+1
15:43
+8
17-04-2026 03:40
+7
15-04-2026 17:19
+11
15-04-2026 14:15
+6
14-04-2026 01:12
+16
13-04-2026 13:47
+4
07-04-2026 18:06
+9
06-04-2026 15:59
+17
06-04-2026 15:19
+3
16-03-2026 19:39
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+1
MidnightRider
I was at the Montreal GP at which Wout finished 2nd to Pogacar. In a strong field, Wout was with Pog until the last few hundred meters, at which point there was a 180-degree hairpin into an uphill finish. Much better suited for Pog after 15k of climbing to come to a nearly complete stop and then accelerate up the hill. If it had finished on a flat, Wout would have won. But it didn't, so he didn't, and Pog is even better now. But with a bit less climbing for the WC course, Wout absolutely has a chance. He is on cracking form, and he has acknowledged that the win on Montmartre (albeit with Pog not at his best) rejuvenated his confidence. His performances this spring will obviously have added to that confidence. As long as he stays healthy, he would in my view be on the short list of favorites behind Pog.15:43
+8
MidnightRider
Clearly not everyone understands. Not only is bad luck part of it, there is a difference between leading and chasing. Different groups/pairings, different tactics. It seems worth noting, for example, that when MVDP had closed to within 20 seconds at the 54km mark, Wout launched and Pog followed. They quickly built the lead back out to 40 seconds, which means they had not been fully on their limit. They were sensibly holding back just bit, no doubt due to the big gap to MVDP. But when he got close they were able to move on, at which point they had to play a complicated game with each other: attacking at times, cooperating at other times, testing each other while trying to protect their lead and still save something for the end. They slowed strategically as they got near the finale, then more yet once they got on the track. The chase group, which was still racing full gas, closed down some of the remaining gap at that point. The claim that MVDP was stronger because his elapsed time was lower misses all of that, and the claim that he would have dropped the other two is absurd.17-04-2026 03:40
+7
MidnightRider
Interesting that you respond this way to my post, which specifically says "we'll never know," but not to the one above, which says MVDP would have won. Sorry if I hit your tender spot.15-04-2026 17:19
+11
MidnightRider
People keep saying this as though Wout and Pog didn't also have multiple flats and spend energy chasing back on. There is zero chance - zero - MVDP would have simply dropped Pog and Wout. Without the mishaps it would have come down to a 3-up sprint, and while we'll never know, Wout was on fire in the velodrome (and once won a similar sprint at E3!). No need for counterfactuals, Wout won with the usual Roubaix combo of huge power and less bad luck than others, just like MVDP in his wins.15-04-2026 14:15
+6
MidnightRider
NIcely said. They are both giants of this era, each putting together a unique resume and serving as part of the public face of the sport.14-04-2026 01:12
+16
MidnightRider
I don't blame him for standing up for his guy, but they'll get no sympathy from me. No one waits in that race. (No one waits in most races, frankly). It's both the peril and the allure of Roubaix. Every cobbled sector is a spin of the roulette wheel. Every breakdown is a test of the will. And no one knows that better than Wout van Aert, who has watched the race disappear up the road on more than one occasion.13-04-2026 13:47
+4
MidnightRider
Yes, I think they are not doping. I think that people who post this kind of thing are dopes, though. Is that the same thing?07-04-2026 18:06
+9
MidnightRider
And it takes away nothing from the OGs of sport to say they have been surpassed. Neither Tadej nor anyone else can *replace* Merckx (or Jack, Pele, Babe Ruth, etc), all they can do is add to their legacy. Someday someone will be better than Tadej because of Tadej; it is the nature of sport. But for right now, in my view the elastic has snapped and Pog is now on his own in cycling history.06-04-2026 15:59
+17
MidnightRider
Tadej is to me where Tiger Woods was at his peak: not as many majors or total wins as Jack Nicklaus, but playing the greatest golf in the history of the sport. He completely overwhelmed deeper, better-trained fields both physically and mentally, and did things even Jack said he could not equal. So if "GOAT" to you means "most wins," then Jack and (for now) Eddy are your guys. But if it means the athlete who performs at the highest level the sport has ever seen -- the one whose best is better than anyone else's, ever -- then Tiger and Tadej are the ones.06-04-2026 15:19
+3
MidnightRider
He's not an idiot, but he thinks his claim to fame in the world of cycling punditry is to analyze tactics. I've learned from him, but: - he overdoes it. Race after race is won by the strongest rider. His basic approach is to claim everyone is doing it wrong, as though clever strategy would cause a lesser rider to beat a stronger one. Mostly it would not. - He focuses too much on TVL and in particular Wout, too little on others. He was fired from NBC in part because he spent so much time denouncing TJV's tactics in 2022, saying over and over that they were "knuckleheads" by letting him chase his own goals. He was wrong then, was wrong in 2023 when they won all three GTs, and was wrong last year when he denounced them for attacking Pog last year on the way to 2nd. But that gets him clicks, so he sticks to it.16-03-2026 19:39