If this were Schleck he'd get *** for only being good for 2 weeks a season
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This is a prep race. Stages so far have either been too hard or suited Philipsen better.
I think Van der Poel will go for it in stage 10 and 12. Maybe 19 as well if green is secured.
Yes, and so will half the peloton, but I have a hard time seeing MVDP winning those stages, they are really hard and lots of good climbers are lots of time down already.
Really disappointing that he lead out Philipsen, I wanted Van Aert vs MVDP on this hill.
Indeed he’s more than willing to help his teammate because he doesn’t care about stages like this. He gets his shot in more difficult stages which he uses as preparation.
Just like Tirreno for the classics
In hindsight, this stage would have been hard for VDP to win. The finale not hard enough for attack to really stick and winning a sprint against the likes of Pedersen and van Aert on that long uphill is a tall order.
Stages so far hasn't really suited him, first two stages too hard, today too easy. Stage 10 and 19, and maybe 12, that's where I think we will see an aggressive Mathieu. Hopefully.
Stages so far hasn't really suited him, first two stages too hard, today too easy. Stage 10 and 19, and maybe 12, that's where I think we will see an aggressive Mathieu. Hopefully.
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It’s only TDF, he already won a stage and held the yellow jersey. It’s already of is bucketlist.
I don't know, I feel like you can't really argue Mathieu should have sprinted when their number 1 sprinter was right there. Just don't think he would have had a better chance to beat Pedersen today. I'd rather question if he maybe should have attacked on the final climb, but then again that would have killed their sprinter so I really can't fault them for their tactics.
To be honest, I think he will struggle to win a stage. Yeah there are those two breakaway stages next week, but those kind of stages are extremely tricky to win, especially if you are the best sprinter out of the break and nobody wants to drag you to the finish. It simply turns out that winning Tour stages is extremely hard for classics specialists, especially if there are no Mur de Bretagne like finishes. There is a reason someone like Philippe Gilbert only ever won one TdF stage.
To be honest, I think he will struggle to win a stage. Yeah there are those two breakaway stages next week, but those kind of stages are extremely tricky to win, especially if you are the best sprinter out of the break and nobody wants to drag you to the finish. It simply turns out that winning Tour stages is extremely hard for classics specialists, especially if there are no Mur de Bretagne like finishes. There is a reason someone like Philippe Gilbert only ever won one TdF stage.
Would be kind of hilarious if the tour finished with neither Wout nor Mathieu winning a stage.
Absolutely... but it is not like he has had many opportunities in this Tour thus far.
He has done a great job for Philipsen though.
No, but today he had one. I don't get why everybody thinks you have to win the points competition by 150 points to number two. Just let them ride their own sprints, FFS.
MVDP has been a great lead-out for Philipsen in the sprints. Philipsen has delivered and MVDP has very much been a big part of the success. Maybe he enjoys that. It is been best for the team and everybody involved.
A stage-win for Mathieu would of course be great... and maybe he will go for it later into the race. I dont think it is anything to be annoyed about or question, right now.
Maybe he is paying Philipsen back for letting him win Roubaix.
seems to me more and more vdp doesn't care much about gt stages same as wt stages. Sure, nice to win one, but they're not classics.
he won't go down as a gt stage hunting legend.
Van Der Poel doesn't care about the Tour that much. Sure he'll try to win a stage or two, but if he doesn't, it's not the end of the world for him. He knows where he is the strongest and what will make him a legend, and that's one day races.
we're still waiting for Wout to beat him so we can start berating him for only being good at three races a season. We've been waiting years.
But on a serious note, MvDP does seem be a hell of lot more mature & focused this season. Its like time in the slammer gave him time to reflect on whats actually important.
The TDF may be the "biggest race of the year" for people that don't know much/care much about cycling, but for someone of MVDP's ilk winning stages at the TDF or any other GT isn't what his career will be judged by - he's not Lance Armstrong. For f's sake the guy has won the CX Worlds, SR and PR this year. If he can pull of the WC it will be one of the greatest seasons in the history of modern cycling. And if he can do anything on the MTB at Worlds and the World Cup races afterwards, maybe the greatest.
Yeah, there's more to cycling than 3 weeks in July - and MvdP is proof of that. I often wonder if he really wants to be there, or if it's for the team/sponsor. However, he's there and doing his job, and getting the kms in.....
The plan seems to be to hit top form for Glasgow.....
The plan seems to be to hit top form for Glasgow.....
He also obviously lacks form. He was going for it in Bilbao and the AGR winning, Mur de Bretagne MvdP should be in the front group on such a stage, yet he wasn’t. I am not sure if he has a stage in him. His climbing seems to be too weak atm.
He wants to finish TDF at least once. His father seems to think it will improve him in the long run by 5%.
"The fact that Mathieu felt a little less was not a problem during the meeting before the ride," Roodhooft told Eurosport in a post-stage interview. “He should still have done the lead-out. However, during the stage he felt less. I think this was his worst day of this Tour. We then decided together that he would just roll in. I think it's very unfortunate for Mathieu. He will still get through before the end of the Tour, we are not afraid of that. He himself indicated that he was not completely okay."
cyclinguptodate.com
Please be ready for worlds Mathieu - riding Tdf isn't worth it
"This was his worst day of this Tour" - Concerns for Mathieu van der Poel after stage 11 although Alpecin-Deceuninck confident 'he will still get through'
The lack of a Mathieu van der Poel leadout made little diffe
cyclinguptodate.com
Please be ready for worlds Mathieu - riding Tdf isn't worth it
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