Race Thread

[AmRacer]

Is MvdP the best cyclo-crosser of all time?

If he wins his eighth world title on Sunday there will be a very strong case to say yes. He will have the highest number of world titles and world cup races by then. De Vlaeminck, Van Damme, Zweifel, Liboton and Nys also have a lot of victories, sometimes against more international competition, and generations are hard to compare, but given his sheer dominance, with more than twenty consecutive wins and a victory rate over 90%, completely overflowing the competition, one can say that he deserves the title of all-time best - if he wins on Sunday.

Mathieu races CX part time.

 

[jono]

Is MvdP the best cyclo-crosser of all time?

He will never achieve some of the counting stats of some other riders due to not riding a complete CX season, apart from his early careeer. But the duration of his dominance (nearly a decade) is substantial, and the degree (level compared to the rest of the field) of dominance is unmatched, as far as I am aware.

That makes him the GOAT, for me.

It's purely theoretical anyway, as MVDP won't quit cyclocross and Van Aert will keep wanting to win a Monument... but the question was whether he could, and that's what my answer was about.

I think even in this pure hypothetical, I'm not convinced Wout would be able to race at a level higher in cyclocross than Nys and del Grosso for at least half a decade. Those two, especially TDG, appear still to be on the way up.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Is 23 consecutive wins a record? Or how many more needed?

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Is MvdP the best cyclo-crosser of all time?

If he wins his eighth world title on Sunday there will be a very strong case to say yes. He will have the highest number of world titles and world cup races by then. De Vlaeminck, Van Damme, Zweifel, Liboton and Nys also have a lot of victories, sometimes against more international competition, and generations are hard to compare, but given his sheer dominance, with more than twenty consecutive wins and a victory rate over 90%, completely overflowing the competition, one can say that he deserves the title of all-time best - if he wins on Sunday.

Yes. As much as I hate that answer, I don't think any of the other greats could hold his wheel when he decides to go, unless the course was exceptionally muddy.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Is MvdP the best cyclo-crosser of all time?

If he wins his eighth world title on Sunday there will be a very strong case to say yes. He will have the highest number of world titles and world cup races by then. De Vlaeminck, Van Damme, Zweifel, Liboton and Nys also have a lot of victories, sometimes against more international competition, and generations are hard to compare, but given his sheer dominance, with more than twenty consecutive wins and a victory rate over 90%, completely overflowing the competition, one can say that he deserves the title of all-time best - if he wins on Sunday.

Clearly yes. He started winning races as early as the 14/15 season being only 19 years old. His dominance over a decade is massive despite coming up against generational talents like Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock. As always it's impossible to compare generations but modern cyclocross is so much faster and intense even compared to what CX was in the early 2000. When compared to De Vlaeminck CX just looks like another sport. Kind of like when comparing tennis, alpine skiing, ice skating or many other sports in the 1970s with today's performances. Surely equipment make up a large part of the enhanced performances but athletes abilities and capacities have also improved dramatically.

 

[Wyndbrook]

N

Is 23 consecutive wins a record? Or how many more needed?

I'm not sure 23 is his best run, looking at cyclocross 24 results he was unbeaten from 4/11/18 for 35 races.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

N
I'm not sure 23 is his best run, looking at cyclocross 24 results he was unbeaten from 4/11/18 for 35 races.

I had also wondered whether the current run of World Cup event wins (of events he was in) was a record, but he had 15 between being beaten at Namur 2017 and defeat at Dendermonde 2020.