Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I mean the explosiveness thing.. Valverde was still pretty explosive at 38.

It doesn't need to go. Wout van Aert could be at a great level for years. Decline mostly happens because the fire is gone. Some cyclists can go on for years more than the average and still have a very high level. I don't think Wout "only has 3/4 chances" left. All depends on his internal motivation.

 

[AmRacer]

I think he shouldn't rush back to racing. Wout should take his time to recover and then do a full cyclocross season.

 

[Keldergoat]

Terpstra, Cancellara, Boonen, Devolder, Gilbert, all riders that won RvV when they were 32 or older. I know the peloton is getting relatively younger, but with monuments I would still consider experience as key. Look at how Degenkolb was shining like a diamond in PR last year. Pretty convinced WvA can still win multiple monuments, although I see PR as the race that suits his abilities best.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Terpstra, Cancellara, Boonen, Devolder, Gilbert, all riders that won RvV when they were 32 or older.

Boonen was 31 and Devolder was 29

 

[Red Rick]

I mean the explosiveness thing.. Valverde was still pretty explosive at 38.

It doesn't need to go. Wout van Aert could be at a great level for years. Decline mostly happens because the fire is gone. Some cyclists can go on for years more than the average and still have a very high level. I don't think Wout "only has 3/4 chances" left. All depends on his internal motivation.

Explosiveness is a super badly defined term generally anyway. Peak power and 20s power goes down more so than 1 minute-3 minute power. Valverde stopped doing real bunch sprints before he turned 30

Boonen not winning RvV after 31 is irrelevant. They are not nearly the same rider type. Boonen stopped competing in RvV because he was never all that great on the modern RvV route anyway and the game passed him by. Especially with newer bike setups being more forgiving for lighter riders on cobbles, RvV is way more of a hilly classic than it used to be. Like Tom Boonen would go to Eneco Tour every year and get murdered on the Muur van Geraardsbergen because in Eneco Tour they would actually drive it from bottom to top whereas in RvV they would just pubcrawl until the steep part starts.

I don't see why Van Aert can't be this level until his mid 30s. I don't see any younger dudes catching up to the Big 3. But this was Pogless RvV and therefor a bigger wasted opportunity than the last 2 years.

 

[Keldergoat]

Boonen was 31 and Devolder was 29

Ah I mischecked the month on Boonen, made the 1980 / 2012 equation. On Devolder I genuinely thought he was deep into the autumn of his career when he had his two wins.

 

[ashhutch1997]

Explosiveness is a super badly defined term generally anyway. Peak power and 20s power goes down more so than 1 minute-3 minute power. Valverde stopped doing real bunch sprints before he turned 30

Boonen not winning RvV after 31 is irrelevant. They are not nearly the same rider type. Boonen stopped competing in RvV because he was never all that great on the modern RvV route anyway and the game passed him by. Especially with newer bike setups being more forgiving for lighter riders on cobbles, RvV is way more of a hilly classic than it used to be. Like Tom Boonen would go to Eneco Tour every year and get murdered on the Muur van Geraardsbergen because in Eneco Tour they would actually drive it from bottom to top whereas in RvV they would just pubcrawl until the steep part starts.

I don't see why Van Aert can't be this level until his mid 30s. I don't see any younger dudes catching up to the Big 3. But this was Pogless RvV and therefor a bigger wasted opportunity than the last 2 years.

Tbf Andrea Tafi and Johan Museeuw won several cobbled monuments past 35 if I'm not mistaken?

 

[awavey]

Maybe. But 'goals' are also a double edged sword, i.e. athletes can rush things because they want to recover as fast as possible.

very true, its a fine line to tread and he needs a good set of people around him to tell him when the moment is right and when it isnt, which Im sure he'll have.

but I can assure you when youve worked as hard and sacrificed as much to get to this position for this season where he had big goals, to have that all taken away by a crash like that, which he no doubts blames himself for as well, he'll be endlessly replaying that moment and berating himself for why didnt he do something different, and with the amount of injuries, I mean a collarbone would be one thing but we know most riders bounce back pretty soon from that, but with the ribs and the sternum too, and then to say well thats seasons done, dont aim for anything this year.

he will find himself suffering from depression, the what could of been, the blame he puts on himself, will he get that chance again and so on and that can be even harder to overcome and recover from than the pure physical injuries alone without something to aim for.

something to target as a ok we're in a bad place at the moment, but if we focus and look forward, instead of back or at what might have been, at where we want to be next, it can be very self defeating, why train hard at all if all that happens is you get injured again, why bother ?

IMO elite sport is much more about mentality and mental strengthness, rather than the pure physicality, and he needs to target a race this season to aim for, he might not be ready in time for it and then has to pick a new goal, but without that kind of impetus behind his recovery, it will be much longer and more protracted, and he might not end up as good a rider as he was before.

 

[Salvarani]

Van Aert been going hard in classics, GTs and CC for about +4 years. It takes its toll. Both physically and mentally.

His coach for many years left the team.

He has other riders on his team breathing down his neck,

He has pressure on his shoulders from fans and Belgium to win more monuments, worlds and so on.

He has rivals he has found very hard to beat throughout his whole career in the big races.

He will be 30 in the fall and now out with injuries that probably ruins this season.

He has a lot to overcome and probably has to make peace with some things to be able to perform to the best of his abilities.

I don’t find it impossible for him to have a big win down the line. My guess would be PR or Worlds on a course that could suit him. Maybe another MSR as well.

Ronde will be difficult as long as MVDP is around. Visma should be going full Quickstep, they have the manpower to do it but just have not gotten it to work in the main event.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Still, despite it all being hard and stuff he put his best numbers relative to other years just before the classics according to Heijboer.

 

[Red Rick]

he will find himself suffering from depression, the what could of been, the blame he puts on himself, will he get that chance again and so on and that can be even harder to overcome and recover from than the pure physical injuries alone without something to aim for.

Jumbo have the solution to that mental issue.

Fred Wright can't keep getting away with it

 

[Netserk]

Explosiveness is a super badly defined term generally anyway. Peak power and 20s power goes down more so than 1 minute-3 minute power. Valverde stopped doing real bunch sprints before he turned 30

Boonen not winning RvV after 31 is irrelevant. They are not nearly the same rider type. Boonen stopped competing in RvV because he was never all that great on the modern RvV route anyway and the game passed him by. Especially with newer bike setups being more forgiving for lighter riders on cobbles, RvV is way more of a hilly classic than it used to be. Like Tom Boonen would go to Eneco Tour every year and get murdered on the Muur van Geraardsbergen because in Eneco Tour they would actually drive it from bottom to top whereas in RvV they would just pubcrawl until the steep part starts.

I don't see why Van Aert can't be this level until his mid 30s. I don't see any younger dudes catching up to the Big 3. But this was Pogless RvV and therefor a bigger wasted opportunity than the last 2 years.

Boonen didn't have a clean shot at Ronde from 2013 to 2015. Injuries and age did him in on the new route, not the climbs. I see nothing to suggest that it would have troubled him from 2005 to 2009.

 

[Gargamel35]

For the hype this guy has, he won very little. No GC wins in 3 week or important 1 week races. No world titles or Olympic wins. Just one monument (Milano) and one half monument (Strade) many years ago. That's it.

The rest are stage wins in GTs which is great of course. But overall, he's a man of many trades, but master of none. Time is not on his side. Now he'll have to work for Jonas again on TdF and try to win couple stages.

 

[Red Rick]

Boonen didn't have a clean shot at Ronde from 2013 to 2015. Injuries and age did him in on the new route, not the climbs. I see nothing to suggest that it would have troubled him from 2005 to 2009.

He was barely hanging on to Ballan and Pozzato in RvV the year he won Roubaix with a 60km solo by about 3 minutes. The Ronde field on average got way better at hilly terrain, and since 2012 the only rider with less hilly race cred than Boonen is probably Kristoff.

 

[Billie]

For the hype this guy has, he won very little. No GC wins in 3 week or important 1 week races. No world titles or Olympic wins. Just one monument (Milano) and one half monument (Strade) many years ago. That's it.

Both wins also in the first week after the Corona restart when like 3 teams did altitude camps and half the peloton was only allowed to train outside only couple weeks earlier

 

[Peyroteo94]

He was barely hanging on to Ballan and Pozzato in RvV the year he won Roubaix with a 60km solo by about 3 minutes. The Ronde field on average got way better at hilly terrain, and since 2012 the only rider with less hilly race cred than Boonen is probably Kristoff.

Boonen was not in his prime in his 30's. I still think the old route was very hard and the Muur was even more suited to Pogacar than Kwaremont. A peak Pogacar would kill everyone (including MVP) in the Muur. Boonen was a different beast between 2005-2010 and he had by far the best team which made him very winnable during this period in cobbled classics.

 

[Wyndbrook]

very true, its a fine line to tread and he needs a good set of people around him to tell him when the moment is right and when it isnt, which Im sure he'll have.

but I can assure you when youve worked as hard and sacrificed as much to get to this position for this season where he had big goals, to have that all taken away by a crash like that, which he no doubts blames himself for as well, he'll be endlessly replaying that moment and berating himself for why didnt he do something different, and with the amount of injuries, I mean a collarbone would be one thing but we know most riders bounce back pretty soon from that, but with the ribs and the sternum too, and then to say well thats seasons done, dont aim for anything this year.

he will find himself suffering from depression, the what could of been, the blame he puts on himself, will he get that chance again and so on and that can be even harder to overcome and recover from than the pure physical injuries alone without something to aim for.

something to target as a ok we're in a bad place at the moment, but if we focus and look forward, instead of back or at what might have been, at where we want to be next, it can be very self defeating, why train hard at all if all that happens is you get injured again, why bother ?

IMO elite sport is much more about mentality and mental strengthness, rather than the pure physicality, and he needs to target a race this season to aim for, he might not be ready in time for it and then has to pick a new goal, but without that kind of impetus behind his recovery, it will be much longer and more protracted, and he might not end up as good a rider as he was before.

Fortunately has a couple of little brats to keep him occupied and help realise that there are other important things in his life.

 

[Volderke]

I'm sure WvA has to concentrate not to laugh (as his sternum will hurt) when reading all these comments that pretend to know how he MUST feel now.

 

[Sciatic]

For the hype this guy has, he won very little. No GC wins in 3 week or important 1 week races. No world titles or Olympic wins. Just one monument (Milano) and one half monument (Strade) many years ago. That's it.

The rest are stage wins in GTs which is great of course. But overall, he's a man of many trades, but master of none. Time is not on his side. Now he'll have to work for Jonas again on TdF and try to win couple stages.

You obviously aren’t a big cobbled classic fan as you’ve completely dismissed his prowess there. I mean, he beat Pogacar and MVDP straight up in E3 last year. Some of us put a lot of value on those races. I would still agree his accomplishments in monuments are disappointing. As for one-week stage races, he usually wasn’t there to win them given that Roglic and Vingegaard were his teammates.

 

[Kwaremonster]

It's also annoys me how his 9(!) stage wins in the tour are so easily dismissed. And not any stage victories but ones on the Ventoux, time trials, in yellow and in Paris.

He maybe lacking in monuments but his legacy in the tour, the biggest bike race in the world, blows that of Mvdp, Pedersen, van Avermaet, Gilbert and Boonen out of the water imo.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Van Aert has a lot of big wins: MS, Strade, Gent-Wevelgem, Amstel, E3, Omloop, nine Tour stages, green jersey, three world titles cyclo-cross, and so on. Then there are all those silver and bronze medals. I'm tired of those haters who are always saying "it doesn't count". Of course it counts. He's one of the best and most versatile riders of the past six years, just incredibly unlucky.

He's certainly not too old to win classics in the future. Tchmil was 37 when he won the Tour of Flanders. Now Van Aert needs to deal with the situation mentally and give his body time to heal.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Still, despite it all being hard and stuff he put his best numbers relative to other years just before the classics according to Heijboer.

I think the issue is, so did Mathieu.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

You obviously aren’t a big cobbled classic fan as you’ve completely dismissed his prowess there. I mean, he beat Pogacar and MVDP straight up in E3 last year. Some of us put a lot of value on those races. I would still agree his accomplishments in monuments are disappointing. As for one-week stage races, he usually wasn’t there to win them given that Roglic and Vingegaard were his teammates.

He also failed to mention Amstel Gold...stupidity shown by his detractors is nothing new, though the commentary that he is a jack of all trades, but a master at none, has some validity. And, while 2nd places are not 1st places, his placings are well above some of the riders he is derogatoraily mentioned with. He is an overwhelming champion in another time that didn't include Mathieu. This is not an uncommon thing in cycling, but his haters love their hate so much, that getting them to recognize reality is a pointless exercise.

 

[jono]

Van Aert has a lot of big wins: MS, Strade, Gent-Wevelgem, Amstel, E3, Omloop, nine Tour stages, green jersey, three world titles cyclo-cross, and so on. Then there are all those silver and bronze medals. I'm tired of those haters who are always saying "it doesn't count". Of course it counts. He's one of the best and most versatile riders of the past six years, just incredibly unlucky.

He's certainly not too old to win classics in the future. Tchmil was 37 when he won the Tour of Flanders. Now Van Aert needs to deal with the situation mentally and give his body time to heal.

Is he really that unlucky? It seems his main stroke of bad luck is having an opponent that is better than him in his main targets, which hardly seems like luck at all. He's missed races due to illness or injury, but everyone in the sport does (heck, that same main opponent had two down years due to a chronic injury that many thought could be career threatening). He also has been racing in the best team in cycling for the last half decade, which isn't luck either but surely can't hurt.

He will probably win more monuments yet. He might not. But when it comes to luck, over a long career it generally averages out.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Mathieu is more explosive...but when he has to do that over 3 weeks of racing, he sh!ts the bed every time. Wout comes in 2nd a lot to Mathieu, but Mathieu drops out of races where Wout is winning stages. He's just weaker in that way, it's the groupetto for Mathieu on the hard days...Wout is up there dropping GT leaders for his team. Mathieu just doesn't have the engine to do that. Never will.