Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[Red Rick]

Hate to be in the peanut gallery this much but his wife's comments make me worry for the rest of his career.
Saying stuff like she thought it wasn't going to happen after it had been such a difficult year.
That she asked herself whether it was all still worth it and that WvA is now a father and such a good one at that.

This isn't an attack on her person but I doubt this is the mindset that'll get WvA towards single-minded cycling excellence. Too much focus on the life beyond it.

I'm filing this under the stuff athletes say when they're close to rock bottom. Evenepoel said similar things about past winter, Roglic apparently has talked about wanting to quit after crashing out the Vuelta in 2022 and/or crashing out the Tour last year. Vingegaard too after his Itzulia crash.

They get back up. It's what they do.

 

[James M]

The only thing to criticize him for is apologizing for suckwheeling.

It's better that way. You don't want him to antagonize his boss when he is watching. Better to show respect than to risk the fury of the Grim Reaper. A 200 IQ move from Wout.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1924151073826111633

View: https://x.com/IsaacDelToroFC/status/1924151073826111633

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Wout interview before the gravel stage:

View: https://youtu.be/BsyffH6AeKw


Question mark answered perfectly.

 

[peterfin]

This victory could change the momentum in his career. I really hope so. We haven't seen the best Van Aert in a long time.

 

[rallybanana]

Happy 50th win young man!

 

[Wvv]

Goosebumps.

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[Lequack]

 

[Gigs_98]

Iconic stage win from Wout. We'll remember this one. It's just a pity he was ill at the beginning of the Giro. I would really really like to see how he would continue to race if he was still in striking distance for pink or perhaps even wearing it.

 

[Red Rick]

The narrative around Van Aert has taken a faster 180 than the average Antony fidget spin move

 

[Breh]

The narrative around Van Aert has taken a faster 180 than the average Antony fidget spin move

It hasn't? The only thing that has changed are the "fans" emerging out of nowhere

He wheelsucked his way to a victory on a course tailormade for him, beating a 21yr old climber racing for his GC.

 

[AmRacer]

It hasn't? The only thing that has changed are the "fans" emerging out of nowhere

He wheelsucked his way to a victory on a course tailormade for him, beating a 21yr old climber racing for his GC.

And a bit lucky Pidcock crashed

 

[Ilmaestro99]

It hasn't? The only thing that has changed are the "fans" emerging out of nowhere

He wheelsucked his way to a victory on a course tailormade for him, beating a 21yr old climber racing for his GC.

Mate come on.

You can scroll this thread for the last 4 years and see I'm one of the biggest WVA detractors/haters on here. And even I can see that yesterday was a good stage win where he did perfect tactics.

This is bike racing , it's a sport, it's not a watts competition like on zwift, you have to use your brain to win. His whole carrieer I have criticised van aert for not using his brain. Yesterday he played his cards perfectly.

 

[Samamba]

It hasn't? The only thing that has changed are the "fans" emerging out of nowhere

He wheelsucked his way to a victory on a course tailormade for him, beating a 21yr old climber racing for his GC.

A clear hater talking about his fans lmao.

I don't care about Wout at all, but what a dumb way to look at his win. If he didn't do what he did everyone would've called him a tactical moron (and rightfully so), now he's a wheelsucker. If you frame it this way you just can't stand the guy.

 

[tobydawq]

It hasn't? The only thing that has changed are the "fans" emerging out of nowhere

He wheelsucked his way to a victory on a course tailormade for him, beating a 21yr old climber racing for his GC.

Lol.

 

[Berniece]

It hasn't? The only thing that has changed are the "fans" emerging out of nowhere

Maybe people just felt he really deserved this win after all he's been through? I'm not a WVA fan at all, and I was happy to see him get this win.

 

[ChasingPotatoes]

It hasn't? The only thing that has changed are the "fans" emerging out of nowhere

He wheelsucked his way to a victory on a course tailormade for him, beating a 21yr old climber racing for his GC.

I don't know about the course being tailormade for him. He is a heavy rider and e.g. Pinzuto and the last climb to Siena are out of his comfort zone with his weight. He was kind of 'lucky' with the circumstances and even the competition, but he fought for it, and he worked obviously very hard to make his come-back.
Hard work, character, grit and determination paid off. I don't see him suddenly riding in this Giro like he did in the past Vuelta and some TdF (like 2021-2022), but he sure is back into contention for winning left and right.

For a reason, I think his current shape is a good thing for improving his (often lacking) tactical racing. He both has to force himself to ride differently, and his competition doesn't see him anymore as the favourite / the one that has to do all the work / close all the gaps.
If only he improves to previous levels, and embraces the new tactical approach, he could actually win quite a few races.

 

[Extinction]

Iconic stage win from Wout. We'll remember this one. It's just a pity he was ill at the beginning of the Giro. I would really really like to see how he would continue to race if he was still in striking distance for pink or perhaps even wearing it.

He would have gotten pink in the TT, then lose it on Thursday/Friday

 

[Andre]

It was beautiful to watch. The commentators had been practically saying he had a very small chance at winning the stage, then at the closing climb there was a camera shot from the top showing El Toro barely edging forward, but Wout maintaining and suddenly out-slugging the younger man around a curve...done to perfection...you could feel the power of Wout's strength as he pulls ahead. Very happy for him after that horrible La Vuelta crash. I hope he can get back to that level again.

 

[jmdirt]

A clear hater talking about his fans lmao.

I don't care about Wout at all, but what a dumb way to look at his win. If he didn't do what he did everyone would've called him a tactical moron (and rightfully so), now he's a wheelsucker. If you frame it this way you just can't stand the guy.

Unfortunately, that is the case in every rider thread.

 

[Gigs_98]

He would have gotten pink in the TT, then lose it on Thursday/Friday

Probably but how much does Wout in great shape lose on that climb? If he is motivated to keep pink I recon not that much. I just think it would have been fascinating to see how he would do in the high mountains if he actually had an incentive to try to limit his losses. Now I don't believe for a second he would ever be capable of staying near the top of gc until the end but because this giro has so few high mountain stages it would have been a unique opportunity to lead a GT going into the final week.

 

[greyclouds]

I'm glad that he got his GT triage completed and in such a remarkable stage.

Wout might not be MVDP nor Pogacar but he has his own qualities and deserves to be recognised as a generational talent.

 

[Breh]

Mate come on.

You can scroll this thread for the last 4 years and see I'm one of the biggest WVA detractors/haters on here. And even I can see that yesterday was a good stage win where he did perfect tactics.

This is bike racing , it's a sport, it's not a watts competition like on zwift, you have to use your brain to win. His whole carrieer I have criticised van aert for not using his brain. Yesterday he played his cards perfectly.

A clear hater talking about his fans lmao.

I don't care about Wout at all, but what a dumb way to look at his win. If he didn't do what he did everyone would've called him a tactical moron (and rightfully so), now he's a wheelsucker. If you frame it this way you just can't stand the guy.

Easy, easy.

Do not get me wrong, he's a very cool and down to earth guy, he throughly deserved that victory after all he's been through, he did everything right and I'm happy for him.

But the narrative hasn't changed, he's not going to win big(ly) anymore without doing everything right and having a fair bit of luck. That has been the case for some time now, it was the case yesterday and it will be the same in the foreseeable future.

 

[Red Rick]

Probably but how much does Wout in great shape lose on that climb? If he is motivated to keep pink I recon not that much. I just think it would have been fascinating to see how he would do in the high mountains if he actually had an incentive to try to limit his losses. Now I don't believe for a second he would ever be capable of staying near the top of gc until the end but because this giro has so few high mountain stages it would have been a unique opportunity to lead a GT going into the final week.

Stage 7 climb?

2020-2022 shape he can be top 10 somewhere probably lacking in the final push to the line. 2025 in a good shape maybe 20th?

 

[Andre]

less than a year ago at La Vuelta he was in one of his best forms ever.

 

[Red Rick]

less than a year ago at La Vuelta he was in one of his best forms ever.

Yeah nah doubt. He was winning medium mountain stage breakaways against Vuelta breakaway fields. He wasn't doing a pissing contest with UAE domestiques with 13 left at the end of a 4000m desnivel stage on a HC climb.

He was good in the Vuelta, but it's a disservice to how great his peak level is.