Wout van Aert

[QueenStagiaire]

Belgian Pozzovivo

 

[Ripper]

Don't know, but a solid 8 out of 10 on the Riis scale.

Vingo was his ridiculous Tour 2022 self but this guy just took it to a whole other level. Attacking from the beginning and then dropping a decent Pogacar (his Hautacam ascent is fairly good, about 2014 Nibali levels) is just comedy turned into tragedy at this point.

And I really hope the MvdP comparasion ends here regarding the ridiculous performances on the high mountains, there's a world of difference between being in several breaks whilst in peak form and the Wout show from this year's Tour. Just pathetic.

FWIW the van der Poel comparisons were in everything but the high mountains (at least from me). Van der Poel was capable of almost everything, ridiculously high short term power (his forte, so OK), then also TTs and sustained power, then short hills. Wout's mountain mutant mode and ability to just do it day after day have moved him ahead on the mutant scale (partly also made so by Matthieu's injuries making him more vulnerable).

 

[Mayomaniac]

Belgian Pozzovivo

Belgian Bugno, with an ego bigger than Chiapucci's

 

[Laverna]

The guy almost accidentally won the polka dot jersey, while most of the time he gifted the major KOM points to someone else. Ciccone and Geshke sprinted at every single summit, used their whole team and still failed...

 

[fbjim]

really i shouldn't make Jalabert 1995 comps because every time I do, I check his PCS page and realize I'm still underrating that season. that season is a work of Clinic art, as great as the finest works of poetry or classical music

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Wout's injrury probably earned him a TUE, which allowed him to use a fresh set of knees every day.

 

[BR2]

The guy almost accidentally won the polka dot jersey, while most of the time he gifted the major KOM points to someone else. Ciccone and Geshke sprinted at every single summit, used their whole team and still failed...

He was there every single day. As a sprinter, uphill, intermediate sprints, outclimbing almost all most climbers, pulling, on cobbles, in the heat. What the what.

 

[Salvarani]

From his first attack where he basically just attacked away from the whole peloton. Powless could only follow him for like 500m-1km.

It was Landis-esque. Just like his stage-win where he just dropped everyone on the category 4 climb.

There was nothing stopping this guy today or throughout most of the Tour.

 

[Red Rick]

He's the best rouleur in the peloton, it's hardly a surprise he has an easy time in getting into and during breakaway formation.

Today I also think doing Spandelles at his own pace helped tremendously compared to the GC guys who were doing 6.5W/kg for the first 15 minutes of that climb.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Round about the time he was dropping Pog on Hautacam I couldn't help thinking back to Nico Roche's comments early in the stage when Wout was attacking from km 0, about the problem with burning so much energy on attacks early if they didn't work (and they didn't initially), it meant you could be dropped on the first climb... how it was risky for a team member helping someone on GC, well I guess that showed him! Still getting my head around what we saw today.

 

[Nick2413]

The guy almost accidentally won the polka dot jersey, while most of the time he gifted the major KOM points to someone else. Ciccone and Geshke sprinted at every single summit, used their whole team and still failed...

They need to change the points distribution if they want anyone other than the GC winner (and Wout) to have a shot.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Race report 21st July, 2022

The flag drops for the big Pyrenees showdown and Wout rockets away from the peloton. Is this showboating? Once he's run out of riders to ride off his wheel he sits up and waits for fresh blood. For the next hour of flat roads he has the peloton on a string and sticks the boot into the entire Cofidis team who are all working to get the the polka dots (Simon Geschke) in the break. A large break gets a small gap before the Col d'Aubisque and obviously Wout is one of those. On the climb he soon shreds most of the break. Ciccone and Pinot are next in line in that order for the KOM jersey after Cofidis has gone and both are clearly motivated - Wout lets them have the first HC climb uncontested. On the next Cat 1 Ciccone who only really needs to win this summit explodes trying to follow as does the best of the Movistar team. Lutsenko (top 10 on GC) is also dropped so it's just Pinot and Dani Martinez left. At the summit Wout does sprint for the KOM points, easily winning of course. Suddenly we're all trying to find his name in the KOM classification and doing some sums which confirm if he wins the stage, he wins the KOM comp too. He could obviously leave the other two on the descent but decides to wait for them. It's not long on the Hautacam climb before Wout has shattered french dreams for good as Pinot drops and Martinez is just about clinging on. However Wout's teammates and Pogacar (i.e. the yellow jersey group) are closing now so how are the team going to play this for the GC, stage and KOM comp? Wout eases up, takes over at the front of yellow jersey group and blasts past an exhausted Martinez. Now Wout is really motoring, even starting to grimace a bit as Pogacar drops. For a short time we wonder whether Wout and the yellow jersey could go to the finish together (maybe that could have been an option) but what they opt for is maximum GC time gain so Wout rides himself to a standstill and is passed by Pogacar. His teammate Vingegaard seals the Tour win, the stage and the KOM. Wout finishes 3rd

 

[Libertine Seguros]

 

[ashhutch1997]

I generally have never seen a performance like this. Can any of the elder statesman on this forum tell me any performances that could come close?

 

[fbjim]

Different era, but Jalabert. That said, Jalabert was actually riding for GC (in '95) and actually won the Vuelta that year so that was different, but he was still a guy who could win sprints, and won a ton of Classics that year as well (including MSR and La Fleche Wallonne)

 

[ontheroad]

Race report 21st July, 2022

The flag drops for the big Pyrenees showdown and Wout rockets away from the peloton. Is this showboating? Once he's run out of riders to ride off his wheel he sits up and waits for fresh blood. For the next hour of flat roads he has the peloton on a string and sticks the boot into the entire Cofidis team who are all working to get the the polka dots (Simon Geschke) in the break. A large break gets a small gap before the Col d'Aubisque and obviously Wout is one of those. On the climb he soon shreds most of the break. Ciccone and Pinot are next in line in that order for the KOM jersey after Cofidis has gone and both are clearly motivated - Wout lets them have the first HC climb uncontested. On the next Cat 1 Ciccone who only really needs to win this summit explodes trying to follow as does the best of the Movistar team. Lutsenko (top 10 on GC) is also dropped so it's just Pinot and Dani Martinez left. At the summit Wout does sprint for the KOM points, easily winning of course. Suddenly we're all trying to find his name in the KOM classification and doing some sums which confirm if he wins the stage, he wins the KOM comp too. He could obviously leave the other two on the descent but decides to wait for them. It's not long on the Hautacam climb before Wout has shattered french dreams for good as Pinot drops and Martinez is just about clinging on. However Wout's teammates and Pogacar (i.e. the yellow jersey group) are closing now so how are the team going to play this for the GC, stage and KOM comp? Wout eases up, takes over at the front of yellow jersey group and blasts past an exhausted Martinez. Now Wout is really motoring, even starting to grimace a bit as Pogacar drops. For a short time we wonder whether Wout and the yellow jersey could go to the finish together (maybe that could have been an option) but what they opt for is maximum GC time gain so Wout rides himself to a standstill and is passed by Pogacar. His teammate Vingegaard seals the Tour win, the stage and the KOM. Wout finishes 3rd

Hilarious yet factually completely accurate. And that was chapter 18.

 

[roundabout]

I do believe that the current Van Aert could quite conceivably win a 90's style raced Fleche

GCs are obviously a different matter. At least right now.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I generally have never seen a performance like this. Can any of the elder statesman on this forum tell me any performances that could come close?

LS has posted a picture of a sprinter, who at his best was able to follow the best climbers/dopers in the world: Cândido Barbosa.

 

[roundabout]

I remember Barbosa riding for Banesto.

Made his later Volta exploits all the more hilarious.

 

[proffate]

"The man who has won the past two Tours de France was somehow dropped on an hors categorie climb by a rider who has won two bunch sprints on this one."

 

[Ripper]

C

Cleanz and talended

 

[Savant12]

It ain’t over. Wout will be the big favourite to win the TT after that “exhibition”.

The last 3 stages, basically. All fresh as a daisy for each one.

 

[senna6541]

Embarrassing. Wout's progression at JV was a bit suspicious from day 1 a few years ago, but now it seems like he has somehow transformed himself into a totally different athlete/physical specimen from the full grown 24 year-old Wout? Not buying it. Guess we'll have to wait for MVDP to get back to 100% and then see how they stack up in the WC's/cx/and classics. History says MVDP should be ahead. Not buying the "more professional team" BS unless "professional" means better at doping.

 

[PhiLiz]

Most people don't know how apt this comparasion is. We really need WVA trying to win a GT just with bonus seconds à lá based Cândido in 2005 Grandíssima.

I generally have never seen a performance like this. Can any of the elder statesman on this forum tell me any performances that could come close?

Cândido Barbosa at several editions of Volta a Portugal, particularly 2005 through 2007.

 

[Cookster15]

Embarrassing. Wout's progression at JV was a bit suspicious from day 1 a few years ago, but now it seems like he has somehow transformed himself into a totally different athlete/physical specimen from the full grown 24 year-old Wout? Not buying it. Guess we'll have to wait for MVDP to get back to 100% and then see how they stack up in the WC's/cx/and classics. History says MVDP should be ahead. Not buying the "more professional team" BS unless "professional" means better at doping.

MVDP can’t dominate on HC climbs dropping riders like Pogacar and Geraint Thomas. Wout is in a class of his own. Today was far bigger than when he was pulling the JV train on the Grand Colombier in 2020. Jumbo had their revenge.