The "MVP" Mathieu Van der Poel Road Discussion Thread

[tobydawq]

Re:

He'll be fine. He won the Dutch championship at 220k and was 2nd at the Euro champs at 230k. If he doesn't go well it isn't going to be the extra 20k that's the issue.

Absolutely true.

I really don't get this talking him down at all - especially from a fan.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

He'll be fine. He won the Dutch championship at 220k and was 2nd at the Euro champs at 230k. If he doesn't go well it isn't going to be the extra 20k that's the issue.

this.. plus in the dutch 220k one he blew through his energy with crazy attacks from far out. And then still won the sprint easily..he had much more in the tank left than seasoned pro's. The best of the best from the Netherlands..

 

[Red Rick]

Kinda want to know what he could do in Fleche and LBL. Though without good preperation getting recked is probably where it's at.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Nice. I dont care for Cyclocross, but I really admire Mathieau and Wout, so watching them going up against each other in races I actually care about is great.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re: Re:

Absolutely true.

I really don't get this talking him down at all - especially from a fan.

Keeping expectations in check, is talking him down now? Or maybe we aren't allowed to have a discussion anymore? All i've been saying is that 1 hour high intensity efforts, aren't the same as 6+ hour endurance races against the best of the best where you have to race tactical and be able to ride on economy and that he shouldn't look at other riders as a reference because he beats them in the field.

Anyway, i think the Euro's in Glasgow were probably the best indicator here. Hard weather, short steep climbs, nervous peloton, 230k. He did well there. I'll admit i remembered the race being shorter.

I'm anxious to see the races he'll be entering. Both him and Wout can be a breath of fresh air among rather predictable selection of favorites/outsiders on these road races. It would be interesting to see how other guys will react to him/them.

PS: today his father says: "Iedereen denkt dat hij een referentiepunt heeft met de prestaties van Wout van Aert, maar het is Mathieu van der Poel. Het zal blijken of hij die wedstrijden wel aankan. Het is de ambitie om mee te doen in finales en als hij daarin slaagt, is het al heel goed."

Tssskk, talking his own son down like that.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Adri is always very careful.

 

[jaylew]

What does he say?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

What does he say?

Basically what i've been saying. That Wout's performance last year isn't a reference. That it remains to be seen if he can cope with those types of races. That it's the ambition to be able to ride the finals, and if he manages that, it will already be a success.

 

[tobydawq]

So, he's just lying and deluding himself and, apparently, the friend of logic.

 

[Urbi27]

Does anyone knows what happend to Adam Toupalik? He had really decent results in 2018 on the road and could be big support for MVP but he has been removed from Corendon - Circus squad on 2019?

 

[NorthAmericanScum]

Re:

Does anyone knows what happend to Adam Toupalik? He had really decent results in 2018 on the road and could be big support for MVP but he has been removed from Corendon - Circus squad on 2019?

He was racing cross this year for the Steylaerts-777 team, not sure if he still will be for 2019 or not. According to cycling fever he is racing with Corendon-Circus again for the road this year. Gianni Vermeersch is doing similar.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re: Re:

Does anyone knows what happend to Adam Toupalik? He had really decent results in 2018 on the road and could be big support for MVP but he has been removed from Corendon - Circus squad on 2019?

He was racing cross this year for the Steylaerts-777 team, not sure if he still will be for 2019 or not. According to cycling fever he is racing with Corendon-Circus again for the road this year. Gianni Vermeersch is doing similar.

Now I wonder, will the women do the same thing?
Cant-Alvarado-Arzuffi-Worst-Kastelijn or not?
I remember Cant complaining that she couldn't race any road races because she was alone in her team.

 

[Tim Booth]

Re: Re:

Does anyone knows what happend to Adam Toupalik? He had really decent results in 2018 on the road and could be big support for MVP but he has been removed from Corendon - Circus squad on 2019?

He was racing cross this year for the Steylaerts-777 team, not sure if he still will be for 2019 or not. According to cycling fever he is racing with Corendon-Circus again for the road this year. Gianni Vermeersch is doing similar.

cycling fever have it wrong. Toupalik is not with Corendon - Circus in 2019.
(See https://www.procyclingstats.com/team/corendon-circus-2019 for their line-up)

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/van-der-poel-krijgt-minder-startgeld-dan-van-aert-belachelijk-maar-het-voordeel-van-de-regenboogtrui/#comment-547500

In short it's an article more about money (Van Aert receives more start money than Mvdp, which the latter thinks is ridicolous just because he is world champion while he wins far less). But also an interesting bit of text in the last few lines. He has a contract until 2023 which he will keep to, even if he would get an offer of 1,5 million. But he says an 'extreme offer' might change things.

So I bet if a team like Bahrein/UAE are willing to splash 4mil a year on him he might reconsider. Then he does have to do something special in the classics though

Also in the middle of the article there is something about the team management expecting at least 1 big win on the road. But MvdP thinks it's normal to set high expectations.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Congrats Mathieu, finally World Champion again (CX). Excited to see how he (and Wout) will perform on the road. Bring it on!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah, in just 3 weeks time we get to see him ride in Turkey. And then another month to Nokere Koerse. First big WT race will be Gent Wevelgem.. Curious

If I look at his program I think Nokere Koerse and Brabantse Pijl are probably the races that will suit him best. Because they end in uphill sprints..
I have no doubt he will do well in at least 1 of GW, Dwars, RvV or AGR. If he wins a big one though that would be a huge surprise. More likely he'll do like Van Aert last year

 

[tobydawq]

Big surprise? I don't agree.

Also, what do you mean by Turkey in three weeks. The Tour of Turkey is in April.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Big surprise? I don't agree.

Also, what do you mean by Turkey in three weeks. The Tour of Turkey is in April.

Tour of Antalya, I bet

 

[Ricco']

Re:

Yeah, in just 3 weeks time we get to see him ride in Turkey. And then another month to Nokere Koerse. First big WT race will be Gent Wevelgem.. Curious

If I look at his program I think Nokere Koerse and Brabantse Pijl are probably the races that will suit him best. Because they end in uphill sprints..
I have no doubt he will do well in at least 1 of GW, Dwars, RvV or AGR. If he wins a big one though that would be a huge surprise. More likely he'll do like Van Aert last year

No Omloop?

Corendon was awarded a wild-card this week, so maybe he will start too.

PCS has him in Tour de la Provence too.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

Yeah, in just 3 weeks time we get to see him ride in Turkey. And then another month to Nokere Koerse. First big WT race will be Gent Wevelgem.. Curious

If I look at his program I think Nokere Koerse and Brabantse Pijl are probably the races that will suit him best. Because they end in uphill sprints..
I have no doubt he will do well in at least 1 of GW, Dwars, RvV or AGR. If he wins a big one though that would be a huge surprise. More likely he'll do like Van Aert last year

Van Aert expects him (Mathieu) to be a contender in the big classics.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re: Re:

Yeah, in just 3 weeks time we get to see him ride in Turkey. And then another month to Nokere Koerse. First big WT race will be Gent Wevelgem.. Curious

If I look at his program I think Nokere Koerse and Brabantse Pijl are probably the races that will suit him best. Because they end in uphill sprints..
I have no doubt he will do well in at least 1 of GW, Dwars, RvV or AGR. If he wins a big one though that would be a huge surprise. More likely he'll do like Van Aert last year

No Omloop?

Corendon was awarded a wild-card this week, so maybe he will start too.

PCS has him in Tour de la Provence too.

No, his team starts in a lot of different races. But Omloop is not on his (MvdP's) program. It was anounced a while ago in a press conference.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re: Re:

Yeah, in just 3 weeks time we get to see him ride in Turkey. And then another month to Nokere Koerse. First big WT race will be Gent Wevelgem.. Curious

If I look at his program I think Nokere Koerse and Brabantse Pijl are probably the races that will suit him best. Because they end in uphill sprints..
I have no doubt he will do well in at least 1 of GW, Dwars, RvV or AGR. If he wins a big one though that would be a huge surprise. More likely he'll do like Van Aert last year

Van Aert expects him (Mathieu) to be a contender in the big classics.

Ofcourse. I expect that as well. I even expressed that.

However, there is a big difference between being a contender and between actually winning one. Even Sagan didn't win the big classic at his first attempt. And look how long it took Greg Van Avermaet to finally win one.
Stybar still hasn't gotten his big classic win and he's a 3 time world cx champion.

It could well be that MvdP is a category above Stybar, but, winning a big classic on his first attempt would be absolutely surprising and spectacular.

 

[Blanco]

Strade Bianche is a pretty big classic nowadays, or did you meant only the biggest ones?

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

Yeah, in just 3 weeks time we get to see him ride in Turkey. And then another month to Nokere Koerse. First big WT race will be Gent Wevelgem.. Curious

If I look at his program I think Nokere Koerse and Brabantse Pijl are probably the races that will suit him best. Because they end in uphill sprints..
I have no doubt he will do well in at least 1 of GW, Dwars, RvV or AGR. If he wins a big one though that would be a huge surprise. More likely he'll do like Van Aert last year

Van Aert expects him (Mathieu) to be a contender in the big classics.

Ofcourse. I expect that as well. I even expressed that.

However, there is a big difference between being a contender and between actually winning one. Even Sagan didn't win the big classic at his first attempt. And look how long it took Greg Van Avermaet to finally win one.
Stybar still hasn't gotten his big classic win and he's a 3 time world cx champion.

It could well be that MvdP is a category above Stybar, but, winning a big classic on his first attempt would be absolutely surprising and spectacular.

Not one hair on my head would be surprised if Mathieu pulled something like that off to be honest.

 

[yaco]

Gent Warelgem is his big chance as it often comes down to a sprint finish, and he packs a fast finish.