La cara cruel del ciclismo 💔 Los gritos de dolor de Van Aert tras caerse y verse obligado a abandonar. #LaVuelta24 | #LaCasadelCiclismo
"It was a stupid fall, but that's always the case" - Experts react to Wout van Aert's Vuelta a Espana abandon
CyclingWednesday, 04 September 2024 at 10:08
Wout van Aert's bright performance at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana met a premature end on stage 16 as the Team Visma | Lease a Bike superstar crashed hard on a slippery descent and was forced to abandon the race.
After three stage wins and holding a lead in both the points classification and the King of the Mountains classification, Van Aert had sparkled over the last two weeks, making his sad exit all the worse for Sporza's Jose De Cauwer. "It's a real shame," the Belgian begins his analysis. "It's a loss at the moment when you're, let's say, working on a Wout van Aert 2.0. He had returned and he was completely fine."
Whilst De Cauwer's co-analyst Renaat Schotte points to Van Aert's KOM point hunting as the root cause, De Cauwer himself isn't so sure it was the key factor. "Some people will say: 'He shouldn't have gotten involved in that battle for the mountain points,'" Schotte proposes. "I've been saying that for 14 days, so to speak. I wouldn't have done it as a team, but to be clear: that fall has nothing to do with it. Although I would have been more careful with my efforts," De Cauwer answers however.
"It was a stupid fall, but that's always the case. It wasn't his fault. It's a real shame," he adds. "After the first climb, he descended at his own pace. He rode ahead for a while and then let himself be caught. On tiptoes he picked up points on the second climb and let Felix Engelhardt ride ahead of him on the descent. After that fall you can say: 'Wout, you ride so well downhill.' It was also raining. And then you get this."
With the World Championships also coming up soon, Van Aert's as of time writing unknown injuries, could scupper more than just his Vuelta a Espana hopes. "A Belgian team with or without Wout, that's a world of difference. Now you have one trump card and you can race in one way," De Cauwer admits. "Our (Belgium's ed.) chances have decreased by half. At least. Suppose that Van Aert and Evenepoel together form 100 percent, then it is a different matter now with only Evenepoel. The control is completely different."
claps 57visitors 13544
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Does everything need to have a point? If so, 99% of the internet should be wiped away. In relation to recent articles with quotes from other riders, my statement points to the ever more obvious reason why they are asked to comment on the effect of his return.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- If anyone would be interested enough to launch an official survey as to who out of these three should shut up, I don’t know who’d win but I’m due Boonen would be way back in 3rd place.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- And your point is what exactly?vappaxbipmv22-12-2024
- MVDP dominates this sport even more than Pogaçar dominates road racing. Also he can beat Tadej on the road quite regularly, the opposite is unlikely.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- If you listen to team radios you'll hear each DS telling their riders to ride faster, fight their way to the front, and all occupy the same 8 places.Sweep22-12-2024
- You're talking about a sport where equipment and clothing is measured in grams.Sweep22-12-2024
- “During a TT, I am basically blind”. That was his quote after crashing into the barriers in a TT. The problem isn’t the UCI, radios or air bags. The problem is the riders and their teams.JoeyB22-12-2024
- I think you overestimate scientific knowledge and for sure the spreading of it. There are huge numbers of people in similar situations, if there were an easy solution somebody would be making big money out of it. Nerve pain can have many complex origins or be due to complex combinations of reasons. Even if you discover a reason there is not always a solution. Migraines haven’t been solved either. I have had lower back/hip nerve pains on and off for over 30 years, no kind of doctor has ever found a way to reduce, prevent or solve the problem. It may just be that some people are born with nerves that are too short or get twisted out of position during certain movements.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- Amazing ride by her and very promising for her future. On a side note, it’s a bit worrying all these wins riders have after emotional moments in their lives, someone will come up with emotional doping at some point. Maybe give them fake news just before a big race to get hormones pumping.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- I doubt he will have the energy to do that if he continues to do leadout for Phillipsenabstractengineer22-12-2024