Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[Keldergoat]

A WvA in shape is just an asset to each and every race. Rode smart, used the team numerical advantage to its best, didn't let himself be cooked by two aliens on the Koppenberg and Kruisberg. That deserved a podium spot.

Also, what a race by Benoot. He was one of the strongest in the race, being out there in the fierce wind for more than 100km and still finishing 6th.

 

[Lequack]

 

[Mayomaniac]

A WvA in shape is just an asset to each and every race. Rode smart, used the team numerical advantage to its best, didn't let himself be cooked by two aliens on the Koppenberg and Kruisberg. That deserved a podium spot.

Also, what a race by Benoot. He was one of the strongest in the race, being out there in the fierce wind for more than 100km and still finishing 6th.

The team has said that Wout will be the leader for Roubaix. That is reasonable, given that he should be even better in that race, but the team will be weaker. No Benoot and no Son Jorge, so unless van Baarle suddenly finds his 2021-2022 leg they'll be a rather weak team. Wout should just try to follow moves by vdP and Pogacar and let their teams do the chasing.

 

[ChasingPotatoes]

He looked, at one time, like he was going backwards (Paterberg, Koppenberg, Taaienberg combo).
But he just didn't weaken while others got weaker in the end.
I don't see him ever win RVV, he is just getting too sluggish on the climbs. But he still has that formidable powerful motor, and when well-trained, well-fed and well-rested, he shouldn't worry about the final hour of monuments. He's made for 260K but not those explosive uphill cobbles (anymore). I hope he gets a win at Roubaix, at least once in his career.

I said earlier he looked slow on the hills, but actually, I dug a bit deeper into the strava files.

Pog and MdvP rode their best ever ascents of Kwaremont (second ascent) and Koppenberg.
Pog now has KOMs on both, but MvdP in his wheel could have Koppenberg (and sure has Kwaremont as he had to close a gap, out of position), but until MvdP uploads his files (after his career?), we don't know for sure.

WvA matched that second Kwaremont ascent, and while he couldn't follow on Koppenberg (and Paterberg and Taaienberg), there really is no shame in that: his ascents were good / as good as some of his previous editions, it's just that he rides against two of the best cobbled climbs riders, ever. I think of only 2 other riders in the last 10 years who would have been able to match Pog's / MvdPs climbing times at their best: Cancellara (most probably on Kwaremont where he bossed some rides), and 2016 Sagan, but there won't be 5 other riders I can think off.

 

[Keldergoat]

Also quite an interesting interview with his coach at Visma, Mathieu Heijboer. He claims that they deliberately focused on improving his performance after a long race, which showed its first results yesterday where he seemed to improve towards the end of the race, and he expects WvA to be even better in P-R.

Visma verwacht veel van Wout van Aert in Parijs-Roubaix: "Daar komt hij het best tot zijn recht"

Video Wout van Aert eindigde zondag weliswaar net naast het podium van de Ronde van Vlaanderen, maar speelde wel een hoofdrol in de finale. Dit deed hem na afloop zichtbaar deugd. Het is voor de renner van Visma | Lease a Bike bovenal een flinke opsteker richting Parijs-Roubaix. Performance...

www.wielerflits.nl

 

[Maxss]

Wout will be stronger in PR, that's for sure. He is on an upward trend and it should continue towards his biggest goal this spring. It's a race that suits him much better and he has a big chance to fight for the victory. Alpecin will need to control the race but Visma will have enough big units to do that too, if needed.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Van Aert may be following a career path similar to Museeuw's. At a young age they both won bunch sprints, even on the Champs-Élysées. After 30 they both lost speed, but still had the endurance to be competitive in Paris-Roubaix.

He isn't the top favorite on Sunday, but he has a realistic chance. His shape curve is still going up. He'll need to ride aggressively, get to the front early in the final, and attack to get rid of the faster guys. Another second, third or fourth place wouldn't add much for him, so he can play all or nothing.

 

[Breh]

Also quite an interesting interview with his coach at Visma, Mathieu Heijboer. He claims that they deliberately focused on improving his performance after a long race, which showed its first results yesterday where he seemed to improve towards the end of the race, and he expects WvA to be even better in P-R.

Visma verwacht veel van Wout van Aert in Parijs-Roubaix: "Daar komt hij het best tot zijn recht"

Video Wout van Aert eindigde zondag weliswaar net naast het podium van de Ronde van Vlaanderen, maar speelde wel een hoofdrol in de finale. Dit deed hem na afloop zichtbaar deugd. Het is voor de renner van Visma | Lease a Bike bovenal een flinke opsteker richting Parijs-Roubaix. Performance...

www.wielerflits.nl

This is exactly why I dislike his team and why I find it so hard to root for Van Aert.

So planned, much science, very thorough, wow, amazing

 

[veganrob]

This is exactly why I dislike his team and why I find it so hard to root for Van Aert.

So planned, much science, very thorough, wow, amazing

Easy for them to say afterward.

 

[theyoungest]

This is exactly why I dislike his team and why I find it so hard to root for Van Aert.

So planned, much science, very thorough, wow, amazing

Maybe the obsession with science is more among the fans. Heijboer is not an overly pretentious guy at all, in fact quite the opposite. He's just saying what they've focused on and happy it came to fruition. The rest is all your own interpretation.

 

[Red Rick]

This is exactly why I dislike his team and why I find it so hard to root for Van Aert.

So planned, much science, very thorough, wow, amazing

Meanwhile Pogacar's coach is doing non stop podcasts on the mythical zone 2 training.

 

[meat puppet]

All set up for the mythical solo win tomorrow! Solo from a sprint of four, and by a whisker.

Let's see: an unofficial stream, one coke, a book draft and an organization's position paper to review (beside actual work to be done).

And if it all falls through, which is very improbable, I have not four but five volumes of Tony Benn's political diaries to reflect upon. What could have been. Hell, maybe I'll listen to Public Enemy's Greatest Misses and then also give it a second spin too to drive the point home.

But tomorrow WvA wins.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Indurance level is 100% intact, it would be stupid not to continue to chase victory.

 

[MJR]

I've really tried to not join the "he ain't gonna win a cobbled monument" chorus, but it's gonna be pretty tough after today.

His lack of placement into that key section today reveals a mental block that will continue to prevent him from fighting for that top spot in these biggest races. It's sad.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I've really tried to not join the "he ain't gonna win a cobbled monument" chorus, but it's gonna be pretty tough after today.

His lack of placement into that key section today reveals a mental block that will continue to prevent him from fighting for that top spot in these biggest races. It's sad.

And his lack of sprint too.

 

[MJR]

And his lack of sprint too.

Kinda irrelevant if third is what he's sprinting for. But, yeah, his top end isn't the same.

 

[Rackham]

Indurance level is 100% intact, it would be stupid not to continue to chase victory.

He's improved his endurance over 250k's but seems to have lost some snap when it matters, namely following the winning moves.

 

[theyoungest]

I've really tried to not join the "he ain't gonna win a cobbled monument" chorus, but it's gonna be pretty tough after today.

His lack of placement into that key section today reveals a mental block that will continue to prevent him from fighting for that top spot in these biggest races. It's sad.

Lack of placement didn't really feature in his result today. He just wasn't good enough to follow the best riders in the race at that moment. He has obviously trained on endurance, which makes him improve toward the end of the race, but he's not very snappy or explosive at the moment.

 

[Red Rick]

Didn't have getting dropped by like 7 guys in the Arenberg forest in my agenda

 

[KenFiamingo]

He'll have to spend the rest of the year trying to find the HP he lost in 2024. A Grant Tour might help.

 

[theyoungest]

Didn't have getting dropped by like 7 guys in the Arenberg forest in my agenda

Dropped by Brennan, to be exact

But where Brennan faded away (not strange for a 19 year old) Wout could just keep going. Very much like De Ronde.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Being a dad again wasn't good for his career IMHO. He is riding with more fear than ever

 

[Red Rick]

It's too bad that Visma now gets associated with these moronic Belgian fans who throw objects and pi$$ at riders., purely because Van Aert is on Visma. What an utterly brainless thing to do.

Why would Primoz Jonas do such a vile thing thing

 

[Panda Claws]

It's too bad that Visma now gets associated with these moronic Belgian fans who throw objects and pi$$ at riders., purely because Van Aert is on Visma. What an utterly brainless thing to do.

Yeah they all have to be Belgian, and Van Aert fans to boot

We've seen plenty of ridiculous fans over the years and I doubt many people are making these wild connections to Visma, Van Aert or even Belgians that you are making.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

It's too bad that Visma now gets associated with these moronic Belgian fans who throw objects and pi$$ at riders., purely because Van Aert is on Visma. What an utterly brainless thing to do.

Get banned ***