Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[meat puppet]

Selfish till the end: didn't even allow Vingegard to drop Pogacar.

 

[Oldermanish]

Who in a breakaway and in their right mind would challenge Wout to a two up sprint

Sagan, if he's feeling it. Not this Tour by a long shot. Covidx3 he's lucky to be on a bike.

 

[Arked]

He dropped Pogacar on the Hautacam after having ridden on the front the entire day, for crying out loud. His performance was ridiculous. I cannot fathom how you can continue to be so unimpressed.

And of course he can win LBL and Lombardia with this level.

Van Aert did 5.4 and 5.3 w/kg on last two climbs today. Sure he dropped Pogacar with his acceleration and short pull, but that's about it. He was in the right place and time. Pogacar still did 6.1wkg on the last climb. It's not like WvA outclimbed him or anything. He had head start and finished minute behind. His performance is surely impressive but we must by aware of mentioned numbers.

 

[tobydawq]

Van Aert did 5.4 and 5.3 w/kg on last two climbs today. Sure he dropped Pogacar with his acceleration and short pull, but that's about it. He was in the right place and time. Pogacar still did 6.1wkg on the last climb. It's not like WvA outclimbed him or anything. He had head start and finished minute behind. His performance is surely impressive but we must by aware of mentioned numbers.

Oh my God. I know that. But if it was so easy, why didn't the other very capable riders he was in the break with just ride him off their wheels? Maybe because it's stage 18 of one of the toughest Grand Tours of the last few years...

 

[davidsonduke]

It's fairly simple. Right now Pogacar is the best cyclist in the world, with WVA very close behind--being able to win TDF and Monuments is special. Vingogaard has put together a performance I surely didn't foresee. He could challenge Pog as the best GT rider in the world if he continues to be this good. Don't think he'll challenge as best overall, since he seems particularly suited to GTs and not to any kind of one-day racing. Cycling is a strange sport in that you have such different types of cyclists competing head to head.

 

[Arked]

Oh my God. I know that. But if it was so easy, why didn't the other very capable riders he was in the break with just ride him off their wheels? Maybe because it's stage 18 of one of the toughest Grand Tours of the last few years...

Never said it was easy. He surely is simply better cyclist that anyone he was in the breakaway with. And when it comes endurance, durability and regeneration capabilities he is one of the best, period. His only weakness seems to be a weight. And when watts per kilo go very high, he will be beaten by specialists.

 

[roundabout]

Never said it was easy. He surely is simply better cyclist that anyone he was in the breakaway with. And when it comes endurance, durability and regeneration capabilities he is one of the best, period. His only weakness seems to be a weight. And when watts per kilo go very high, he will be beaten by specialists.

circular reasoning alert

 

[Arked]

It's not circular reasoning. What I'm claiming is that assuming that WvA can win races where absolute top climbing performance is required based on performance like today may be misleading.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Probably the best rider in the world.

Agree. People who unironically watch this Tour and say hes not top 2, at least, are basically trolling. Enough said!

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Agree. People who unironically watch this Tour and say hes not top 2, at least, are basically trolling. Enough said!

But but but... I'm a mod.

 

[movingtarget]

In the annals of WVA performances, yesterday has to rank pretty high..........amazing

 

[Jagartrott]

Please don't make him into a GC contender. Let him continue to have fun this way, win very different stages in different ways and 'en passant' be worth 3 teammates.

Maybe a better goal for him is to try and win all monuments + the worlds. That would make him pretty unique in this age.

 

[skippo12]

Start with points + mountain classification in the same year. Would have been possible this year but he gifted away a couple of points in the first week and didn´t really sprint for KOM points in the alps.

 

[dutchdescent]

Why do I feel like throwing with *** in this thread?… okay I won’t

 

[Red Rick]

In the annals of WVA performances, yesterday has to rank pretty high..........amazing

I think Col d'Eze, Prati di Tivo, Grand Colombier and Mikuni are all higher. I don't remember Loze that well.

 

[RedheadDane]

Remember when people made a big deal about how he TOTALLY SELFISHLY cost Vingegaard... four seconds?
Honestly, now that kind of reminds me of how back during the 2018 Giro people were saying S. Yates was stupid for letting Chaves win on Etna...

 

[frisenfruitig]

Vingegaard may be leading the GC but to me what Wout has done the past 3 weeks is way more impressive. The energy this guy has is just astonishing, head and shoulders above the rest. It is almost going to take a miracle to stop him from winning at least one of the next 3 stages.

 

[Red Rick]

Remember when people made a big deal about how he TOTALLY SELFISHLY cost Vingegaard... four seconds?
Honestly, now that kind of reminds me of how back during the 2018 Giro people were saying S. Yates was stupid for letting Chaves win on Etna...

Only man this Tour to drop Vingegaard.

I stand by what I said. It didn't make sense unless you knew what was up.

 

[RedheadDane]

Only man this Tour to drop Vingegaard.

I stand by what I said. It didn't make sense unless you knew what was up.

What was the odds that Vingegaard would have lost the Tour by exactly four seconds?

 

[AlfaLum]

Wout is by far the strongest rider in this tour. Maybe even the strongest rider I have ever seen in a GT ever.

It is absolutely incredible what this guy is doing. He has been spending a lot of energy every single day and he is still not fading even a tiny bit. What a rider.

 

[tobydawq]

What was the odds that Vingegaard would have lost the Tour by exactly four seconds?

Or three, two or one seconds.

Negligible.

 

[red_flanders]

Except the fact is that Wout winning meant less bonus time for Pogi. Rather than costing them time, it saved them time. And got them yet another stage win. So if Vingo won by 4 seconds he’d have Wout to thank. As he does for completely saving his arse on the Roubaix stage, and all the huge turns he did for him since.

 

[RedheadDane]

Except the fact is that Wout winning meant less bonus time for Pogi. Rather than costing them time, it saved them time. And got them yet another stage win. So if Vingo won by 4 seconds he’d have Wout to thank. As he does for completely saving his arse on the Roubaix stage, and all the huge turns he did for him since.

I think the argument at the time was that Jumbo shouldn't have worked to control the break, but just had let the break contest the stage.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

Van Aert did 5.4 and 5.3 w/kg on last two climbs today. Sure he dropped Pogacar with his acceleration and short pull, but that's about it. He was in the right place and time. Pogacar still did 6.1wkg on the last climb. It's not like WvA outclimbed him or anything. He had head start and finished minute behind. His performance is surely impressive but we must by aware of mentioned numbers.

Totally unfair and oversimplified comparison. Van Aert was in the attack from km 0, was in the lead all day and also regularly did head work in the ever shrinking leading group. As during many other stages. If Poga or Vingegaard had done the same, they would have reached a maximum of 5 w/kg on the ascent of the Hautacam. They would also have had bad days in between.

Which does not mean that if Van Aert were the only leader in a team, he would be able to finish every day at full capacity and without a breakdown.

 

[jmdirt]

I don't think he'd mind racking up two or three stages & the green for another couple of seasons. Then it's time to begin the Transformation. Just imagine what a 65kg Van Aert would do in the mountains (if he weren't dead, of course).

Please delete this post.