• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

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

Page 251 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

Sciatic

Mar 4, 2011
6,500
8,433
23,180
Visit site
Red Rick said:
Cancellara and Boonen actually avoided each other in the monuments more often than not. Their peaks basically don't really overlap either.

That said, citing Pogacar as MvdPs primary rival makes no sense either, as Pogacar is already back to skipping all of MvdPs targets next spring.

Van Aert is MvdPs closest rival, even if the rivalry is extremely one sided.
Click to expand...
That doesn’t sound quite right—wasn’t it their injuries that kept them racing against each other as much as we would have expected? I highly doubt either would have avoided riding RvV or Roubaix if they were healthy, since those were the two most important races in their season? But you’re right in that their peak years didn’t fully overlap.
 
tobydawq

tobydawq

Nov 16, 2013
24,528
24,336
28,180
Visit site
Red Rick said:
Cancellara and Boonen actually avoided each other in the monuments more often than not. Their peaks basically don't really overlap either.

That said, citing Pogacar as MvdPs primary rival makes no sense either, as Pogacar is already back to skipping all of MvdPs targets next spring.

Van Aert is MvdPs closest rival, even if the rivalry is extremely one sided.
Click to expand...
Pogacar has been top 4 in 4 of the 7 major one-day races where Van der Poel has been top 2...
 
  • Like
Reactions: F e r o x
Netserk

Netserk

Apr 30, 2011
41,615
23,157
28,180
Visit site
tobydawq said:
It would be nice if you at some point stopped trying to decide how I am to write my posts.
Click to expand...
Telling you why a stat is ill-suited for a specific argument is not deciding how you are to write your posts. Telling you that you can be frank (advance the point you want to make with the reasons why you believe it to begin with) also isn't.

Rather, your post right there is closer to the action it speaks of.
 
S

senna6541

Jan 18, 2020
595
813
5,780
Visit site
Red Rick said:
I don't understand how pretty basic data should be dismissed as overfitting results? Maybe you can argue that rivalries don't matter that much, but Cancellara vs Boonen was talked about so much for these big races when the reality is they very, very rarely actually clashed in these races. The number of MSR, RVVs and PRs they both got top 5 is actually bafflingly low considering they both raced these races their entire career.
Click to expand...
Although they shared a lot of peak years, it seemed like one was often hurt or perhaps had a mech/crash or something to kill the H2H several years. For example, where was Cancellara in 2012 when Boonen smashed everyone - can't recall why he wasn't in the picture that year.
 
S

senna6541

Jan 18, 2020
595
813
5,780
Visit site
How may Monuments would MVDP have by now if he started full bore in the Spring Classics in say 2017 at 22? Nowadays there is no way they would have let him stay strictly CX. I still say one of his trademark wins is the 2018 Dutch NC when he was in the break all day, got caught, and then basically steamrolled everyone to win the sprint. The killer instinct and "it's my right to win" on full display.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Berniece and scribers
U

Unchained

Sep 5, 2016
3,362
5,382
19,180
Visit site
kingjr said:
Rivalries are overrated.
Click to expand...
The teams and race promoters strongly disagree and race fans are drawn to parity rather than dominance in my opinion. Often when I am watching a race sure I enjoy seeing a rider go deep and win in a solo breakaway effort, really respect it. But for my most enjoyable experience, I love seeing a small group come in together and try to jump each other as they near the finish, groups of 5-8 riders and a few favorites, rivals is always more fun for me to watch.. Would love to see Wout, Pog, MVP together as they reach 4,5 k to go!!
 
K

kingjr

Sep 9, 2012
4,628
1,755
18,680
Visit site
Unchained said:
The teams and race promoters strongly disagree and race fans are drawn to parity rather than dominance in my opinion. Often when I am watching a race sure I enjoy seeing a rider go deep and win in a solo breakaway effort, really respect it. But for my most enjoyable experience, I love seeing a small group come in together and try to jump each other as they near the finish, groups of 5-8 riders and a few favorites, rivals is always more fun for me to watch.. Would love to see Wout, Pog, MVP together as they reach 4,5 k to go!!
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's fun to watch, sure. What I mean, though, is these discussions about whether rider X is better than Y, I think people sometimes get too worked up about that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Miss Violet Smith and Potomac
U

Unchained

Sep 5, 2016
3,362
5,382
19,180
Visit site
kingjr said:
Yeah, that's fun to watch, sure. What I mean, though, is these discussions about whether rider X is better than Y, I think people sometimes get too worked up about that.
Click to expand...
For sure, as anyone who has ever raced and trained knows, that everyone has good days and bad days. I am sure some beer and an opportunity, Remco can express exactly what a bad day feels like.!!! There are 7-8 riders I follow and the main criteria are style and sportsmanship. I am always a fan of a racer who is quick to say, that guy was better than me today.. It costs nothing to compliment fellow racers, and at the highest level a bad day is all relative!
 
  • Like
Reactions: VayaVayaVaya and Miss Violet Smith
B

Bolder

Jun 25, 2015
5,156
5,119
23,180
Visit site
senna6541 said:
How may Monuments would MVDP have by now if he started full bore in the Spring Classics in say 2017 at 22? Nowadays there is no way they would have let him stay strictly CX. I still say one of his trademark wins is the 2018 Dutch NC when he was in the break all day, got caught, and then basically steamrolled everyone to win the sprint. The killer instinct and "it's my right to win" on full display.
Click to expand...
Looking back, it's crazy that by 2016 QS or Lotto hadn't offered him and Wout a WT contract they couldn't refuse. Was CX really that lucrative?
 
  • Like
Reactions: scribers
Ricco'

Ricco'

Aug 14, 2012
4,097
5,026
21,180
Visit site
Bolder said:
Looking back, it's crazy that by 2016 QS or Lotto hadn't offered him and Wout a WT contract they couldn't refuse. Was CX really that lucrative?
Click to expand...

There were rumours back in 2016 that Team Sky were already making contacts with him (that is said back in the first posts of this topic).

The truth is back than he considered road racing "boring" and prefered a dual career CX/MTB to CX/Road. Only in 2019 this started to somewhat change.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
scribers

scribers

Oct 30, 2023
3,217
4,847
11,180
Visit site
Ricco' said:
There were rumours back in 2016 that Team Sky were already making contacts with him (that is said back in the first posts of this topic).

The truth is back than he considered road racing "boring" and prefered a dual career CX/MTB to CX/Road. Only in 2019 this started to somewhat change.
Click to expand...
The first few pages ARE a good review. Even Wout casting shade on road racing. The fact is those two have imposed themselves on the peloton since then
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom