French ex-pro impressed by Wout Van Aert's composed ride in Liévin: "We should be showing our youngsters the exemplary behaviour of WVA"
Cyclocross
While the overlord in Liévin was above sky clear, another rider presented arguably even more commendable performance. Wout Van Aert, despite being out of contention for rainbow stripes pretty much from the start, never gave up and managed to complete most of the course in the same pace as winner Mathieu van der Poel.
Recently retired professional Lilian Calmejane also witnessed the strong ride of Van Aert which made him hopeful of what we could see from the Belgian during the upcoming road season. "Chapeau to VDP's technical and physical dominance, but how can we not be seduced and show our youngsters the exemplary behaviour of WVA. Resilience, courage, calm, respect and serenity. We feel that he is hungry and we will have to count on him on the Ronde and Roubaix, believe me," he stated on his X account.
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Last year was one-man show for the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider who, still in the rainbow stripes at the time, was a clear cut above the rest at both cobbled Monuments, winning by a difference of several classes. But that without the injured Van Aert nor Tadej Pogacar at the start.
In 2025, we should witness far more dramatic battle for the most valuable trophies in the peloton. Pogacar will extend his cobbled season to also ride some preparation races before Tour of Flanders, but the main rival for Van der Poel could once again be Van Aert.
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Chapeau à la domination technique et physique de VDP mais comment ne pas être séduit et montrer à nos jeunes le comportement exemplaire de WVA. Résilience, courage, calme, respect et sérénité. On sent qu’il a faim et il faudra compter sur lui sur le Ronde et Roubaix, croyez moi.
— Lilian Calmejane (@L_Calmejane) February 2, 2025
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- Funny that they shorten women’s races but have no qualms about letting U23 do the same distances.Jumpyjohn23-03-2025
- Why is that relevant when discussing speed?Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- But he wasn’t the only one ;-)Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Obviously the questions are more important to some here than to them or the team so I suggest looking for answers instead of asking questions between ourselves. We’ll probably get them unless someone actually goes to ask the protagonists themselves. Here are some starters : They like riding together; they have their own rivalry that helps bring out the best in both; they might get more points helping each other compared to racing separate races. In any case, unless we hear MJ complaining about it, I don’t think it’s going to change, it’s the Sepp Kuss syndrome all over again, fans lobbying against the will of the rider.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Mine goes to MVDP for entertaining us all year round :-) Stellar race, Ganna impressive in his own way as many predicted after some oddly lacklustre times.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- i remember when not too long ago mathieu was regarded as a real tactical knucklehead. i’m not sure that was ever quite accurate, but it’s certainly the case that over the years he has become a real master tactician. in the biggest races, van der poel rarely makes choices that don’t fully optimize every specific advantage he has.OCexile23-03-2025
- Whatever the result, I believe the strategy by UAE to launch Pogacar was absolutely the right one. Unfortunately, they just were not able to execute it the way they must have planned, being all over the place at the start of the Cipressa.Cooldude23-03-2025
- They are without doubt not just the best two classics riders of this generation, but amongst the best of all time. MvdP is more suited to MSR and PR (which Pog has yet to race), while Pog is now almost untouchable at LBL and Lombardia. RVV is the only one where both basically have an equal chance to win.Cooldude23-03-2025
- bravissima!
maria2024202423-03-2025 - According to Tadej's Strava upload, he went up the Cipressa at an average speed of 37.6kph. Rocket ship! He did the 5.63km verified 'Cipressa' Strava segment in 8:59 minutes, which has a 4.3% average grade and total elevation gain of 229m. Naturally, he got the Strava KOM.Pogboom23-03-2025