Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[yaco]

Kaden Groves last nine wins have all come in Grand Tours.

 

[tobydawq]

And you didn't expect that based on his leadup?

What does that have to do with anything??

I said he didn't have a good Tour, and you disagreed.

 

[tobydawq]

Yes, I think he's had a good Tour before today.
For instance in 2022, I think all agree.

Ha

 

[skippo12]

Only rider to drop Pogacar. Should have been the leader all along. Suck it Trine.

 

[topcat]

What does that have to do with anything??

I said he didn't have a good Tour, and you disagreed.

Wva had a poor tour even including stage 21. He won the last stage in epic fashion so it will sugarcoat his tour. He gave almost no help to his leader and apart from losing a sprint to Milan wasn't close to a stage win in the other 19 stages. I'm happy for him personally (who doesn't love a resurrection) but it's still a win for the cartels.

 

[jmdirt]

What does that have to do with anything??

I said he didn't have a good Tour, and you disagreed.

There was no way that he was going to have a good first week. If you expected otherwise, you weren't paying attention to his leadup. Also, fighting for form while racing a hard first week could go the wrong way quickly. That being said, his first week was better than expected, and he was fortunate that his form actually improved as the days ticked by. He did grunt work for the team (I know not what 'fans' and his $$ demand ), and either by plan or impulse kept chipping away and testing. So compared to a few other TdFs not what we've come to expect, but past form has nothing to do with current form.

13 stage winners this year, and he was one of them. Great TdF!

Note: usually recency bias wins out, but in GT racing its almost the opposite. If you win early, your GT is already a success, but if you win later (last stage) your GT sucked...until the end.

More rambling also: You could argue that the team should have considered not bringing him due to his form/health, but then yesterday.

EDIT: Please excuse me, work is messing with my rambling on a bike forum!

Recency bias isn't even helping WvA here. He just won the final stage of this years TdF, but people want to compare his race to years past.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Without debating 'did he have a good tour or not', I really enjoyed his win yesterday, and perhaps more importantly it would appear so did his team manager.

 

[red_flanders]

Super happy for him, that was a GREAT win yesterday. Dropping the world champion and yellow jersey, in that venue, to win solo on the Champs? Incredible. Much needed, and great to see it.

Most fun I've had watching a bike race in a long, long time!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

It was wonderful to see Wout take this win, especially after suffering so much from injuries. He's a warrior to battle back from such physical and mental adversity. Here's to hoping he has a strong latter part of the road season. And a great cyclocross season.

 

[Keldergoat]

The great thing about this win is, it's wins like these that colour someone's career. That WvA is part of theelite group of very best cyclists of his generation you don't have to convince anyone who follow this sport closely. However, beating Pogacar on a stage like that, those are the types of wins that are ingrained into people's memory. Like MvdP's win in Glasgow 2023, Evenepoel gold medal in Paris, these are the arch wins that make his career so unforgettable.

 

[Tonton]

Great props from Madiot, like him or not. I completely agree: that stage win was stellar for so many reasons, showing what a bike race is really all about. Bravo Wout!

View: https://youtu.be/hSJyZq7aOss?si=tmSstmKZz0NAN0Xw

 

[Oldman]

Wva had a poor tour even including stage 21. He won the last stage in epic fashion so it will sugarcoat his tour. He gave almost no help to his leader and apart from losing a sprint to Milan wasn't close to a stage win in the other 19 stages. I'm happy for him personally (who doesn't love a resurrection) but it's still a win for the cartels.

It was also a win for Matteo Jorgenson. Give credit where it's due, too.