Is Wout Van Aert REALLY That GOOD?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 พ.ย. 2023
- Wout van Aert has an enormous reputation and talent as well, but his record on major occasions has been an issue in recent years. But how good is Wout van Aert as a rider compared to his peers as in effect, Mathieu van der Poel.
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He is the only rider who can win any stage in the Tour. TT, mountain top, mass sprint, cobbles: there is zero possible terrain where you can safely predict that he will not win. That is remarkable, even MvdP and Pogi can't say the same.
If Pogi was allowed to get in a breakaway on a sprint stage, he could win. Same with Wout on a mountain top finish. However, neither is likely to outperform the best in those particular specialties.
@bjornpk I know, but the odds of a flat stage ending in a breakaway victory are much smaller than a mountain stage. Take for example the Champs Elysees stage. Pogi tried, even there, but there's just no way in hell for him to win there.
@@bjornpkwhat about 2021 champs elysee
@@bjornpkBut Pogi cant win a flat mass sprint against the peleton.
Yes but bar the TdF in all those other races MvdP is clearly morelikely winner. I think Wout needs to change, I already said that months ago and he IS in fact changing his preperation. Wout is an exceptional rider, one we may be tend to see once per decade. He is quite unfortunate that this time around there is this guy who is just a bit better over all. Let's not forget that MvdP is the better cyclocrosser as well as being the among the best in Mountainbiking, where Wout does not compete. I think Wout would be very good nevertheless.
So we have two different types of riders who tend to come very close in most situations. One is also very good at TdF, the other is als worldclass in MTB. I have watched TdF and cycling since the 1980s and this is by far the best time ever. Not only because of these two, but let's not forget Pog, Evene, Ala, Pidcock. Pidcock an exceptional talent too doing very well at all three cycling styles.
Major Props that you can talk 8 minutes about a question that has a simple "yes" as the answer.
He’s very, very good but, the hype definitely outstrips the palmares at this stage.
MvdP has bested him when it mattered time and again.
A few strong seasons could change all that. The stories not set whilst pages are still to be written.
Only In 1 day races.
He is so close each time though.
Its bound to happen
@@telmolicious I think first of all Wout is indeed so close, we can see how MvdP getting just a fraction worse and/or Wout a fraction better changes the whole picture.I have to say though that I feel in all those one day races the gap has been widening. Where Wout coud get to the finish in 2020 in RvV he after that never managed to stick to Mathieu again. But here we can see how a different approach to the season might sligtly change that and that shoud be enough. I hope the next few years it will get more even again because apart from Paris Roubaix, where Wout was the equal to Mathieu, you can moreless count om Mathieu beating Wout.
As a new observer of cycling races, my opinion is limited, but it looks to me that he takes on a greater share of pulling than his competitors in races he’s clearly trying to win, not just when he’s working for his teammates. I get the sense that if we saw the total power numbers over the course of races he loses, he’d nonetheless be pumping out the most watts
Epic monologue. Nice 1
Wout is one of only three riders in the history of the Tour de France who has managed to win a TT, a sprint stage and a mountain stage in one Tour.
The other two being Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Bernard Hinault in 1979.
That's a pretty exclusive club to be in that in my book beats any classic win.
Well but that is also where comparisons stop of course. Neither Wout nor Mathieu can come close to Hinault or Merckx. These two are in category of their own where Merckx is the absolute best cyclist the world has ever seen on the road. If Mathieu wins an Olympics or WC on Mountainbike, he for sure is the most versatile cyclist the world has ever seen.
Now mention Pogacar. LBL, RVV, 3x Lombardia, 2 TdF GC victories, 2 2nd on GC, 5 times GT podiums, 3 Vuelta stages wins and 11 TdF stage wins. Heads and shoulders above these two
has he won a cyclocross world title No. Totally different riders.
No cyclocross world champs and no big ITT wins either.
Pogi is arguably the best rider of his generation but WVA is a phenomenon in his own right.
@@philipapts886 well Pogi has already won two Tour ITTs, same as WVA.
@@pedrodiogo4807 you’re correct. The one one La Planche was legendary ! What a ride 🤩
As a Belgian cycling fan I can also enjoy the rivals of our top riders. Such a beautiful sport!
@@philipapts886U could argue its the greatest time ever for cycling even looking into the history.
All time rivalry in the tour and all time rivalry in the classics.
Wouts biggest problem is that he is jack of all trades, master of none.
I just wish he would be more aggressive, he is always far too passive against direct rivals. However look at Gent wevelgem, when he knows hes the the best in the race he destroys everyone.
That’s a fair and accurate comment, but he is smart enough to be aware of this fact. If he wanted to concentrate on one trade and kick everybody’s asses (like he would) the he’d just make that happen.
The fact that he has maintained his style suggests that being a Jack of all trades is what makes his cycling fun and interesting. Personally, I’d hate to be a gun sprinter who knew that the alps would hurt him, or a great climber who didn’t look forward to the TT. Wout has a diverse and interesting season to look forward to every year and knows there will be a win or three in there somewhere.
it's not a fair and accurate comment. He is truly a master of all trades (except maybe climbing) just not "The" master of all. Look at his TT palmares, would you not describe a rider with only this palmares as a TT-specialist? His classics palmares, would you not call a rider having only this as a classics specialist? His climbing record as a domestique + wins and results on mountain stages, many riders would be called climbers based on what he's shown if they hadn't shown anything more. Then look at his sprinting results, at his wins, how many pure sprinters would dream of winning an accomplishing what WvA has done?
Yes, Mathieu is an even better classics rider, there are better climbers, Ganna is an absolute machine in the TT and Philipsen is an elite topsprinter besting him. Wout is still an absolute grandmaster in all of these disciplines, often winning in all of these even.
@yannickdegroot822 despite trying to disprove my point I think you have done a great job of confirming it.
Maybe a translation thing but in English being called a jack of all trades is a positive comment and isn't suggesting he is crap.
In many races he did not lose ue to lack of aggressiveness. He was just beaten by stronger riders, when it mattered he just lost it. And mostly by a small difference but a significant difference too. No aggressiveness would have helped him. When MvdP goes on a steep climb he just drops wout and everyone else time after time after time. That is pure power and MvdP plays to that power perfectly. Wout needs to get more explosive otherwise this story will continue unlees Mathieu weakens.
I'd say yes he is. I'd say his most notable performance comes at Hautacam where he went on to drop a two-time TDF winner off his wheel while wearing the green jersey on top of other notable exploits done earlier in the TDF that is no small list. I'd say he is really that good and better than 90% of the other riders in the pro peloton.
Only better than 90 %?
Buddy, he is a top 5 rider in the world.
Only, Pogi, Jonas, MVDP and Roglic are ahead of him regardless of the order.
Last year u could argue he was top 3.
@@telmolicious I don't think Jonas is better. He is a onetrick pony: a very good allrounder which pays of in Grandtours. But Wout is far more versatile. To me in order it is Pogi, Wout, Mathieu and Pidcock. Not Roglic or Vingegård. All of the firt four can win in the Tour and everywhere else, the other two as far as I know can't or only infrequently can.
@@jaysimoes3705 I’m talking road racing only.
All four can win in the tour? Please tell me you’re taking stage wins..
And those rank faaaaaaar below a tour victory. The diamond of the sport.
And let’s not act like Jonas only wins GTs.
@@telmolicious Jonas is a boring cyclist, another Froome of sorts. Wins due to a very good team. The others are just more versatile and far less calculating. They are the men that make racing exciting these days. Taking the risk to lose hence taking a chance to win. Vingegard is nothing like that at all. But to each their own, there is no metric that can prove I am right and you re wrong vice versa.
@@jaysimoes3705 You’re talking about excitement. I’m not arguing about ppls personal preferences cause that would be ret@rded.
Less versatile? Definitely. That’s a fact.
Regarding the close-calls and settling for podiums - he isn’t choking or having bad luck, it just appears that way because he is always in the fight to win. He wins as much as others, but those same others mostly finish well down if they don’t win.
Ask any guy in the peloton if they’d rather finish on the podium if they don’t win and face scrutiny, or finish in obscurity without the analysis - I think we all know the answer….
"He only does well at the Tour De France" is like saying an NFL player is only good in the playofffs, or a that a football/soccer player only good in the world cup. MVDP is better in one day races so far. But Wout has shined on the biggest world stage in cycling and been a huge part of dominant victories. He is already a legend.
I've only watched for the last few years -- suffered from hatred of drugging. Cycling is my favorite sport, and I really appreciate Wout Van Aert. Chris Horner rates him top 5 and so do I.
Maybe it would do him good to cut down on the race calendar a bit?
All greats get wins but still can be legends in their own right so yes, he is as advertised
Fysicly he is the best 1 day racer , But he must ride smarter ! if you see a picture ore a video of him he is almost always riding in the front and pulling all the rest of the group . He is waisting to much energie while he could save somme if he let the others do more work. Van Der Poel is smarter he will also pull but not to long, he waist less energie than Wout . In 2021 and 2022 he won a lot of races . And he is no real sprinter, climber ore TT specialist. He likes to make somme spectacle by attacking a lot and sommetimes he forgets to save somme energie for the finish. But I like him verry very much. He stay's always sober and simpel no matter how much he wins! and for this reason he is verry populiar in belgium...
Not according to Wout. He was confronted with such remarks and he said that against Mathieu on the Poggio for instance he made no errors, rinding back to Tadje made no difference. Mathieu was (his words) so much stronger that the others could not have done anything against him. Same in Glasgow, same in all those other races. I do feel in Paris Roub Wout was however very unfortunate but he was too scared after all those losses to go with Mathieuwhen the two were away,
Wout cannot keep in Flanders, cannot keep up on the Poggio, cannot keep up in the worldchampionship. Everyone who is impartial sees the same thing happening time and time again no matter how WOut is riding: he just does not have such a punch AND MvdP is very good at cycling from a narrow gap and still stay away. 2021 Tireno stage was also such an example.
MvdP is I think a very good timetrialist if he wants to, but he says he dislikes it....But if you are that strong that you can fend of the best time trialists riding against you (Poggio) and extend the gap, you have to be a good timetrialist too.
Because VD Poel rides much smarter ! than other racers in the peleton. Only in paris roubaix wout was better than VD Poel, but to much bad luck kept hin from vicktorie... @@jaysimoes3705
Calling him eternal 2nd is a violation 😂
...yes... :)
I completely agree. And yes, it remains mysterious why he habitualy misses monument victories. But i think his name will be more impressif in history than that of Mathieu. He might nevertheless need some victories over him if van der Poel continues his. He could perhaps also winn a grand tour?
I don't think his skillset is that impressive relative to what MvdP has achieved. He has the most memorable victories and he delivers when it matters. Don't forget Mathieu won XC and road WC this year while also winning 2 monuments, that's literally top 5 season right there,
@@Queen-be6md that's for the wins, but the general impression he leaves on those who follow not only the results is in my opinion far superior.
@@michaelbergfeld8751 You remember the greats for their achievements, sure van Aert is very very impressive and yes he is perhaps the best all rounder around but his overall results don't really support his superiority, someone of his caliber should have several monuments under his bell at the height of his career and he'll perhaps do it in the following season but Van der Poel has been consistently winning monuments for the past few years. Time will tell.
@@Queen-be6md Van der Poel has a hypoglycémie problem while in winning position at his first Worldchampionship on the road. He blundered at the Olympicis. He was enjailed in his second Worldchampionship. Je son only with a few milimeters against Van Aert in Flandres, he lost a cyclingcross Worldchampionship Mailly by a flattire against Van der Poel. Van Aert could haven won five or six stages in one Tour de France. You can be the best and loose. No you'r not simply remembered for your wins. That's what suprficial people do. Van Aert is better than van der Poel, but he is also in a more serving rôle in general. Who remember Joop Zoetemelk for what he was? One tour, six second places... behind Merxc and Hinault. He is hardly mentionned. But you have to be focused on only wins to deny him a very great place in cycling history.
It is no mystery, there is one rider who for all of his life has consistently been mostly a fraction better than him. In cyclocross, on the road. Wout is just unlucky that this is one of the very rare occassions where a supertalent with a great mentality is fighting against some that is that +1. But the gap is not big at all, we are talking about vry small margins .The tables could turn. They are both not done yet.
YES
I believe Visma doesn't allocate enough ressources to WVA. They don't seem to prioritize his races and goals, being content with having him in the top 5 for sponsor exposure.
You can even see it in the equipment on the cobbled classics.
Every year, Visma uses a different bike model for Roubaix, pushed by Cervelo. The Caledonia in 2022, the Soloist in 2023 are both good bikes but at this level one needs to use gear that is completely known and mastered.
Different geometries and stiffness qualities are sure to create marginal losses on big days or more drastic ones like punctures for example, in Paris-Roubaix.
No new bike, no funny helmet decals, full classics team putting in work and he'll win Roubaix, Flanders and San Remo.
Yes but he plays the team game too much in the Grand Tour. They need to let him have a run at one.
Probably the most versatile rider out there but when the chips are down in a big classic I’ll take MVDP over him every time.
Would you rather MVDP or WVA on your team? My answer "Yes". 😂😂😂
Not for the TdF or another grantour, otherwise yes of course.
Sounds a lot like Sagan but not the top results
He’s good and all that but I’m a hater
He will get banned before he finishes anything. For drugs
He’s the most complete rider today.
No, the most complete rider is the one that has won Grand Tours, one week stage races, hilly monuments and even a cobbled one...