+4
26-11-2025 19:50
+5
17-11-2025 17:01
+2
17-11-2025 15:48
+11
03-11-2025 04:01
+9
30-10-2025 14:25
+3
02-08-2025 22:39
+18
30-07-2025 15:31
03-06-2025 16:25
+8
03-06-2025 16:06
01-04-2025 01:16
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+4
MidnightRider
Every sport needs superstars, and the other athletes should be thankful, not resentful. I mean it as no insult when I say that many of the best cx riders are not particularly charismatic. Michael van Tourenhout, Laurens Sweeck, Lars van der Haar (one of my personal favorites) and many others are fantastically skilled, but do not have the kind of personalities or presence to light up the room. Even Eli Iserbyt, who is a bit edgy at times, does not do that. But MVDP and Wout do, and not just because of their dominance. They both just have that "it" factor, and that absolutely helps those other riders by attracting fans. Indeed, the other riders should *hope* that Nys has it, because MVDP and Wout are nearing the end of their run and the sport needs some personality from the younger guys. A great rivalry would help, but even a great rivalry is better when the rivals are charismatic.26-11-2025 19:50
+5
MidnightRider
Wout lost 2020 RVV by about 6 inches, and 2023 PR when he flatted 100 meters from the end of Carrefour de l'Arbre. A win is a win, but those are just two examples of how close they were until recently. The gap we now see is due to the injuries Wout has experienced, not to any crazy tactics as suggested by the quotes (well, that plus the arrival of Pog at RVV, which also has nothing to do with tactics).17-11-2025 17:01
+2
MidnightRider
Its a silly comment. Wout was very much on par with MVDP until recently, but a string of horrifying crashes over the last couple of years have altered the last half of his prime. If MVDP had had all those crashes and Wout had stayed healthy, the situation would look very different. Indeed, it would be more accurate to say that tactics and DS decisions are *less* important in this era, because the best riders are able to simply ride away from entire fields. If there is an argument to be made that there is more risk and less safety, there should be readily available data to confirm that.17-11-2025 15:48
+11
MidnightRider
Of all the blowhard cycling commentators, Brian Holm is the blowhardiest. He spent the entire summer criticizing Visma's leadership and tactics, even as they won 3 GTs and finished 2nd in the other (to arguably the greatest rider of all time). Now he is an expert at detecting dopers after they have been caught because, well, he just knew it. Surely there is someone better than this to answer the big questions of the day.03-11-2025 04:01
+9
MidnightRider
Too bad for you to see it that way. Wout was at the end of a 16 month stretch during which he rode 4 Grand Tours - plus a full classics schedule and some CX - and had two career-threatening injuries. The argument that he "hid" for 20 stages is ludicrous; he himself acknowledged that he tried repeatedly to get into breaks, win stages, etc. but just didn't have it. That he found it on the last day was thrilling from both a competitive and a human standpoint. Even if you root for Pog,that was one of the epic moments of the whole season.30-10-2025 14:25
+3
MidnightRider
Mostly a bunch of noise. This is elite sports, not a campfire sing-a-long. Having said that, if Tadej was indeed "fuming," it just makes it all the juicier that Wout beat him on Stage 21. Tadej didn't need that win, just wanted it because he is vain like that. But Visma played him perfectly and Wout authored the signature moment of the whole race. Love it.02-08-2025 22:39
+18
MidnightRider
This is a more balanced take than most. It really is interesting listening to voices in the media exult in Pog's greatness, call him GOAT, and all that, then blame the results on Visma's tactics. Visma did the right thing by putting as much pressure on Pog as possible, but in the end Jonas had a couple of off days and Pog didn't. That's actually been the story of each of their TDF battles - Pog cracked on Granon, Hautacam, and Col de la Loze in Jonas's victories, Jonas cracked on Hautacam and the TT this year. Tadej's best is better than Jonas's best, but only slightly. If next year Jonas has all good days and Pog has one or two bad days, Jonas will win.30-07-2025 15:31
+11
MidnightRider
1. What happened on Finestre is almost entirely the fault of the team directors for UAE and EF. Yes, the riders have a say, but both teams allowed their riders to get locked into a lunatic stare down while the race went up the road. Both team cars should have seen what was happening and *ordered* their riders to snap out of it. 2. As for Wout, I think you underestimate the threat he represented. If Yates had gone over the top with almost any gap at all, once he got on Wout's wheel that lead was in peril. We've seen him do that very thing before, notably stage 5 2022 TDF, when he pulled nearly a minute back on Pog after Jonas had the bike fiasco. Again, that is why what happened is on the DS for UAE and EF. Their job is to see the situation for what it is, and they both should have known better than to let Wout get 10 minutes in the first place.03-06-2025 16:25
+8
MidnightRider
There is no universe in which taking all three podium spots at a Grand Tour is a "debacle." It is one of the great triumphs of modern cycling. I'm not sure it even hastened the end of Rog's time at TJV. He wasn't happy with the way things went at that Vuelta, but that's not why he left. He left because Jonas was the two-time defending TDF champion, and there was no way he was getting top billing any more. What UAE did was a debacle, and their response to it - basically throwing Del Toro under the bus - is worse. Just a stunning misplay on Finestre, and an even more stunning misplay in the media since then.03-06-2025 16:06
+3
MidnightRider
Hard to imagine that his confidence - that imperious flow state that great athletes operate in - hasn't been affected. But that is a different dynamic than the one you described. He has not become hesitant because he is fixated on his rival. He has suffered multiple traumatic injuries, and I have no doubt he is still 1% off both mentally and physically as a result. Football (both kinds) and basketball players who blow out knees go through a predictable cycle in which they are reluctant to do max efforts even after their doctors have cleared them. I myself went though a small version of that after a back injury. It's just hard once you no longer know where the line is. We saw in his TT a couple weeks ago that he still has power, and for all the hand wringing he is still finishing in the top 10-20 of big races. But as we have seen with others, getting *all* the way back is not assured. I'm not ready to say he is done, but few riders who have been hurt as often and as badly as him remain at the top.01-04-2025 01:16