Mathieu Van der Poel

[Ripper]

Yes I think there are always odd outliers produced by race circumstances, tactics, weather conditions, so single data points and the odd warp-speed race alone can indicate whatever you want it to, it proves nothing. The problem is that the graph above isn't some sort of outlier or fluke, you plot the speed of pretty much every big classic and Grand Tour in the past 4 years and it will show the same thing.

If the increase in speeds were due to multiple marginal optimisations in technology, nutrition, training over many years then the data would look a bit more linear, things getting slowly faster. It is not change itself that gives it away but the rate of change, a massive noticeable spike in 2020 is hard to explain away with opaque references to more carbohydrates and 'these young lads being a different breed'. Sky won 7 Tours, Froome would be pack fodder on some of these climbs, are they now saying that everything they did in the 2010s was incorrect?

I always thought eventually with advancements that they could reach the level of Armstrong, but they already have done, the big red flag being waved is how much they are starting to look like Indurain, Pantani and the Gewiss-Ballan's of the world. No legal change in approach I know of can make anywhere near the difference like the unrestricted Erythropoietin and transfusion usage they had in the 90s.

Great analysis!

 

[Mayomaniac]

Back to normal today, so he travels back to Spain to recharge.
I expect him to be a lot stronger in LBL, but that won't help against Pogacar...

 

[Slavique Nuke]

If there's no money involved, like an appearance fee or a sponsor asking him to attend, I doubt he'll be at the LBL. The nearest date you'll see him fighting for victory is early August.

 

[pastronef]

If there's no money involved, like an appearance fee or a sponsor asking him to attend, I doubt he'll be at the LBL. The nearest date you'll see him fighting for victory is early August.

why? he trained yesterday, was never bothered, never lost contact on climbs, never breathed hard.

 

[AmRacer]

why? he trained yesterday, was never bothered, never lost contact on climbs, never breathed hard.

Somewhere he lost contact with Pidders.

 

[pastronef]

Somewhere he lost contact with Pidders.

and I'm glad he did, I'm a Pidcock/Ineos fan. but he never looked in trouble. just never followed the attacks (and I'm not a VDP fan, I'm happy he didn't smash the race yesterday)

 

[Slavique Nuke]

why? he trained yesterday, was never bothered, never lost contact on climbs, never breathed hard.

If MvdP had only been there for training then Alpecin would not have worked so hard in the race. I'm sure MvdP wanted to win, he just didn't have the legs.

 

[Notarobot]

So why are we hardly talking about this guy in the Clinic? He's on the same stuff as Pogacar. I really begin to dislike MVDP where I once was a big fan. It's a bit too much.

 

[AmRacer]

So why are we hardly talking about this guy in the Clinic? He's on the same stuff as Pogacar. I really begin to dislike MVDP where I once was a big fan. It's a bit too much.

Continuation of the CX season

 

[Revelation]

So why are we hardly talking about this guy in the Clinic? He's on the same stuff as Pogacar. I really begin to dislike MVDP where I once was a big fan. It's a bit too much.

Because for this part of the forum there can only be one pantomime villain at a time, same reason Vingo's thread died down after 2024 TdF.

 

[Red Rick]

So why are we hardly talking about this guy in the Clinic? He's on the same stuff as Pogacar. I really begin to dislike MVDP where I once was a big fan. It's a bit too much.

Realistically because he shows up like 5 races a year, gets beaten by Pogacar in one of them, and in a few others is the only one that can stop Pogacar from winning 5 monumtents a year, as well as not enough people giving too much of a *** about CX.

 

[jono]

I'm sure there's more reasons for discussion in this thread, but what did he do today that was so wild? One great technical save when Trentin crashed in front of him, a piece of skill, and then a single attack on the Muur that gapped van Dijke and Vermeersch by 15-20 seconds that should hardly be surprising. Benefited from crashes and questionable tactics from the groups behind.

 

[AmRacer]

I'm sure there's more reasons for discussion in this thread, but what did he do today that was so wild? One great technical save when Trentin crashed in front of him, a piece of skill, and then a single attack on the Muur that gapped van Dijke and Vermeersch by 15-20 seconds that should hardly be surprising. Benefited from crashes and questionable tactics from the groups behind.

Not more impressive than every other time he drops everyone.

 

[jono]

Not more impressive than every other times he drops everyone.

If he had a different set of riders with him on the Muur I don't think there would have been much of a gap to be impressed with.

 

[AmRacer]

If he had a different set of riders with him on the Muur I don't think there would have been much of a gap to be impressed with.

Pogi isn't racing.

 

[AmRacer]

If he had a different set of riders with him on the Muur I don't think there would have been much of a gap to be impressed with.

If Mathieu isn't as good as he has been, there's no one stopping Pogi from winning MSR, and maybe PR too.

 

[jono]

Pogi isn't racing.

Do you think he would have put more than 5 seconds into Pidcock or Wellens or Wout (if he wasn't hiding) on that climb?

I'm not saying he wasn't capable of a bigger effort, but it's his first race of the season and the Muur today wouldn't rank in his top 25 of nuclear attacks.

 

[Unchained]

Do you think he would have put more than 5 seconds into Pidcock or Wellens or Wout (if he wasn't hiding) on that climb?

I'm not saying he wasn't capable of a bigger effort, but it's his first race of the season and the Muur today wouldn't rank in his top 25 of nuclear attacks.

Just basic racing, got a small gap after the crash and found some riders willing to work, decent breakaway. Teams with personnel didn't see urgency, which was sort of crazy. Van der Poel did nothing nuclear, just intelligent racing when it counted. Many teams like UNOx, Tudor, Q36, Ineos, NSN were burning energy early for no reason, they paid in the end.

 

[Notarobot]

The point is, he's always far better than every other rider except for Pogacar. Year round.

 

[jono]

The point is, he's always far better than every other rider.

Yes.

Year round.

No. He doesn't target races after April most years.

 

[AmRacer]

Yes.



No. He doesn't target races after April most years.

But if he would, he would be the best

 

[Red Rick]

The point is, he's always far better than every other rider except for Pogacar. Year round.

Year round meaning from December to the 2nd week of April?

 

[Ilmaestro99]

He gets a pass because he's the only challenger to pocagar and he has a cycling family. If pocagar didn't exist he would have the most active thread in the clinic

 

[AmRacer]

He gets a pass because he's the only challenger to pocagar and he has a cycling family. If pocagar didn't exist he would have the most active thread in the clinic

And two more RVV

 

[Netserk]

gt riders receive more focus here

cadel evans has more pages than evenepoel