Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[tobydawq]

It's all a little diffuse to me.

A big part of Boonen's potential consisted of the fact that his only really fearsome adversary was Cancellara. He (Boonen) broke through in 2005 where Museeuw had just stopped his career, PVP was getting old (he was still good, but not at his previous level) and Discovery Channel were riding stupidly in the monuments. Cancellara was not there yet, and Flecha was hardly at the level of, say, Greg Van Avermaet anno 2020.

Put Boonen in today's peloton and he wouldn't dominate like he did back then. Van Aert has the potential to do so, I think. Until Mathieu comes and is double the level of Wout

 

[Red Rick]

Imagine talking about weak competition in past years in a post COVID year when much of the peloton isn't quite up to snuff yet.

He's great right now. Doesn't immediately have to win he'll win everything the next 10 years or that he's immediately the best thing that's happened to cycling in 20 years.

 

[tobydawq]

Imagine talking about weak competition in past years in a post COVID year when much of the peloton isn't quite up to snuff yet.

He's great right now. Doesn't immediately have to win he'll win everything the next 10 years or that he's immediately the best thing that's happened to cycling in 20 years.

20? I'm thinking like a hundred years!

Maybe since the invention of the bike.

 

[Red Rick]

20? I'm thinking like a hundred years!

Maybe since the invention of the bike.

Would have dominated in medieval times if bikes had been invented then.

 

[Big Doopie]

Would have dominated in medieval times if bikes had been invented then.

wait... it wasn't?

 

[Netserk]

It's all a little diffuse to me.

A big part of Boonen's potential consisted of the fact that his only really fearsome adversary was Cancellara. He (Boonen) broke through in 2005 where Museeuw had just stopped his career, PVP was getting old (he was still good, but not at his previous level) and Discovery Channel were riding stupidly in the monuments. Cancellara was not there yet, and Flecha was hardly at the level of, say, Greg Van Avermaet anno 2020.

Put Boonen in today's peloton and he wouldn't dominate like he did back then. Van Aert has the potential to do so, I think. Until Mathieu comes and is double the level of Wout

You think Bettiol and Gilbert are stiffer competition than what Boonen had?!

 

[Jspear]

Why compare him with Boonen? Maybe compare him with Cancellara?

 

[tobydawq]

You think Bettiol and Gilbert are stiffer competition than what Boonen had?!

I think Gilbert has proven himself to be a relatively good bike rider.

Bettiol was weird but I still think that the sheer volume of potential cobbled monument winners today is bigger than back then, and no, it's not because the very top is weaker.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

You think I pull lots of dumb crap?

Is that just because I have surpassed you again in the all-important battle?

Wasn't directed at you, sorry.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

This.

Nobody will deny Van Aert is a better climber than Boonen. What is it gonna buy him? I think apart from the option being on the offensive on the Poggio and competing in Strade, I don't think it buys him that many races.

I will give you one example: Today's stage.
(Or the one in the Dauphiné, or the ITT in last year's Dauphiné...)

EDIT: Come to think of it, of the last 5 victories of van Aert, Boonen would not have won 4: Strade, Milan San Remo, stage in the Dauphiné, 2nd stage in the Tour. That's 80%, lol.
I'd also like to see how many sprints Boonen would have won, had he been instructed to keep his GC leader out of the wind, the entire day. Van Aert is here, to work for the team and "casually" wins two stages. While Boonen won 6 stages in his entire career, and had the team working for him, not the other way around.

 

[tobydawq]

Wasn't directed at you, sorry.

I know

 

[Big Doopie]

Why compare him with Boonen? Maybe compare him with Cancellara?

why not with remco?

two GOATs!!

 

[IndianCyclist]

I think his sprinting power is not as good as pure sprinters but his positioning, timing , endurance, power/wt and aerodynamics are much better than some of the sprinters which make up the deficit in some stage particularly hard or uphill ones.

 

[Bakkie]

I'm affraid the team Jumbo is distroying Wout, like Sky did with Kwiat and Bo Hagen.

 

[tobydawq]

I'm not.

He seems very, very undestroyed at the moment...

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I'm affraid the team Jumbo is distroying Wout, like Sky did with Kwiat and Bo Hagen.

come on man. If his performances over the last few weeks represent a rider being destroyed, every rider in the peloton will be queuing up to get destroyed.

 

[bob.a.feet]

I'm affraid the team Jumbo is distroying Wout, like Sky did with Kwiat and Bo Hagen.

Wout has won more GT stages last week than Kwiat has in his career. He's one a monument this year. Please don't be afraid.

 

[Red Rick]

I don't remember how hard EBH would go on Tour cols, but I don't think he led groups this small at this stage of the race did he? Thought that was Mick Rogers.

Kwaito I've definitely seen in charge of smaller groups but then Kwiato is a more lighweight rider.

 

[topcat]

Some serious trolling by van Aert to hang onto the Bernal group. Did it cross his mind to outsprint them at the line?

 

[Koronin]

I'm wondering if this thread should be retitled to Wout Van Aert is the next Sean Kelly?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

At this moment i think he could win the final ITT if he wants to go for it and not save his legs for Champs Elysées.

 

[Saint Unix]

I don't remember how hard EBH would go on Tour cols, but I don't think he led groups this small at this stage of the race did he? Thought that was Mick Rogers.

Kwaito I've definitely seen in charge of smaller groups but then Kwiato is a more lighweight rider.

If my memory isn't failing me EBH used to drag the early Sky trains on the flats pretty much single-handedly for miles and miles and miles. I remember tuning into stages and without fail EBH would be at the front of the peloton hauling ass until the road got steep enough for Mick Rogers to take over, so his job was more like the one Panzer and Grøndahl Jansen are doing for JV at the moment.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Great performance by Wout Van Aert on stage 15, dropping Ineos.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Johan Bruyneel and Thomas Voeckler think he can win a GT/TDF one day if he wants to go for it.

 

[Panda Claws]

It's all a little diffuse to me.

A big part of Boonen's potential consisted of the fact that his only really fearsome adversary was Cancellara. He (Boonen) broke through in 2005 where Museeuw had just stopped his career, PVP was getting old (he was still good, but not at his previous level) and Discovery Channel were riding stupidly in the monuments. Cancellara was not there yet, and Flecha was hardly at the level of, say, Greg Van Avermaet anno 2020.

Put Boonen in today's peloton and he wouldn't dominate like he did back then. Van Aert has the potential to do so, I think. Until Mathieu comes and is double the level of Wout

I find it funny how people always point out the weak competition that Boonen had. At least those guys did not get their teeth kicked in twice by an elderly Gilbert (RVV 2017, PR 2019). A Gilbert, mind you, that could not get an inch closer to Boonen in RVV 2010. So I wonder who it is that is so very strong at the moment? Van Aert and Van Der Poel very well might be. But then it is just Boonen and Cancellara all over again.