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

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Axel Hangleck

Jan 7, 2017
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Red Rick said:
Good TT but Sobrero was unreal.

I don't care what pundits say, he's not a specialist until he actually tries seriously, because he barely spends time on the TT bike and he's not gonna be particularly close unless TTs are absolutely tailor suited to him.
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He's not a specialist at anything (apart from possibly CX) ....he's just good on a lot of different bikes. Why would he take it seriously, when he's not going to be a GC guy, so why bother?
We've heard this before, a few years ago when he couldn't quite win a XCO World Cup; "he needs to take it more seriously".....He'll do it his own way.
 
Dekker_Tifosi

Dekker_Tifosi

Mar 13, 2009
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He's no specialist, but for a not specialist he surely finishes TT's in a high placing.

He's done 3 totally different Grand Tour TT's now:

1st week 30km flat TT (Tour) - 5th
1st week 9km test with a hill - 2nd
3rd week 17km test with a hill - 3rd

And yes, I know that if he would enter a worlds ITT on a 40km+ flat course or hilly course he'd probably not even be top 15. But who cares? As long as he is able to limit the damage like this in GT TT's/Short race TT's he'll keep collecting early leader jerseys and maybe the one or two stage-races (like Benelux and Britain before).
 
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stonerider

Nov 14, 2009
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Red Rick said:
Good TT but Sobrero was unreal.

I don't care what pundits say, he's not a specialist until he actually tries seriously, because he barely spends time on the TT bike and he's not gonna be particularly close unless TTs are absolutely tailor suited to him.
Click to expand...
He's not aero enough to be the greatest TT champion. His shoulders are twice as broad as most...catches lots of wind resistance.
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

Moderator
Feb 20, 2012
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
He's no specialist, but for a not specialist he surely finishes TT's in a high placing.

He's done 3 totally different Grand Tour TT's now:

1st week 30km flat TT (Tour) - 5th
1st week 9km test with a hill - 2nd
3rd week 17km test with a hill - 3rd

And yes, I know that if he would enter a worlds ITT on a 40km+ flat course or hilly course he'd probably not even be top 15. But who cares? As long as he is able to limit the damage like this in GT TT's/Short race TT's he'll keep collecting early leader jerseys and maybe the one or two stage-races (like Benelux and Britain before).
Click to expand...
Can get GT TTs if the right parcours if he puts in more work. Not yesrerday probably, but definitely a TT like stage 2. Last Vuelta prologue hed be a red hot favorite if nor for Roglic
 
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Bolder

Jun 25, 2015
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Pippo_San said:
This guy is a real MV(D)P.
In this Giro he got so much love from tifosi.
He's become a total star in Italy and with all the showboating behind the scenes he got an insane amount of kudos from everywhere.
He's the embodiment of cycling IMHO.

Just keep enjoying what you do, and entertain us Mathieu!
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I was going to post something similar. He really won the tifosi's hearts, first by finishing a GT when he didn't really need to, second by going in every break, third by winning a stage, fourth by taking pink, fifth by interacting with fans...and...wheelies! I really like his public reactions to both winning and losing. He always congratulates the winner and doesn't normally blame anyone but himself when he falls short. I still think he could have won 1-2 more stages with more...let's say...considered tactics but that's not normally his style.
 
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Dekker_Tifosi

Dekker_Tifosi

Mar 13, 2009
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Bolder said:
I was going to post something similar. He really won the tifosi's hearts, first by finishing a GT when he didn't really need to, second by going in every break, third by winning a stage, fourth by taking pink, fifth by interacting with fans...and...wheelies! I really like his public reactions to both winning and losing. He always congratulates the winner and doesn't normally blame anyone but himself when he falls short. I still think he could have won 1-2 more stages with more...let's say...considered tactics but that's not normally his style.
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Well 1 stage he lost because of lack of teammates in the break. The one where he and biniam got stuck behind.
The other stage Biniam was too strong.
1st TT could've been won with a bit more TT prep.

And then that's about it. Yeah with some luck 3 stages. But ey. Sagan was a better sprinter than VDP and even he had TDF's where he couldn't win a stage even if stages were suited to him. It's not simple.
 
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