Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[OlavEH]

Is Wout fully recovered from his injuries last year and on the same level as earlier? Based on this classics campaign, I doubt that. But hope that he will on a even higher level later this season and next year.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Unless wva fixes the sprint and acceleration problems he ain't going to win in the smaller races either. Its not like those races are void of hungry competitors.

I disagree. He's clearly a level below the top guys VDP and Pogacar, on par with Pedersen, but better than almost everyone else - depending on the parcours of course. He should be one, if not the, favorite in almost any race that he enters that doesn't have VDP and/or Pogi on the startlist. Impossible to tell of course, but without VDP, Pogacar and Pedersen in RVV and PR, there's a good chance that Van Aert would have won both, so I don't see how he shouldn't be able to win races when those 3 (2) aren't present.

I do agree that he'll have a tough time competing for the win in AGR, LBL and so on (Pogacar is there too, but even without him), but there are tons of opportunities for him in other races.

And even if he isn't going to win these races, what else should he do? Clearly it's way harder to win the big classics.

 

[Netserk]

Yeah they all have to be Belgian, and Van Aert fans to boot

Truth hurts?

Man die bidon gooide naar Mathieu van der Poel meldt zich bij Belgische politie

De persoon die zondag een bidon naar het gezicht van Mathieu van der Poel gooide tijdens Parijs-Roubaix, heeft zich gemeld bij de Belgische politie. Het gaat om een Vlaming. Dat meldt Het Nieuwsblad. Getuigen spraken eerder nog over een groepje Franstaligen die flink gedronken hadden als daders...

www.wielerflits.nl

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah I mean clearly they got the prep wrong this year. Not much to be done but learn and try again. Even at top form, he's not on the level of MVDP and Pogi.

last year he was actually able to respond to MVDP nukes in E3 Prijs and Olympics. And then ride defensively. He had the explosivity. That seems completely gone now. Partly due to injury, partly due to prep I think

 

[Barkintheeye]

last year he was actually able to respond to MVDP nukes in E3 Prijs and Olympics. And then ride defensively. He had the explosivity. That seems completely gone now. Partly due to injury, partly due to prep I think

The crashes have taken their toll more than we'd like to acknowledge. He's still young enough to get back one more time but the impact of that crash last year is clearly present. Also look at Alaphilippe who never looked the same after his crash at Ronde in 2022. The cost of going down can sometimes be repaid yet a massive one takes a long time to recover. I think his results this spring with this in mind are still impressive.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The crashes have taken their toll more than we'd like to acknowledge. He's still young enough to get back one more time but the impact of that crash last year is clearly present. Also look at Alaphilippe who never looked the same after his crash at Ronde in 2022. The cost of going down can sometimes be repaid yet a massive one takes a long time to recover. I think his results this spring with this in mind are still impressive.

yh i mean crashes and impact on career is not only the recovery. But also that the opposition makes progress in the same period that you get back to your old level.

Van Baarle said he was on the same watts as his race winning level in 2022, he's nowhere now. The rest improved.

Gesink's career is a prime example.. He was one of the best u21 year old climber/GT racers in the peloton, rivaling Nibali in ability. But he spent so much of his career returning from injuries he never reached the same levels as his opponents when he was younger.

 

[Divergence]

Wout will be fairly strong in the Giro, probably get some stage wins. But, in order to come back to being a top rider he needs to chase his team.

 

[Red Rick]

Van Baarle said he was on the same watts as his race winning level in 2022, he's nowhere now. The rest improved.

They never specificy what numbers, so I think this is a pretty misleading statement. If you were to to say that all 34 riders who finished ahead of him would win Roubaix in 2022 when he won it himself by 2 minutes I'm gonna call ***.

Like, if you look at climbing times right now sure they are heavily improved but they are absolutely not "35 guys are beating the climbing times of 2022" levels fast.

 

[Keldergoat]

The crashes have taken their toll more than we'd like to acknowledge. He's still young enough to get back one more time but the impact of that crash last year is clearly present. Also look at Alaphilippe who never looked the same after his crash at Ronde in 2022. The cost of going down can sometimes be repaid yet a massive one takes a long time to recover. I think his results this spring with this in mind are still impressive.

Wasn't Ala's big crash the one in LBL? The RvV crash was in 2020 (with the moto bike) but didn't have a large impact on him.

 

[Balthazar]

They never specificy what numbers, so I think this is a pretty misleading statement. If you were to to say that all 34 riders who finished ahead of him would win Roubaix in 2022 when he won it himself by 2 minutes I'm gonna call ***.

Like, if you look at climbing times right now sure they are heavily improved but they are absolutely not "35 guys are beating the climbing times of 2022" levels fast.

Yeah, race circumstances obviously play too big a role to make conclusions like that in hindsight. Having said that though, the racing has just changed from then onwards. If you have Tadej and Mathieu at the start and add in a Pedersen as well they will just go full gas from a 100k out and it's survival of the fittest until the finish. There is no anticipating or tactical riding anymore. In the Move podcast they referenced facetiming with Mark Cavendish and he was saying Mathieu's FTP is close to 500 watts . Look at Arenberg yesterday where Pogacar and Mvdp make a selection but then Mathieu throws in a couple of huge accalerations on the asphalt going 65 kph and Tadej has to get him back. 98% of the riders are already done at that point.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Wasn't Ala's big crash the one in LBL? The RvV crash was in 2020 (with the moto bike) but didn't have a large impact on him.

I stand corrected it was ofc 2020 and you might be correct that it didn't set him back that much albeit it looked awful

 

[Panda Claws]

Truth hurts?

Man die bidon gooide naar Mathieu van der Poel meldt zich bij Belgische politie

De persoon die zondag een bidon naar het gezicht van Mathieu van der Poel gooide tijdens Parijs-Roubaix, heeft zich gemeld bij de Belgische politie. Het gaat om een Vlaming. Dat meldt Het Nieuwsblad. Getuigen spraken eerder nog over een groepje Franstaligen die flink gedronken hadden als daders...

www.wielerflits.nl

Don't see why it would.
Perpetrator having been either Belgian or French was always very likely given where these races take place.
Every village has its idiots.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Don't see why it would.
Perpetrator having been either Belgian or French was always very likely given where these races take place.
Every village has its idiots.

MODERATOR

I am confident that no-one here would want to justify the actions of the idiot who threw the bidon. It may have been an easy guess, and in this case one that seems to be true, that the perpetrator was Belgian, there will be absolutely no tolerance here of any suggestion that this is typical of a nationality, linguistic grouping, fan-base or any other grouping (except, perhaps, drunken young men)

Enough.

 

[Sciatic]

Wasn't Ala's big crash the one in LBL? The RvV crash was in 2020 (with the moto bike) but didn't have a large impact on him.

I thought it was Ala’s marriage crashing that he’s struggled to come back from?

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I think hurting the ego's of all the gravel 'pro's' that badly may be considered a crime against humanity

<A really embarassed Matej Mohric enters the chat>

 

[LookProGoSlow]

Yeah, race circumstances obviously play too big a role to make conclusions like that in hindsight. Having said that though, the racing has just changed from then onwards. If you have Tadej and Mathieu at the start and add in a Pedersen as well they will just go full gas from a 100k out and it's survival of the fittest until the finish. There is no anticipating or tactical riding anymore. In the Move podcast they referenced facetiming with Mark Cavendish and he was saying Mathieu's FTP is close to 500 watts . Look at Arenberg yesterday where Pogacar and Mvdp make a selection but then Mathieu throws in a couple of huge accalerations on the asphalt going 65 kph and Tadej has to get him back. 98% of the riders are already done at that point.

How does Cavendish know MVDP’s FTP?

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

This is what I saw as well. I give no disrespect to Wout if this is the case (and from viewing the race at that point, that looks to be what happened), as he isn't less "manly" or "alpha" for not being able to get into the fray with abandon. He has a family. His injuries were significant. To hesitate or avoid danger, when danger has bitten you the way it has him, is normal. He will need to overcome this, or he will have to find other races to win. https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...thats-also-why-vingegaard-didnt-go-to-itzulia

 

[Boes]

It's clear he wasn't at the level of big 3, big 4, big 5 whatever like he used to be in period 2019-2023.
It's possible his injury in Spain last year is to blame. The alternative is that he's physically over his top.

In that regard next year will be an important one for him. We'll know more after PR 2026.

 

[Red Rick]

It's clear he wasn't at the level of big 3, big 4, big 5 whatever like he used to be in period 2019-2023.
It's possible his injury in Spain last year is to blame. The alternative is that he's physically over his top.

In that regard next year will be an important one for him. We'll know more after PR 2026.

I think he showed more endurance than before. He's physically not over his top but everyone is still improving.

 

[Cycling111]

It could also be age.
Many riders begin to decline after the 30s, although Van der Poel and Pedersen are in their prime shape this year at 30.

 

[awavey]

Really has lost that sprint edge hasn't he 🫤

 

[Rackham]

Really has lost that sprint edge hasn't he 🫤

I'd say that's more than a 'lost sprint edge'. That's starting to look injury related loss of sprint ability.

 

[Lequack]

I guess he can become a GC rider now.

 

[Peyroteo94]

He didn't lost just his sprint. He lost everything a little bit.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

The Dutch Visma coaches making Wout's training schedule so that he'll be in peak form for Amstel: