Brabantse Pijl: April 17th, 2019

[yaco]

Reckon MVP is as talented as Sagan - He'll have every WT team seeking his services in 2021.

 

[Samamba]

Re:

Reckon MVP is as talented as Sagan - He'll have every WT team seeking his services in 2021.

Apparently LTS was pretty close to signing him 2 years ago, I'm salty now :lol:

 

[Scarponi]

Re:

The organizers are gonna be really happy with this top-10. That top 4 is amazing, 5th is a guy who will win this race in the future and 6th is the winner of the RVV.

7th has 2
Amstels

 

[Red Rick]

What's MvdP salary? I imagine a big road team might convince him to focus on the road by throwing sacks of money in his direction

 

[Samamba]

Sky was also interested 2 years ago btw, so....

 

[Der Effe]

Re:

What's MvdP salary? I imagine a big road team might convince him to focus on the road by throwing sacks of money in his direction

A million a year

 

[shalgo]

Re:

I wonder how he could lose Amstel Gold Race to be honest.

Well, his results in one-day races this year are:

GP de Denain: 1st
Gent-Wevelgem: 4th
Dwars door Vlaanderen: 1st
RVV: 4th
Brabantse Pijl: 1st

Therefore, he will obviously finish 4th in Amstel. Math doesn't lie.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

So Mathieu is exactly as good as I thought he might be.

Really get a Sagan vibe but different. Less of a mass sprinter, but far more endurance and in-race recuperation then Sagan had as young rider. Sagan in his younger years often lacked a bit in the finals of big races.
MvdP doesn't seem to have that. And he is so freakishly confident. You're going to the line with Alaphilippe and Matthews and trust in your sprint?

And then not only did he win he absolutely schooled them. After his initial acceleration the rest was already gone. Even if Matthews wasn't boxed he clearly stood no chance at all. It's incredible.

And then to think he already attacked hard with 60+km to go when the rest was still taking it easy. For *** sake. Unstoppable

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

Matthews nooooooooooo why did you get blocked, would have loved to seen him sprint

When the sprint started Mathieu got a gap immediately, before Matthews was blocked. I'm 100% sure Matthews would have finished 2nd at best. A bike length behind.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Wow, the guy is on a different level.

 

[SKSemtex]

I am looking forward to the battle between Sagan and MVP in Amstel. This should be fun.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I think Sagan is one of the few who can actually beat him in the sprint after a hard race. (along with Kristoff and Trentin earlier)

 

[Anderis]

Re:

I think Sagan is one of the few who can actually beat him in the sprint after a hard race. (along with Kristoff and Trentin earlier)

I don't know, Sagan often tends to lose sprints to riders he should not to after a hard race.

 

[SKSemtex]

Re: Re:

I think Sagan is one of the few who can actually beat him in the sprint after a hard race. (along with Kristoff and Trentin earlier)

I don't know, Sagan often tends to lose sprints to riders he should not to after a hard race.

Not so often if we talk about peaked Sagan who did not do too much extra work in the finale.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well when he is fresh enough ofcourse. That's always debatable with Sagan.

MvdP seems to have boundless energy. Unless he's on a bad day, then he has no energy (Koppenbergcross)

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

double ost. please delete

 

[Brullnux]

Good to see Gasparotto is coming perfectly up to his traditional Amstel Gold peak

 

[Scarponi]

Re: Re:

Matthews nooooooooooo why did you get blocked, would have loved to seen him sprint

When the sprint started Mathieu got a gap immediately, before Matthews was blocked. I'm 100% sure Matthews would have finished 2nd at best. A bike length behind.

100% agree, just hurt to see him fight so hard to stay with the group to not have a chance to sprint

 

[Mayomaniac]

Re:

I think Sagan is one of the few who can actually beat him in the sprint after a hard race. (along with Kristoff and Trentin earlier)

Trentin is so inconsistent after a hard race, i have a hard time rating his sprint after a hard race.
I can see why MVP likes riding for that team, he gets to ride all the races that he likes, xc, cx or road racing and is on a seven figure contract. It's very hard to match such a great combination of freedom and good money.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Pretty sure no one in the world could beat Mathieu today. That sprint was pretty unstoppable. He is definitely the favourite for Amstel at this point ahead of Julian, Valverde, Sagan and Matthews. Incredible rider.

 

[Gigs_98]

So Mathieu is exactly as good as I thought he might be.

Really get a Sagan vibe but different. Less of a mass sprinter, but far more endurance and in-race recuperation then Sagan had as young rider. Sagan in his younger years often lacked a bit in the finals of big races.
MvdP doesn't seem to have that. And he is so freakishly confident. You're going to the line with Alaphilippe and Matthews and trust in your sprint?

And then not only did he win he absolutely schooled them. After his initial acceleration the rest was already gone. Even if Matthews wasn't boxed he clearly stood no chance at all. It's incredible.

And then to think he already attacked hard with 60+km to go when the rest was still taking it easy. For **** sake. Unstoppable

At this point I wonder if he could actually compete in mass sprints. I mean If you completely dominate Alaphilippe and Matthews in a sprint you have to start asking that question

 

[fuiers]

Damn I missed the hole race and then I read MVDP had won. This guys really is the real deal. A man is gonna win so many races in the future.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

It's strange to say, considering the competition, but it was quite an easy one for Mathieu. Best cyclist in the world, no one comes even close.

Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves maybe?
Today was good, but only Brabantse Pijl. Ronde was more impressive. But best rider in the world, with no-one coming close? That's simply ridiculous.

 

[Mavic]

Re: Re:

It's strange to say, considering the competition, but it was quite an easy one for Mathieu. Best cyclist in the world, no one comes even close.

Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves maybe?
Today was good, but only Brabantse Pijl. Ronde was more impressive. But best rider in the world, with no-one coming close? That's simply ridiculous.

Maybe take it with a grain of salt? I'm sure many variables were in play when he said this including national sentiment, being caught up in the moment - it was a very impressive win after all, and the fact that the Netherlands haven't had such an amazing talent in some time. I'm just glad that Ala has some competition in these types of races now Was shaping up to be a predictable Ardennes Classics with the incredible form he has shown.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Unfortunately i couldn't see the race (trip to Legoland) but i can't say i'm surprised. Being able to rely on a sprint like that will win him a lot of races. Almost guaranteed win with a small bunch.

Good to see Lambrecht is in good form. I had pegged him for an outsider today.