Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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I mean at the end of the day it's mostly up to Van Aert himself. If he says "guys, I'm feeling too tired today, I'm taking a day off" then I don't think the DS is going to force him to be on donkey duty.

I think he just can't help himself, like yesterday. He was very impressive but he really didn't have to do all that work. They have enough good domestiques.

If you look at the past week you can't deny he is still an absolute beast of a rider, it's incredible. At the same time I fear he is going to do a repeat of last year and he will be completely knackered for the WC.

I hope he takes it a bit easier after the first rest day because he's riding around like he has infinite energy again.
Yeah, he is so dumb but it is good for us (fans). However, we look to MVP and he is racing this Tour as a training block so I'm sure MVP will be fresher in Glasgow.
 
I must say he doesn't have a chance of winning Flanders unless Pogi crashes out. And his team can't do sh## against peak Pogacar and MVP specially in Flanders. In Roubaix, I think it is more probable to see one of his teammates get a free ride and win the whole thing (Van Baarle comes to my mind) than working as slaves to his captain. He was close to win Roubaix without any help from his teammates and I think he is the number one favourite there if he can be smart. In Flanders, I think he doesn't have enough watts and need a bit of luck (right circunstances) to win.
Agree with Flanders, but do we know if Pog will ride Flanders every year? And sure MVDP has the upper hand in Flanders, but one year the sprint was close between them. Still think the strenght of TJV helps van Aert in the classics with the positioning, pushing the pace, several cards to play, etc.
 
Stages WvA shoulda/coulda won:
Stage 1: no.
Stage 2: yes, definitely, if only Vingegaard helping out with one big pull.
Stage 3: yes, definitely, if only the jury did their work (and he kept sprinting) or simply if Philipsen didn't close the door (I saw WvA closing in).
Stage 4: not really, but JV pulling before the last 3K, when WvA was out of position, really didn't help for him to regain position. JV effectively killed WvA's efforts to get back in the first 15 riders. He was around 30th spot for most of the circuit, but still managed 10th on the stage.
Stage 5: no.
Stage 6: no.
Stage 7: he didn't try.
Stage 8: yes, definitely. He was by far the fastest / strongest.
Stage 9: yes, but with big ifs: if he rode like stage 5 or 6, and if the race dynamics were the same in the lead group (killing eachother with more than 50K to go --> he could most definitely do what Jorgenson did, but he could pull it off until the end).
Stage 10: no (but yes, with the legs he had in the last 3.5 tours, it was a perfect stage for him).

So all in all, he shoulda/coulda won 3 stages (2, 3, 8), and there was some untapped potential in stage 4 and 9.

What is still possible:
Stage 11: Yes. Not impossible with WvA's excellent positioning and a long straight finish.
Stage 12: only from a break without good climbers, or in the (unlikely) case there is a reduced peloton sprint
Stage 13: no
Stage 14: no
Stage 15: no
Stage 16: Maybe. It's a TT, but WvA's not really saving himself.
Stage 17: no.
Stage 18: yes.
Stage 19: yes.
Stage 20: no.
Stage 21: yes

So all in all, the second half of this tour delivers less chances (but still enough decent ones). Nothing is impossible, but WvA better picks his stages. I feel he is waisting a lot of energy and wasn't patient enough...
 
One of his most impressive climbing performances. First he buried Pidcock and Buchmann on the shallow gradients of Ramaz. Reducing the group to 15 riders. Splits the group on the descent and paces all the way to the bottom of the last climb. But he wasn´t done.
When Majka took over I thought he exploded. Group is down to 10-12 riders. Majka is done and all of a sudden WVA is back at the front. Doing one final leadout before Kuss takes over.
Basically doing the job of 2-3 riders all by himself.
 
One of his most impressive climbing performances. First he buried Pidcock and Buchmann on the shallow gradients of Ramaz. Reducing the group to 15 riders. Splits the group on the descent and paces all the way to the bottom of the last climb. But he wasn´t done.
When Majka took over I thought he exploded. Group is down to 10-12 riders. Majka is done and all of a sudden WVA is back at the front. Doing one final leadout before Kuss takes over.
Basically doing the job of 2-3 riders all by himself.
It was like the phoenix. Incredible. His climbing defies physics. If he lost 5 kg he surely would be a GT contender.
 
It was like the phoenix. Incredible. His climbing defies physics. If he lost 5 kg he surely would be a GT contender.
Well it would be hard to lose 5kg without losing power.

Heijboer mentioned it in his interview on LRCP. The Jumbo trainers were quite split on if he could do it. One thought he only needed to lose 3kg, while another said it was more like 6kg and doubted Van Aert could maintain his power at such a caloric deficit.
 
That was a bit of a weird, f*cked up ride at the end there. Not sure why he didn't wait when it was apparent quite early he would not catch Poels.
I was puzzled, yet pleased with the result. It did turn out to be correct, for the foursome to ride a little crazy on the downhill. Ultimately they needed the time that they got, before the crash made the group a threesome .if you love bike racing, today was awesome