New airs, new races and a change in mentality are necessary for the improvement of Wout Van Aert
This is the first year, in four, that I do not rank Wout Van Aert with the best of the season.
There I put Laporte, Philipsen, I just got Evenepoel, but this time we passed by Wout and not with pleasure, we talked about one of the most inspiring and important cyclists in the peloton, the cyclist that we would all dream of being, with great days behind, but we all miss some of those victories that mark.
For Wout Van Aert it is not easy to compete.
It has gone from being the most watched wheel, to being clearly surpassed by rivals that it has always had within its reach.
Van der Poel is the most obvious case, but not only him, Philipsen in Roubaix or Laporte himself in the European Championship, left him in silver and bronze positions that undoubtedly do not do justice to the cachet of one of the best cyclists in the world and of recent times.
Unlike other winters, which were more predictable and calm for Van Aert until his debut in cyclocross, this time we read more about him in headlines and news about, mainly, his road calendar.
And he announces changes, the one already mentioned about his debut in the Giro – although I don’t see him competing in the general classification – and possibly the Vuelta a España.
Between both greats, it is amortized that Wout Van Aert will not be in the Tour de France, in what I consider a reward for his person and value in the team.
Van Aert needs to break with many things from the recent pastif he wants to take the step forward in the achievements that we all want for him.
Running in races you don’t know can break that cadence of second and third places that hangs around your neck.
He deserves a World Cup, a Roubaix… something big that rivals that San Remo that he achieved in the summer of the pandemic.
The change he has made to his usual calendar is added to the change of coach, which I hope hits the mark and has him at 110% in the target races.
That is to leave him as fine as when he competed in the last Tours de France, the biggest race, the one with the most pressure and in which Van Aert has raced like he never does in other majors it’s from the season.
That’s what we want, the attitude of the Tour 21, 22 and 23 exported to the spring, to the world championship, to the Olympic Games.
Run in anticipation, without fear, without psychological burden or looking to the rear.
Because if Van Aert is capable of winning the Ventoux, a time trial and a Champs-Elysées sprint, against the best in his prime, I refuse to believe that he is not capable of taking Roubaix by the horns and making it his own, especially when he is surrounded by a huge team.
The change in attitude is necessary, imperative and with it the other thing, a new coach and races that you don’t know and in which you don’t owe anyone.
I hope it is the best alchemy for Wout to be where that great motor deserves to be.
2024-03-27 17:12:20
#fall #results #bad #luck #Wout #Van #Aert
