Teams & Riders The "MVP" Mathieu Van der Poel Road Discussion Thread

[tobydawq]

he dropped to 200w before the sprint yeah

They were free-wheeling, that was hardly 200 watts.

 

[Ricco']

MVDP is the first guy to podium the Ronde three times in a row since Museeuw'1994, 1995 and 1996.

Also, first 1-2 for the Netherlands since 1981 (that year, they had the full podium)

 

[Netserk]

2022 RVV was comparable to Strade Bianchi 2021 in terms of performance from what I saw on Strava

Ronde this year was only ~90 km longer than Strade last year.

 

[topcat]

MvdP has twice as many monuments as Wout. They're not even in the same league.

 

[Gwbert]

MvdP has twice as many monuments as Wout. They're not even in the same league.

1-1 in Monuments where they have both competed

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

1-1 in Monuments where they have both competed

No, i monuments they both competed it's 5-2 to Van der Poel H2H.

 

[senna6541]

Helluva performance of the kind that only MVDP can deliver - again. Once in a lifetime physical talent, mental toughness to go balls deep and beyond, and massive self-belief equals legend. Closing that little gap on the Paterberg was classic MVDP. Surprised his handlebars didn't snap again.

 

[Open Horizon]

If anyone can break the Flanders record it's MvdP.

In all of his four Ronde's, he hasn't been genuinely dropped on a cobbled climb even once. Which other rider in cycling history can say that?

 

[meat puppet]

Right, so MvdP produced a 338w normalised power (avg 285e) for 6,5h at an avg hr of 141bpm.

Big numbers: Mathieu van der Poel's Strava file, with power

What does it take to win Flanders?

cyclingtips.com

Rather impressive. Doubly so given what he was able to put out at similar hr levels two months ago. Stunning improvement.

 

[OlavEH]

If anyone can break the Flanders record it's MvdP.

The only thing that really can stop VdP is himself by prioritizing other types of cycling than road racing. Otherwise, he could and should be able to win a shitload of big classics the coming years. Especially races like RVV, Strade, Amstel and E3, but also MSR, PR and one shoudn't rule him out for LBL either in the long run.

 

[Open Horizon]

The only thing that really can stop VdP is himself by prioritizing other types of cycling than road racing. Otherwise, he could and should be able to win a shitload of big classics the coming years. Especially races like RVV, Strade, Amstel and E3, but also MSR, PR and one shoudn't rule him out for LBL either in the long run.

Yeah I wonder what his choices will be from here on out.

With Wout either completely out or in poor shape, MvdP is in pole position right now for a historic RBV+Amstel+Roubaix triple.

If he continues to reduce his CX and MTB side questing, he could finally create that big road palmares his talents warrant.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if he gets bored with repeating the same classics, and with his back issues under control, he could start having those silly Olympic MTB fantasies again...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

They are not planning much MTB this season, but will likely ramp it up before 2024. That dream is not dead in his mind

 

[Valv.Piti]

MTB such a useless discipline, yet this guy loves it. Boggles my mind.

 

[Bolder]

MTB such a useless discipline, yet this guy loves it. Boggles my mind.

Well, you don't have to sit in a pack getting snot blown in your face and peeing on the roadside for 200 km before the real racing starts...

My impression is he likes the short, constant action of XC/CX. It's too bad that CX is becoming increasingly regionalized, Pidcock aside, and that XC MTB, while having a diverse field, is now a very small scene overall.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

A pretty ignorant view, you may not like it, but plenty do, and regularly has big fields; And is a true 'all round' test of a cyclist. You're combining road fitness with bike handling skills of downhill/enduro rider to be the complete XC rider.

MTB is un-finished business for him; a World title and the Olympics are within his ability. We didn't see the best of him last season on the MTB. And he still has by far the most amount of XCC World Cup wins - the only one with double figure wins.

 

[OlavEH]

With Wout either completely out or in poor shape, MvdP is in pole position right now for a historic RBV+Amstel+Roubaix triple.

If he continues to reduce his CX and MTB side questing, he could finally create that big road palmares his talents warrant.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if he gets bored with repeating the same classics, and with his back issues under control, he could start having those silly Olympic MTB fantasies again...

I don't think he needs to stop his CX racing completely. As long he does this in a controlled manner, it could be a useful preperation for the road cycling season. But not the entire CX season from end of September to the start of February.

 

[RunningRouleur]

Another classic victory for MVDP, and with this victory passes Pogacar and Alaphilippe with now 38 career victories.
Would love to see him make a genuine attempt to win all five Monuments. I rate him highly for RBX, MSR, decently for LBL, and would say it is within the realm of possibility he could take LOM if he focused on it. In fact, I believe he could win pretty much every important one-day classic on the calendar with the right approach.
For now, I expect another victory at AGR next week!

 

[ppanther92]

No, i monuments they both competed it's 5-2 to Van der Poel H2H.

MvdP is the better of the two in the races where it matters. Cool that WvA can do a good GC but ultimately they are both classic riders. And as in cyclocross, MvdP is the better one.

 

[ppanther92]

Though I wouldn't be surprised if he gets bored with repeating the same classics, and with his back issues under control, he could start having those silly Olympic MTB fantasies again...

Well, silly is realtive. After all Pidcock won it. Why not MvdP?

 

[tobydawq]

Cool that WvA can do a good GC but ultimately they are both classic riders.

So if he wins the Tour it's just cool but not relevant in a comparison among the two?

 

[ppanther92]

So if he wins the Tour it's just cool but not relevant in a comparison among the two?

Then I will obviously take my statement back but while I think he can top 10, I also assume this to be the max he can reach on that front.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations for winning Tour of Flanders.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Vdp results in Flanders:
4,1,2,1

Damn

Is this pattern likely to repeat?

Somebody just finished 4...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

to realise, compared to other classic contenders, most have done a GT or several GT as well. VDP only did about week worth of TDF. I wonder if he gets the fabled "GT boost" after doing the Giro and Tour this year. And get even stronger for next year

 

[KZD]

Another classic victory for MVDP, and with this victory passes Pogacar and Alaphilippe with now 38 career victories.
Would love to see him make a genuine attempt to win all five Monuments. I rate him highly for RBX, MSR, decently for LBL, and would say it is within the realm of possibility he could take LOM if he focused on it. In fact, I believe he could win pretty much every important one-day classic on the calendar with the right approach.
For now, I expect another victory at AGR next week!

I think Roubaix is quite likely given how good he was last year even with the injury and I actually rate him as high for LBL as for MSR, he can handle those climbs if he is in top shape and in the sprint he should be the strongest while in MSR he still didn't get it totally right in any of his particapations and its a very unpredictable race. As for Lombardia, he would need to drop a few kilos in order to win that one, the climbs are simply too hard for him.