Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

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Low is rhe new high

Mar 27, 2024
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ChasingPotatoes said:
I honestly don’t think that this wva is able to follow any of mvdp and pog on either paterberg or Kwaremont. I saw wva improving today, and it was a pretty long and though finale, but they didn’t obliterate the competition (chasing group stayed pretty close for a long time), and even though wva lacked a sprint that could, without cramps, be a much better one, don’t see him in a 80K longer race that’s raced at least as hard, suddenly sprinting without cramps like today. Powless is a great rider, but either he improved or wva slowed down, uphill, or a combination.
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As I have tried to explain in my posts for wout to be able to follow Mvdp and Pog he has to be att peak shape. I think he is preapearing and tapering at the moment his plan is probably not to be 100% for today but to be there on Sunday and try to stay there for PR. His curve is going at the right direction but there is a risk he will not get there on Sunday. Previosly a normal Wva season would see him win some Cx races around Christmas until mvdp reached his peak and wout was in decline at time for WC and than he would be very good in feb march again but start to fade in the beginning of rvw week. Last year he had a different approach which we never saw the result of but obviously the team say he had good numbers before the crash , this year he has done the same. I hope it will workout and i do not see how anyone can make conclusions on it until after the next two weeks. I believe he will be able to follow MvP and Pogi there will be a sprint and MvP will beat Wout and Pogi will come in third.
 
Extinction

Extinction

Jan 8, 2020
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Low is rhe new high said:
Yeah, sure but he still lost to Ganna….
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And he lost to Ganna two years ago too, so? You clearly don't account for attrition combined with firing all your bullets. It catches up even with the best. It's one thing to respond to attacks, another to be the one making them. Pog will be fine for Flanders, as he was two years ago. It's a completely different race.
 
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Netserk

Netserk

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Apr 30, 2011
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awavey said:
Demi's take on it is worth a read
Click to expand...
The deception… 💭

Yep, I was also laughing a bit when I first heard and then saw that Visma lost while being in the break with three…
But after watching it back once more and hearing Wout’s interview, I changed my mind.

We should not forget that we are all human. We love a bit of drama. We love underdog stories.
Wout is human as well. This guy has been through a lot! And everyone has had their opinion about him.
We all judge too early, especially too easily. We are tempted to forget everything he has been through, and we probably don’t even know half of it because we cannot look inside his head or understand what it does to him mentally.

Hearing him say that he was egoistic and that it is not who he is was painful for me, because we forget so easily what stress, doubt, and all the mess thrown at him actually do to him.

For me, it is completely understandable that he lost himself a bit.
When people have so much to say about you, it is easy to start feeling lost. And it is probably something you do not even notice. It creeps in very quietly.

You train a bit harder, focus a bit more, and before you know it, you are lost in your rituals, running on autopilot, trying to prove everyone wrong, trying to get just a bit closer to your dreams.

And before you know it, you make the wrong decisions and you cramp up. Maybe it was not the body. Maybe it was the mind that got too excited. But you did not stay true to yourself, so this win was not meant to be.

It is a lesson. A wake up call for Visma and Wout, but not just for them. It is a lesson and a wake up call for all of us.

He is human. We are all human. I think I have been in his situation. You think you are making the right decisions, but under too much pressure, under too much focus, you cannot see it anymore.

And we will never realize it in that very moment…
 
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Gratemans

Gratemans

Jul 15, 2021
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Netserk said:
The deception… 💭

Yep, I was also laughing a bit when I first heard and then saw that Visma lost while being in the break with three…
But after watching it back once more and hearing Wout’s interview, I changed my mind.

We should not forget that we are all human. We love a bit of drama. We love underdog stories.
Wout is human as well. This guy has been through a lot! And everyone has had their opinion about him.
We all judge too early, especially too easily. We are tempted to forget everything he has been through, and we probably don’t even know half of it because we cannot look inside his head or understand what it does to him mentally.

Hearing him say that he was egoistic and that it is not who he is was painful for me, because we forget so easily what stress, doubt, and all the mess thrown at him actually do to him.

For me, it is completely understandable that he lost himself a bit.
When people have so much to say about you, it is easy to start feeling lost. And it is probably something you do not even notice. It creeps in very quietly.

You train a bit harder, focus a bit more, and before you know it, you are lost in your rituals, running on autopilot, trying to prove everyone wrong, trying to get just a bit closer to your dreams.

And before you know it, you make the wrong decisions and you cramp up. Maybe it was not the body. Maybe it was the mind that got too excited. But you did not stay true to yourself, so this win was not meant to be.

It is a lesson. A wake up call for Visma and Wout, but not just for them. It is a lesson and a wake up call for all of us.

He is human. We are all human. I think I have been in his situation. You think you are making the right decisions, but under too much pressure, under too much focus, you cannot see it anymore.

And we will never realize it in that very moment…
Click to expand...
Yeah, her post made me think about it a bit more as well. But I concluded it's just a matter of cognitive dissonance: I can both feel for Wout ánd think that the way this unfolded was pretty damn hilarious.
 
O

Oldman

Jun 19, 2009
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ChasingPotatoes said:
I honestly don’t think that this wva is able to follow any of mvdp and pog on either paterberg or Kwaremont. I saw wva improving today, and it was a pretty long and though finale, but they didn’t obliterate the competition (chasing group stayed pretty close for a long time), and even though wva lacked a sprint that could, without cramps, be a much better one, don’t see him in a 80K longer race that’s raced at least as hard, suddenly sprinting without cramps like today. Powless is a great rider, but either he improved or wva slowed down, uphill, or a combination.
Click to expand...
Powless was consistently rested and strong, all day. Wout used what he had too early and didn't let his teammates know he was done with 10km to go so they could attack Powless. Really bad tactics to take anyone to the line when it's a 3 on 1.
 
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K

King Of The Wolds

May 19, 2011
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Netserk said:
The deception… 💭

Yep, I was also laughing a bit when I first heard and then saw that Visma lost while being in the break with three…
But after watching it back once more and hearing Wout’s interview, I changed my mind.

We should not forget that we are all human. We love a bit of drama. We love underdog stories.
Wout is human as well. This guy has been through a lot! And everyone has had their opinion about him.
We all judge too early, especially too easily. We are tempted to forget everything he has been through, and we probably don’t even know half of it because we cannot look inside his head or understand what it does to him mentally.

Hearing him say that he was egoistic and that it is not who he is was painful for me, because we forget so easily what stress, doubt, and all the mess thrown at him actually do to him.

For me, it is completely understandable that he lost himself a bit.
When people have so much to say about you, it is easy to start feeling lost. And it is probably something you do not even notice. It creeps in very quietly.

You train a bit harder, focus a bit more, and before you know it, you are lost in your rituals, running on autopilot, trying to prove everyone wrong, trying to get just a bit closer to your dreams.

And before you know it, you make the wrong decisions and you cramp up. Maybe it was not the body. Maybe it was the mind that got too excited. But you did not stay true to yourself, so this win was not meant to be.

It is a lesson. A wake up call for Visma and Wout, but not just for them. It is a lesson and a wake up call for all of us.

He is human. We are all human. I think I have been in his situation. You think you are making the right decisions, but under too much pressure, under too much focus, you cannot see it anymore.

And we will never realize it in that very moment…
Click to expand...
Don't go speaking sense round these parts
 
Gratemans

Gratemans

Jul 15, 2021
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Oldman said:
Powless was consistently rested and strong, all day. Wout used what he had too early and didn't let his teammates know he was done with 10km to go so they could attack Powless. Really bad tactics to take anyone to the line when it's a 3 on 1.
Click to expand...
The first part seems a bit unfair to me. You're suggesting he knew he didn't have the legs but didn't tell his teammates? That would be pretty uncharacteristic for him.
I think he just had faith in his usual sprint, but didn't take into account that he had a different run-up to the classics compared to all previous years (barring last years approach ofcourse, which they never got to know how his form would develop because he crashed out). Or his sprint has deterioted because of a different training focus.

But the second part of your post? Yeah, they messed up big-time. A 3-against-1 on this course? You should never, ever lose that.

What should have happened from a Visma pov:
Wout: "I feel good, I wanna go for a sprint"
Team car: "Allright, but let Tiesj and Matteo wear him out first"

Simple as that. The team did screw up as a whole.
 
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