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Seems like MVDP gets a lot of his explosiveness on short climbs from his core and upper body strength. Watch his attack at the WC's and compare the visual vs. Pogi, Wout and Pedersen. Looks like he is using his whole body to generate an insane amount of torque, whereas it's all lower body with the other guys. Just stick to piling up RVV's, PR's, CX's WC's and get some more MTB World Cups wins and forget about the longer climb stuff.A bit unclear but it seems like the 2021 version was 184 km with 3072 alt mtrs. This year’s SB was longer and with more am.
And that's why his back injury was so worrisome. You can see, as you note, how he torques his whole upper body. It would be like Mauri Vansevenant getting a neck injury...Seems like MVDP gets a lot of his explosiveness on short climbs from his core and upper body strength. Watch his attack at the WC's and compare the visual vs. Pogi, Wout and Pedersen. Looks like he is using his whole body to generate an insane amount of torque, whereas it's all lower body with the other guys. Just stick to piling up RVV's, PR's, CX's WC's and get some more MTB World Cups wins and forget about the longer climb stuff.
So true. It sucked watching him try to race when his back was bad. Seemed like he might be going down the same path as Tiger Woods when his back (and to a lesser extent his knees) started to go on him - at least partially because of how aggressive his swing was.And that's why his back injury was so worrisome. You can see, as you note, how he torques his whole upper body. It would be like Mauri Vansevenant getting a neck injury...
But he apparently is doing a lot of core work now, so long as he keeps it up, he should have few problems. (I have a bulging disc and have to do the same, tho I'm old and slow anyway...)