Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[Bolder]

One again underperformed in the big monuments because he is not a racer like Ballan, Sagan or Nibali

Funny but some truth to that. In msr especially why not try to make the race?

 

[Netserk]

What did he say to Sporza after the race?

 

[Red Rick]

What did he say to Sporza after the race?

That he wasted a lot of strength following Pog. I agree woth that. Also that he and MvdP were the only ones trying to win after Mohoric got away. Also that he knew Mohoric would attack this descent cause Roglic told him Mohoric has had Sanremo on his mind for years.

There was one corner where he had a wrong line and struggled to find his position in the group, which was very visible, and then he says at the bottom it was the same game as always

Personally I think its a pretty fair assessment, although Im still surprised Pogacar dropped him sort of in the end despite wasting more energy on the Poggio.

I also think that SKAs attack just shows the merit of being deeper in the group and having a much more even pace. The guys behind knew that if WvA catches Pog they wont continue together

 

[Netserk]

When Mohoric went to the front, Van Aert slowed down to get on the wheel of Van der Poel. A what-if moment.

 

[triley36]

I think we all knew that Wout and Van Der Poel competing head to head would mean that neither would win as many classics as they would have without the other being present. That was obvious. What I’m now staring to realize is that by them marking each other so closely (and rightfully so- this is not a complaint), they will also open the door for others to win big races that would otherwise have gone to Wout or VdP.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Also that he and MvdP were the only ones trying to win after Mohoric got away.

Turgis.

 

[SafeBet]

Turgis.

Van der Poel said Pedersen was also chasing hard so I'm a bit surprised by WVA's comment. Basically every rider who had a shot at winning the sprint in that group worked to bring Mohoric back.

Is Van Aert really expecting SKA / Pogacar to work for a sprint they will very likely lose? BTW both Pog and SKA actually attacked on the Poggio so perhaps they were a bit cooked.

 

[jaylew]

Turgis.

Yeah, I guess Turgis raced to win but not in the way WVA and MVDP would have preferred. He rightly figured his best chance of winning was not to help the chase and hope he could catch the group off guard and attack and bridge the gap solo.

Van der Poel said Pedersen was also chasing hard so I'm a bit surprised by WVA's comment. Basically every rider who had a shot at winning the sprint in that group worked to bring Mohoric back.

Bling? He definitely had incentive to help and would have been the only other guy there who would want a sprint

 

[Panda Claws]

Van Aert can just be incredibly salty

 

[Blanco]

Always full of excuses , and always talking how he's a fighter, how only win interests him, blah-blah-blah...
The truth is, as Ilmaestro99 said, he rarely risks, he rarely takes initiative, he wants to hold things together for a sprint, he rides defensive. That's why the biggest wins elude him imo.
He said he knew Mohoric will attack on the descent, but he went past him and he didn't follow, he choose to stay on Van Der Poel's wheel.

 

[SafeBet]

Yeah, I guess Turgis raced to win but not in the way WVA and MVDP would have preferred. He rightly figured his best chance of winning was not to help the chase and hope he could catch the group off guard and attack and bridge the gap solo.

Bling? He definitely had incentive to help and would have been the only other guy there who would want a sprint

Bling is Bling. If Wout expects him to work in that situation he hasn't watched cycling the past few years.
Besides, Matthews hasn't won a race with a sprint in a long time.

 

[hfer07]

well,
at lest he already won it, so I guess it all comes down to how he's going to avoid not being framed by how MVP races...... I mean, his hommie Roglič tipped him off about Mohorič's plan - yet he stuck to MVP when Mohorič took off and was ahead during the most crucial time of the race......

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Something tells me this guy isn't gonna win PR or RVV the way some of the other riders are riding, so he may have to look at other goals for the season. When does the CX season stat again?

 

[Red Rick]

I think we all knew that Wout and Van Der Poel competing head to head would mean that neither would win as many classics as they would have without the other being present. That was obvious. What I’m now staring to realize is that by them marking each other so closely (and rightfully so- this is not a complaint), they will also open the door for others to win big races that would otherwise have gone to Wout or VdP.

Lets be real Cancellara and Boonen have a single Sanremo between them. Sanremo isa different race from the cobbbles entirely.

Also Boonen and Cance didnt have that many H2H duels in Vlaanderen and Roubaix. A chunk of their wins was when the other crashes out or were on low form. Boonen basically never beat a grat Cancellara to win de Ronde.

 

[Wvv]

Boonen basically never beat a grat Cancellara to win de Ronde.

Boonen won the Ronde in 2006 and Cancellara got 6th. One week later Cancellara won Roubaix and Boonen got 5th 2nd. Unfair to say Boonen never got the better of a great Cancellara in the Ronde. There's even something to say for the other way around. Boonen had to fight back from injuries quite a lot more, and that obviously cost him in a few Rondes.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Turgis.

Turgis didn't try to win by co-operating. Turgis tried to win by not contributing anything until a quiet moment in the chase and then go at it alone.
Had Turgis tried to win by co-operating like VDP, Pedersen van Aert they could've sprinted for the win.

But it's understandable nobody aside from those 3 tried to co-operate and that would lead themselves to lose.

 

[Red Rick]

Boonen won the Ronde in 2006 and Cancellara got 6th. One week later Cancellara won Roubaix and Boonen got 5th 2nd. Unfair to say Boonen never got the better of a great Cancellara in the Ronde. There's even something to say for the other way around. Boonen had to fight back from injuries quite a lot more, and that obviously cost him in a few Rondes.

Cancellara had 1 top 10 in de Ronde before he won in 2010 and had won none of the Belgian cobbled races before E3 in 2010.

He was a force in Roubaix yes but Boonen and Cances peaks on the Belgian cobbles barely overlap

 

[Blanco]

Lets be real Cancellara and Boonen have a single Sanremo between them. Sanremo isa different race from the cobbbles entirely.

Also Boonen and Cance didnt have that many H2H duels in Vlaanderen and Roubaix. A chunk of their wins was when the other crashes out or were on low form. Boonen basically never beat a grat Cancellara to win de Ronde.

Let's be real, Boonen and Cancellara by the age of 28 already had 6 Monuments and 1 WC combined, Van Aert and Van der Poel have 2 Monuments only and they're approaching that age. I'd say they're quite behind.

 

[Red Rick]

Let's be real, Boonen and Cancellara by the age of 28 already had 6 Monuments and 1 WC combined, Van Aert and Van der Poel have 2 Monuments only and they're approaching that age. I'd say they're quite behind.

VdP has 4 participations in cobbled monuments and 3 podiums. Van Aert hit his prime like 2 years ago. In their collective best year Roubaix wasnt even held.

 

[samhocking]

The problem for Van Aert and Van der Poel is diluting their road career to date for mtb/cx and for Wout, he is essentially now a domestique for Roglic's GC ambitions and as we saw yesterday, him helping Wout was second priority to training on the cobbles to prepare for Le Tour anyway. Jumbo for some reason then sent Roglic on an attack rather than keep him to tip the balance to a sprint for Wout. Hopefully Roglic simply thought an attack would help Wout, but Wout didn't need a thinner group by then, he was already the best sprinter in the group as soon as Sagan had mechanical and Kwiato caught up behind the crash.

 

[triley36]

Lets be real Cancellara and Boonen have a single Sanremo between them. Sanremo isa different race from the cobbbles entirely.

Also Boonen and Cance didnt have that many H2H duels in Vlaanderen and Roubaix. A chunk of their wins was when the other crashes out or were on low form. Boonen basically never beat a grat Cancellara to win de Ronde.

None of what you say is categorically incorrect, but that doesn’t make anything I say untrue.
Two examples of marking each other out of a big race that come to mind:

1. The GW that Pedersen won (2020?).
2. Yesterday- as great as Mohoric’s descent was, if Wout or VdP are on his wheel, I believe they can stay with him or near enough to him to come back shortly after.

 

[stonerider]

I'll just say that WvA and Pog weren't at their top level for MSR. I think they were still paying for their big efforts in PN and TA stage races. As you can see, MvP could fly in from training camp and be at their level when he's probably not 100 percent yet. Stage racing before a big monument is not good training unless you really hold yourself back. Wout held nothing back on the last day of PN...you pay for those massive efforts.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

The problem for Van Aert and Van der Poel is diluting their road career to date for mtb/cx and for Wout, he is essentially now a domestique for Roglic's GC ambitions and as we saw yesterday, him helping Wout was second priority to training on the cobbles to prepare for Le Tour anyway. Jumbo for some reason then sent Roglic on an attack rather than keep him to tip the balance to a sprint for Wout. Hopefully Roglic simply thought an attack would help Wout, but Wout didn't need a thinner group by then, he was already the best sprinter in the group as soon as Sagan had mechanical and Kwiato caught up behind the crash.

He can't rely just on his sprint after a near 300km race or at least I woudn't put the house on him beating MvdP, Matthews, Pedersen in that situation.

 

[Blanco]

The problem for Van Aert and Van der Poel is diluting their road career to date for mtb/cx and for Wout, he is essentially now a domestique for Roglic's GC ambitions and as we saw yesterday, him helping Wout was second priority to training on the cobbles to prepare for Le Tour anyway. Jumbo for some reason then sent Roglic on an attack rather than keep him to tip the balance to a sprint for Wout. Hopefully Roglic simply thought an attack would help Wout, but Wout didn't need a thinner group by then, he was already the best sprinter in the group as soon as Sagan had mechanical and Kwiato caught up behind the crash.

So Sagan and Kwiatkowski are better sprinters then Van Aert? In which year are you right now?

 

[ij74]

So Sagan and Kwiatkowski are better sprinters then Van Aert? In which year are you right now?

To be fair, WvA´s sprint seems to be slower than last year or two. And that saying, he´s never been top sprinter like Sagan definitely was, at least in Liquigas. I don´t know what Kwiato is doing there, though.