Not only Wout van Aert, whole Visma is as if paralyzed by fear of crashing: "That's also why Vingegaard didn't go to Itzulia"
CyclingThursday, 17 April 2025 at 09:27
There are not many reasons for happiness in the best team of 2023 - Visma | Lease a Bike. While Jonas Vingegaard is once again injured, the team's other star Wout van Aert was only a shadow of his past self at the cobbled Classics with merely places of honour. And the sky isn't more blue across the rest of Dutch formation.
Jeroen Vanbelleghem is the first to question Van Aert's statements about 'bad form' in discussion on Kop over Kop show. "Finally, Wout van Aert was well positioned, in the Forest of Wallers, and then he stops his legs two or three times. Afterwards he said, 'I didn't have good legs'. But if you stop your legs, it's not because you don't have good legs."
Bobbie Traksel even thought that Van Aert had a flat tire in the Forest of Wallers. "That's what we were hoping for." Jan Hermsen counters that there was certainly something slowing down the Belgian, but not his bike: "It seemed like there was a brake somewhere in his head."
Of course, it could have everything to do with the earlier shock Van Aert experienced while exploring the cobblestones in the Forest of Wallers. He suddenly got a flat tire and could barely stay upright. At almost the same point in the race, he slowed down and fell further behind Van der Poel and Pogacar, among others.
Paralyzed by fear
According to Traksel, there is not only fear in Van Aert, but in the entire Team Visma | Lease a Bike. "They do not only give that fear to Van Aert, but also to Dylan van Baarle, where it is very clear to see. Also to Vingegaard."
There was one too many crashes for Visma leaders in last year and a half. "Fear was the reason Vingegaard didn't go to the Itzulia Basque Country. If you have a few riders in the team with fear like that, it only grows bigger."
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- Lafay is the classic example of you get a great TDF stage win, get a lucrative contract and then you dont perform ever again, due to partying or injuries.abstractengineer09-05-2025
- I think it’s pretty weird under the circumstances and won’t be surprised if one day we discover some unmentioned detail that triggered this. In the meantime, hope he finds himself elsewhere.Mistermaumau08-05-2025
- Reusser is amazing too. More than just a TT specialist.mobk08-05-2025
- Tough to beat her on the long climbs if she has a team that will bring her fresh to the bottom of the climbsmobk08-05-2025
- Er, building up a 20 second gap in less than a km against the best is not exactly nothing, must have been at least 10% faster. Peletons also reel in breakaways but if they don’t manage BEFORE the end the reeling in doesn’t really mean much does it. She did exactly the right think, destroyed the others’ chances of catching her with a massive attack.Mistermaumau08-05-2025
- Demi must be so happy to now be on a team that works for her, and not against her. I think that if she and the team get their tactics dialed in, she could prove to be unstoppable this year.
santiagobenites08-05-2025 - I wouldn't call 24 seconds destroyed. At the end she was suffering and Reusser was slowly reeling her backabstractengineer08-05-2025
- I dont expect much from them top 5 maybeabstractengineer08-05-2025
- G does not strike me as a tactical support but more of a strategic one. His tactics were follow train and opponents and sprint at the endabstractengineer08-05-2025
- These pro forma statements, always the same, no wonder most people don’t get enthusiastic about follow cycling in depth.Mistermaumau08-05-2025
there are loads of people and pundits who spend a lot of time griping about how few races some of the big names compete in these days. i think it’s a dumb argument personally but to each his own. in the case of jonas, though, i think a very limited calendar makes a ton of sense and wouldn’t need to be explained by a deep fear of crashing. to me, jonas really does seem like a pure grand tour racer. the explosiveness needed for even a climber’s classic, like il lombardia, isn’t really there when heads up with guys like remco and tadej. with the exception of the occasional MIND BLOWING time trial effort, jonas is like death by a thousand cuts. over the course of days he just grinds and grinds until a breaking point. a could see him just doing the Tour and the lead up prep races, like tour de suisse. in a year like this, MAAAAYYBEEE the world championships because of the course. Now, if you throw in some (pretty understandable) skittishness about getting in another wreck, well, whatevs.
wout is another story. about that i would just say that wouter is a total bad-ass and when it comes to mastering one’s own fear, van aert seems like a one-percenter to me. remember that it’s not just the crashes from the last couple years that he carries around in his head, it’s also that horrific one from the TT at the tour in like 2019, which was the worst of all of them. i don’t think he’s skipping races because he’s afraid.
all of what i’ve said is just a feeling. i can’t back it up and wouldn’t try. it’s just a sloppy, half thought out IT KINDA SEEMS TO ME THAT… but it really does seem like that. to me.
In humans, even when they say, I’m doing or not doing this or that, there is never just one single reason for the decision. It may be used as an excuse or explanation but the fact is we (even if for some that happens on a subconscious level) base our decisions on evaluating a global situation. So, I’m pretty sure your feeling is part of things :-) Anyone of a certain age (most of us here?) knows from experience we ALL adapt with age alone, regardless of experiences, no matter if we had bad crashes or not, none of us ride as carefree as in our youth when certain “inhibitors” weren’t activated yet.
amen.