Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[Valv.Piti]

Wow. This rider is just too damn talented. Like in Strade Bianche, it was obvious he was spent after going really hard for hours, but thats to be expected. He handled the length extremely well. He just looks like a natural to me - I hope Lotto Soudal will sign him and pair him with Benoot to go up against QS for a true Belgian rivalry.

 

[Samamba]

Re:

Wow. This rider is just too damn talented. Like in Strade Bianche, it was obvious he was spent after going really hard for hours, but thats to be expected. He handled the length extremely well. He just looks like a natural to me - I hope Lotto Soudal will sign him and pair him with Benoot to go up against QS for a true Belgian rivalry.

LTS doesn't have the money to sign him.
Ridley wants to give a bit more but it won't be enough to offer something similar or even close to what teams as QS and Bahrain are gonna offer him.

But...
There is a possibility that LTS will invest in cyclocross. So if Van Aert wants to keep doing some cyclocrosses in the winter LTS will probably be the best option. LTS has also employed the personal masseur and trust person of Van Aert so that can be an advantage when they fight for his signature.

 

[toolittle]

Re: Re:

Bahrain-Merida has been in talk with Wout Van Aert. He could earn € 1.000.000 per year with them.

I hope he will go to Trek or AG2R or Cannondale for building up a strong team to against QS.

Gilbert is already 35, Terpstra 33 and Stybar 32. Lampaert is out of contract for next year. If QS does not sign a new star soon, they wont be a problem for long.

Well, Johan Museeuw -> Paolo Bettini -> Tom Boonen-> Gilbert, QS dynasty never die.
When Gilbert retires in 2 years, Terpstra still have 1 to 2 good years.
QS should manage to get a dominant young talent such as Tom or a collection of talents from the market.. Vanmarcke, Naesen, Benoot, etc are not high paid riders... They need a strong team as long as sagan is there.

 

[Valanga]

Re: Re:

Bahrain-Merida has been in talk with Wout Van Aert. He could earn € 1.000.000 per year with them.

I hope he will go to Trek or AG2R or Cannondale for building up a strong team to against QS.

Gilbert is already 35, Terpstra 33 and Stybar 32. Lampaert is out of contract for next year. If QS does not sign a new star soon, they wont be a problem for long.

Question is more how long Patrick Lefevere continues - he's 63. And if he still wants to invest time and effort into keeping QS at the highest level, or retires at a peak - like he advises his riders. As long as he's in charge, QS will be a dominant team in the classics.

As for Wout: he said in an interview that his would be his last week of racing before leaving on holiday for 3 weeks (doing a US west coast road trip). Although Tro Bro Leon has confirmed him as well
And he is getting married this summer, so unsure what other road races he's still going to do. Anyway, he has made his mark and we'll see next winter if he shifted focus even more to the spring classics

 

[Bardamu]

I wonder what van Aert can do outside the cobbled races. As long as he combines cross with the road he can just do the Flemish races, but I hope he will try to become an all-round classics specialist who will go for the Ardennes as well.

 

[Flamin]

According to HNB, Wout has a 3-year agreement with Lotto Jumbo starting in 2020. The team apparently has no real interest in cyclocross so I guess 18-19 will be his last full cx winter. Maybe, hopefully, he's allowed to do a minor program (5 or 6 races) that includes the Worlds though, like Stybar used to do after his transition.

Massive transfer. Now I surely hope Van der Poel does the same and drops the Tokio 2020 idea asap.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

That is pretty major for LottoNL Jumbo.

I wonder if Patrick Lefevre retaliates and immediately signs Van der Poel starting after olympcis 2020 for 5 years

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Even when this story was rumoured a few weeks ago, it still seemed that he would go to one of the Belgian teams. So, it's quite surprising he's likely going to a Dutch team - but sad that they don't seem keen on him continuing in CX.

As for MvdP, how many teams could afford him? Not many...

 

[Flamin]

Re:

Even when this story was rumoured a few weeks ago, it still seemed that he would go to one of the Belgian teams. So, it's quite surprising he's likely going to a Dutch team - but sad that they don't seem keen on him continuing in CX.

As for MvdP, how many teams could afford him? Not many...

Which one? Afaik Lotto Soudal was off the table a long time ago and I don't think I've ever read anything about an offer from Quick Step.

I hope the latter signs MVDP.

 

[Popchu]

Re:

Even when this story was rumoured a few weeks ago, it still seemed that he would go to one of the Belgian teams. So, it's quite surprising he's likely going to a Dutch team - but sad that they don't seem keen on him continuing in CX.

As for MvdP, how many teams could afford him? Not many...

Jumbo wants to enter the Belgian market (now they are only active in The Netherlands I think), so signing Wout van Aert is a good and logical move in this sense, since he's one of Belgium's biggest prospects in cycling.

 

[Bardamu]

Re:

That is pretty major for LottoNL Jumbo.

I wonder if Patrick Lefevre retaliates and immediately signs Van der Poel starting after olympcis 2020 for 5 years

The two Poelprospects will make Quick Step a GT powerhouse!

 

[Tim Booth]

Re:

According to HNB, Wout has a 3-year agreement with Lotto Jumbo starting in 2020.

He has got to reach 2020 first.
Veranda's Willems wants to stop sponsoring ASAP, but the team still has contracts that run until the end of 2019.
Van Aert is one of the riders that is under contract with the Belgian formation until the end of 2019. In principle, the World Champion Cyclo-cross should ride another cross and road season with his current team and then leave for Lotto Jumbo. Without a new sponsor, however, no financial resources seem to be available to achieve this.
So, as Aqua Blue has fallen through, is a Veranda's Willems-Crelan merger with Roompot about to happen?
http://www.indeleiderstrui.nl/nieuws/algemeen-nieuws/186115/verandas-willems-crelan-hoopt-op-snelle-fusie-met-team-roompot

 

[wouterkaas]

Remarkable tweet from Wout van Aert this morning (https://twitter.com/WoutvanAert/status/1034349096704851969) :

Communicatie is de essentie van een goede samenwerking. Iedereen valt uit de lucht en steeds ben ik degene die men aanspreekt zonder dat ik zelf van iets weet. Ze verwachten prestaties van mij, maar volgend jaar op deze manier? #sabbatjaar

Translation:
Communication is the essence of good collaboration. Everybody appears surprised (rough translation) and I am constantly the one who they are addressing, even though I don't know anything. They expect me to perform, but in this way next year? #sabbaticalyear

 

[Axel Hangleck]

A bit of a mess - but we've been here before, and will so again. For a supposed professional sport - it's quite amateur a lot of the time. There doesn't seem to be the will to change how the sport is run/ financed.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

So.. Van Aert now at Roompot-Verandas 2019 and then Lotto starting 2020.

Weird

 

[Tim Booth]

Irondan wrote:
Announcement:
Cyclingnews Forums is an English Language discussion forum, please post all comments in english only. Any links attached to posts that are in a language other than english must have an accurate and complete translation of the pertinent subject matter, otherwise the comment runs the risk of deletion.

written back in 2016. pretty sure most people using this forum are aware of google translate.
if those links in a language other than english are accompanied an accurate and complete translation, then could the translation of that material infringe copyright rules (by the poster or by CN)?
I'm sure CN would not take kindly to any article they have written being translated and published elsewhere.
think I'll risk deletion and wait for CN to catch up with the news

 

[King Boonen]

Irondan wrote:
Announcement:
Cyclingnews Forums is an English Language discussion forum, please post all comments in english only. Any links attached to posts that are in a language other than english must have an accurate and complete translation of the pertinent subject matter, otherwise the comment runs the risk of deletion.

written back in 2016. pretty sure most people using this forum are aware of google translate.
if those links in a language other than english are accompanied an accurate and complete translation, then could the translation of that material infringe copyright rules (by the poster or by CN)?
I'm sure CN would not take kindly to any article they have written being translated and published elsewhere.
think I'll risk deletion and wait for CN to catch up with the news

You've missed a pretty important word right there...

 

[Tim Booth]

'the pertinent subject matter' is what CN, or any other site, would not take kindly to if any article they had written was translated and published elsewhere.
anyway, CN has (very quickly for them) caught up with the news....

 

[Ricco']

In the event of a merger is Van Aert's contract still valid for next year? They will ride under which license? Roompot's or Veranda's?

 

[wouterkaas]

Re:

In the event of a merger is Van Aert's contract still valid for next year? They will ride under which license? Roompot's or Veranda's?

Veranda's license. So technically it'll be a Belgian team, but they have stated they will "ride under the Dutch flag". I guess that means that the team staff will be mainly Dutch

 

[Tim Booth]

Niels Albert is no longer the coach of Wout van Aert after a four-year partnership
http://www.hln.be/sport/wielrennen/veldrijden/niels-albert-stopt-als-coach-van-aert~a3c63879/
that is as much of the pertinent subject matter I am prepared to steal from the Het Laatste Nieuws site

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

In the event of a merger is Van Aert's contract still valid for next year? They will ride under which license? Roompot's or Veranda's?

Veranda's license. So technically it'll be a Belgian team, but they have stated they will "ride under the Dutch flag". I guess that means that the team staff will be mainly Dutch

You can register an existing license in another country or does that automatically make all contracts invalid?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Niels Albert is no longer the coach of Wout van Aert after a four-year partnership
http://www.hln.be/sport/wielrennen/veldrijden/niels-albert-stopt-als-coach-van-aert~a3c63879/
that is as much of the pertinent subject matter I am prepared to steal from the Het Laatste Nieuws site

I'll steal a bit more then: Albert quits due to personal (family) reasons and states he has nothing left to teach Van Aert.

 

[PeterB]

He really wants to terminate his contract prematurely doesn't he. Probably realized that he could be much better-off elsewhere and now trying to make the most from the new team situation.
I somehow find it hard to believe this statement of his wife: "He's a wreck. They've mentally cracked him." Come on, an elite athlete used to perform under extreme pressure, wrecked by partial reshuffling of his team? He can be glad he is not an NHL hockey player where they can trade him to another side of the continent from day to day without telling him anything in advance.

 

[Lequack]

But it's also true that in cycling you get a limited time that you can be competitive, 10-15 years, rarely more. So each year of lost opportunities is bad in the long run.