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

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Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Kwaremonster said:
The thing is that only diehard cycling fans like us will know he is one of the best in the world. People that only watch the biggest race in the world will barely know his name. But he doesn't seem to care, he literally said this finish suited him but is fine with not winning stages. Fair enough then.
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If this were Schleck he'd get *** for only being good for 2 weeks a season
 
Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

Aug 3, 2015
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Netserk said:
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.
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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.
 
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Berniece

Berniece

Sep 12, 2022
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Netserk said:
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.
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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
 
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Trofonios

Trofonios

Jul 1, 2023
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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. :)
 
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Gigs_98

Gigs_98

Feb 18, 2015
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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.
 
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Salvarani

Oct 15, 2017
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tobydawq said:
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.
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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.
 
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tobydawq

tobydawq

Nov 16, 2013
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Salvarani said:
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.
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Maybe he is paying Philipsen back for letting him win Roubaix.
 
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Izzyeviel

Izzyeviel

Oct 1, 2014
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Red Rick said:
If this were Schleck he'd get *** for only being good for 2 weeks a season
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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.
 
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senna6541

Jan 18, 2020
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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.
 
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ppanther92

May 3, 2015
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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.
 
Berniece

Berniece

Sep 12, 2022
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Axel Hangleck said:
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.....
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He wants to finish TDF at least once. His father seems to think it will improve him in the long run by 5%.
 
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dazaau

May 1, 2021
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"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

"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 cyclinguptodate.com

Please be ready for worlds Mathieu - riding Tdf isn't worth it
 
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