to win the biggest races, but maybe all the years of bike racing at the highest level under a huge spotlight and having growing family, etc. make it hard to be as maniacally committed as you need to be these days. Hard crashes probably don't help either.
 
It's the second season in a row Van Aert is underperforming. I think it's all about his mental state. As a familyman, the (huge) risks, indeed the crashes during his career. This season again, a horrible crash with severe damage, revalidation, starting almost from zero again. Another minor crash in this Tour. It all gets into his head. In addition, his explosiveness and speed also seem to have decreased somewhat. That's also a physical problem. I'm a bit afraid that he will go the way of Sagan. But not for the same reasons. Sagan no longer lived and behaved as a top athlete after the age of 28.
It remains strange that Van Aert, who resumed training weeks earlier than Evenepoel and even more so his teammate Vingegaard, is far behind in his fitness level.
 
Who cares about the TT. He would have won first stage if not for the break and he is one of the favorites today.
Yes, but he is not able to help his teammates Vingegaard and Jorgenson in the mountains (not even in a second last climb or the start of a final climb). That, and his bad performance in the TT make clear he is not ready this time. I'm not sure he will improve this time during the second part of the Tour.
 
He lost desire, some spark inside him. I still remember when he broke his kneecap in the Tour (I think in a TT) and came back better than ever. I have a strange feeling that he didn't give a f*** about training after his crash. Just look to Vingegaard, had a worse crash (was after Wout's crash) and he is close to his best (at least a competitive level). Wout looks awful, he needs to increase a lot his shape to be even close to fight for the win.
 
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He did warn us before the tour started that his shape wasn't as good as previous years. Guess we now can say he wasn't lying. The early drop on the Galibier stage and the disastrous tt are clear proofs his form is lacking.

He did however do important work for Vinge on stage 9, but a van Aert in top shape could have won the stage.
 
He did warn us before the tour started that his shape wasn't as good as previous years. Guess we now can say he wasn't lying. The early drop on the Galibier stage and the disastrous tt are clear proofs his form is lacking.

He did however do important work for Vinge on stage 9, but a van Aert in top shape could have won the stage.
absolutely. He is proving why he is good to have, the other years he has been so strong that he could go for stages, Green AND help the GC rider a lot. This year he might need to abandon the hopes for a stage win all together. I wonder if UAE will let him go on stage 11