Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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Krzysztof_O

Krzysztof_O

Jul 7, 2013
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JosefK said:
What will Belgium do, I wonder? Will they send Little Eddy up the road at some point so Wout can stalk the rest?
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That's exactly what I think will happen. It will be Belgium vs rest of the world. If WVA wants to win this bike race then going on an offense can be a better strategy than marking all attacks. His team is strong but if the race is intense then at some point he may be left with little support (we know what happened at the Olympics when he was the marked man).
 
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Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Realistically if you have Evenepoel driving a reduced group to set up Van Aert in a sprint who is gonna ride away from that group and or who is gonna beat van Aert in a sprint?
 
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Rackham

Rackham

Jul 16, 2015
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Red Rick said:
Realistically if you have Evenepoel driving a reduced group to set up Van Aert
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I think every scenario with a happy ending for Wout van Aert is a "logical scenario" which would work if Evenepoel was a Jumbo Visma teammate & this was another one day race.

The "quaintness" of the worlds is the very fact national teams add some unpredictability in terms of loyalty & behavior. Imagine a small reduced bunch with Evenepoel, WvA, Colbrelli, Magnus Cort (he's someone who can win a flat bunch sprint), Pogacar, Roglic, MvdP, Alaphilippe & some others?

It'll be chaos with attacks & counter attacks. So I don't see this as a forgone conclusion for WvA at all unlike last year for example when the timing of the road race (1 week after the Tour) & the parcours made Alaphilippe pretty much unbeatable as long as he perfected his punch at the right time & no one else was up the road ahead. There's also the fact WvA can also be a bit sketchy with his sprint after a long race (like when he got beaten by Pidcock, or was close to being beaten by the same Pidcock at Amstel & Pogacar in the Olympics).

Still, WvA is the massive massive favorite & that in & of itself adds a huge amount of pressure.
 
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Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Rackham said:
I think every scenario with a happy ending for Wout van Aert is a "logical scenario" which would work if Evenepoel was a Jumbo Visma teammate & this was another one day race.

The "quaintness" of the worlds is the very fact national teams add some unpredictability in terms of loyalty & behavior. Imagine a small reduced bunch with Evenepoel, WvA, Colbrelli, Magnus Cort (he's someone who can win a flat bunch sprint), Pogacar, Roglic, MvdP, Alaphilippe & some others?

It'll be chaos with attacks & counter attacks. So I don't see this as a forgone conclusion for WvA at all unlike last year for example when the timing of the road race (1 week after the Tour) & the parcours made Alaphilippe pretty much unbeatable as long as he perfected his punch at the right time & no one else was up the road ahead. There's also the fact WvA can also be a bit sketchy with his sprint after a long race (like when he got beaten by Pidcock, or was close to being beaten by the same Pidcock at Amstel & Pogacar in the Olympics).

Still, WvA is the massive massive favorite & that in & of itself adds a huge amount of pressure.
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It depends a lot on which sprinters survive the Flemish circuit, but Van Aert in this form should be a very heavy favorite in a reduced sprint vs the names you've put in there. When he got beaten by Pidcock it wasn't from a reduced group and he was definitely over his best shape at that point. I think Van Aert has >50% chance to win in a reduced bunch sprint.

Now I'm not saying Evenepoel can't win, but I do think that unless he goes solo there's a lottery element in if he can bamboozle the lead group he's in, and Evenepoel should beat almost nobody he can't drop.
 
KZD

KZD

Feb 21, 2019
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Valanga said:
Colbrelli, MvdP, Asgreen, Alaphilippe.
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Alaphilippe has been quite poor at sprinting this season, even after a hard race I don't see it likely. As for the other three they have their chances but Van Aert still looks like the strongest which could not be the deciding factor of course.
 
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18-Valve. (pithy)

May 4, 2011
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Wonder if WVA could have won this if he had been 10-15 seconds slower at the first check (with the same legs)

(Don't think either WVA or Ganna (track focus) were at their very best, though. Then again, who was? Asgreen maybe. )
 
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Valanga

Valanga

Apr 12, 2017
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Jagartrott said:
Could the bike have made a significant difference?
Cervelo vs. Pinarello.
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Perhaps, but that's really hard to say. Might as well be the other way around... It's gonna be really close anyway.
Their helmets are different as well, so perhaps that's another five seconds.
 
Valanga

Valanga

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Wout seems to sit a bit more upright than Ganna as well, perhaps they should lower his handlebars a bit.
Ganna's back is completely flat, Wout's isn't.

That's another 10 seconds. No problem Wout!

Edit: also disc brakes for Wout, rim brakes for Ganna. Must be another aero benefit for Ganna. They should hire me at TJV as Marginal Gain Coach.

E_uEcdtWEAQALQP


ganna-tijdrit-italie-sirotti-61478be6b8831.jpg
 
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limak_

limak_

Nov 17, 2020
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Valanga said:
Edit: also disc brakes for Wout, rim brakes for Ganna. Must be another aero benefit for Ganna. They should hire me at TJV as Marginal Gain Coach.
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Disc brakes on a TT bike and on this pancake flat route is the most ridiculous and useless piece of equipment that you could come up with.
 
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S

Sciatic

Mar 4, 2011
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Valanga said:
Wout seems to sit a bit more upright than Ganna as well, perhaps they should lower his handlebars a bit.
Ganna's back is completely flat, Wout's isn't.

That's another 10 seconds. No problem Wout!

Edit: also disc brakes for Wout, rim brakes for Ganna. Must be another aero benefit for Ganna. They should hire me at TJV as Marginal Gain Coach.

E_uEcdtWEAQALQP


ganna-tijdrit-italie-sirotti-61478be6b8831.jpg
Click to expand...
Seems like riders and their teams have to work out a balance between getting as low as possible without subtracting from the ability to produce maximum power over long distances. But Ganna has put much more into TT training than Wout, so perhaps Wout can still get more aero? Ganna’s position and pedaling are awesome to watch.
 
BlueRoads

BlueRoads

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I think the new Cervelos are at least on par with the Pinarellos, at least the recent Jumbo results in time trials don't hint at weak equipment. And what good is a position that's faster in theory if it doesn't allow you to push your best?
I think the course suited enormous big power-houses just fine, and Ganna is such a guy; there was no up and down, and hardly anything technical which would have brought van Aert an advantage.
So, actually, van Aert did pretty well. (And Evenepoel was very strong.)
 
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