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I'm more curious for his tactics than his actual result tbh.
He will profit from it, and he will be fresh as a daisy. I have to wonder how van Aert will be able to stretch his form until then. Adrie van der Poel did say it is a lot easier to stretch a superb form, than it is to reach it. But i think van Aert has given a lot in 2 months, i'm not sure how realistic it is for him to maintain that form and stay rested on top of it.
I've said it months ago, i think Mathieu is building to what matters most to him, the classics. And i think he will be dominating especially Flanders.
Reckon that for Van Aert the Worlds are more important cause good chances for that are a lot rarer than, while Vlaanderen and PR are there every year. Also he has already had a tremendous year off of one peak essentially.
https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/m...-binckbank-tour-denk-dat-ik-topvorm-beet-heb/
Lets try a translation in English, bullet point style
Lets try a translation in English, bullet point style
- He thinks he's finally in top form now
- He thinks he made a wise decision to not ride the worlds as he would have to have a superday to be up there
- He felt lesser than last year so far and attributes that to the Covid19 period. He feels he's done too much rather than too little, and possible overtrained a bit resulting in lesser form
- BB Tour suits him better than Ardennais classics. And he wants to try and win the overall
- He even specifically trained on the ITT bike in Livigno for the 11km TT in BB tour. So that's a new one, I don't think he's ever done that before.
- He's disappointed he didn't get to ride MTB this year. Says he also missed the fact he was always racing, CX, MTB, Road. The fact that all of it fell away hurt him a little
- He's going to do about 10 to 15 crosses in the winter.
In hindsight, i actually think he should have gone to the WCC. I don't think he would have podiumed, but i think he'd have been in Matthews group. With a slightly different scenario (let's say they catch Alaphilippe) maybe the tempo drops and the group of Matthews can come back. He wouldn't have been the pre-race favorite, but under the right circumstances, he'd have had a shot. More of a shot than Van Avermaet at the Olympics.
Skele
BANNED
I still don't get this comments about not going to Tokyo if they get invited for the TdF next year but why wouldn't they skip London if he could ride the tour in 2024??
I'm glad he would skip Tokyo for the tour but it makes zero sense not skipping London also.
I'm glad he would skip Tokyo for the tour but it makes zero sense not skipping London also.
Covid definitely threw him off. He's a different animal than anyone else in the peloton. Juggling three disciplines (really totally different sports) is hard enough w/o having a covid ball thrown at you while your trying to do it. He clearly came into the start of the season completely flat (undertrained, overtrained, who knows), and lost two huge chances at SB and MSR. That's on him and/or his coaches because even the T-A VDP would've been sprinting for the win at MSR. Hopefully they've got it all together and we see him full gas at RVV and PR - doing stuff no one else can do.
Covid definitely threw him off. He's a different animal than anyone else in the peloton. Juggling three disciplines (really totally different sports) is hard enough w/o having a covid ball thrown at you while your trying to do it. He clearly came into the start of the season completely flat (undertrained, overtrained, who knows), and lost two huge chances at SB and MSR. That's on him and/or his coaches because even the T-A VDP would've been sprinting for the win at MSR. Hopefully they've got it all together and we see him full gas at RVV and PR - doing stuff no one else can do.
I wonder if he will ever regret not focusing more on road racing. I wish he would quit cyclocross entirely, he has nothing left to prove and at this point it's beneath him imo. All due respect for his competitors but VDP doesn't even need to be near top shape to humiliate them. It has to be fun to be so much better than everyone else though, I get that. Still, in terms of prestige it doesn't mean much to beat guys like Aerts/Sweeck/Iserbyt. I'd prefer to see him do a full road season for once instead of doing so much cyclocross and then hoping that doesn't bite him in the ass during the classics season.
Cyclocross doesn't interfere with classics, it keeps him happy and he can use it as training. It's MTB that is the issue, if he wants to focus on road racing.
Don't forget that next year the WC are in Flanders, on a route that it's almost tailor made for him that will start in Antwerpen, near his house.
Doing the Tour, then switch to MTB to the Olympics and then back to the road to build up for the Worlds would maybe be a bit too much.
Do you mean London or Paris?
It's not getting easier for him by any means. He is superb athlete, but road cycling is team sport and having a good team around him comes more and more crucial. He can't be everywhere at the same time.
with AGR getting cancelled ... and PR not looking too good, it could be really a lost season for him I fear.
Most road spring goals cancelled -> moved
Then MTB was mostly cancelled or clashed with the new UCI calender
Then when Road started again he wasn't 100% well prepared and didn't do well in MSR/Strade. (Lombardy etc were too hard anyway)
And now he skipped worlds and ardennes in order to be good in BB Tour, AGR, RVV, PR. With AGR already cancelled. BB-tour missing a stage, and possibly PR cancelled as well (as I said, they are still discussing it).
And a lot of CX races are already getting cancelled as well so ...
Most road spring goals cancelled -> moved
Then MTB was mostly cancelled or clashed with the new UCI calender
Then when Road started again he wasn't 100% well prepared and didn't do well in MSR/Strade. (Lombardy etc were too hard anyway)
And now he skipped worlds and ardennes in order to be good in BB Tour, AGR, RVV, PR. With AGR already cancelled. BB-tour missing a stage, and possibly PR cancelled as well (as I said, they are still discussing it).
And a lot of CX races are already getting cancelled as well so ...
Don't really understand why he skipped the Worlds in a season like this. You ride whatever you can, nothing is certain.
Perhaps, but I'm still curious how he would perform if he did a full season on the road, including a complete preseason build-up towards the classics. It might be the case that he would perform even better, we certainly have never seen him try that before.
He skipped them because he didn't think he'd be competitive.
He's also skipping the MTB Worlds when he would likely be favourite for the win.....
Would've been better to have competed and had a great workout, given he 'needs' to race
On the startlist for LBL now.
Wasn't scheduled, was scheduled during today's stage but since his efforts from today let's see if he really starts.
Wasn't scheduled, was scheduled during today's stage but since his efforts from today let's see if he really starts.
I hope he does. I mean it's unlikely he can do anything against Alaphilippe or Hirschi. But apart from that many good riders are missing. Might as well try
He is in top shape now, amazing win today, I just hope de Ronde or Paris Roubaix can take place (things aren't looking great for the latter).
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yeah thats the big worry. Would be a shame if he can't capitalize on this form. Though I think at least BR Pijl/Gw/RVV wil.
Not very many good riders. Fuglsang, Valverde, Van Aert, Evenepoel, but otherwise I would say nobody else would be able to win tomorrow of those that don't start (if they did start).
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