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

[Froome]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1777586156151902658

View: https://twitter.com/Domestique___/status/1777586156151902658

"Als de trend van het laatste uur zich doorzet...": kan Mathieu van der Poel in Luik Tadej Pogacar kloppen? | sporza

Het zijn de harde wetten van het leven van een sporter. Je hebt met Parijs-Roubaix net een monument gewonnen en er wordt al gekeken naar wat er over 2 weken op je bord wordt gelegd. Mathieu van der Poel verschijnt op 21 april aan de start van Luik-Bastenaken-Luik. Hoe schat zijn ploeg zijn...

sporza.be

 

[Slavique Nuke]

Hmm…my Garmin says I have the exact same VO2 max. Makes me wonder.

Is your running VO2 max still increasing or steady. Since I started running regularly, every day, it has been increasing by one unit every 2-3 weeks. That's why I think it's a gimmick.

 

[Winnen]

It is a bit old news. But I came across this quote from Mathieu (https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.co...cobbles-are-meant-to-be-ridden-on-a-road-bike):

In an honest recollection, Van der Poel explained: “Last year I struggled a bit actually [in the Tour of Flanders] when Pogačar was riding wider tires. He was really flying on the cobbles.”

In this year's edition of the Tour of Flanders, Van der Poel put this knowledge to good use, admitting to stopping and lowering his tire pressures twice during the race.

“I stopped twice to change the tire pressure because I already saw it was going to rain in the final, and I know how slippery cobbles are.”

Lowering his tire pressure was a smart move, looking at how slippery Koppenberg was.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Let's face it, Pogacar dropped MvdP on his 'home terrain': the Flemish cobbles, I would be very surprised if MvdP stands a chance on La Redoute. AGR could be quite an equal contention with the 1 - 1.5km max climbs, but LBL just favours the lightweights too much.

hmm but VDP rvv 23 was not as strong as VDP worlds 23 or VDP rvv/PR/e3 24.
still think pogi easily drops him btw, i just don't think that example is the best one.

 

[Slavique Nuke]

MvdP was also overconfident in 2023. He should have just followed Pog and not attacked at Kruisberg.

 

[Blanco]

MvdP was also overconfident in 2023. He should have just followed Pog and not attacked at Kruisberg.

This isn't the way he operates. When he feels strong and think he can thin the group and drop the opponents he attacks, and that's what he did on Kruisberg with Van Aert. Pogacar was simply stronger that day.

 

[KZD]

It seemed like an April fool's video. I mean he practically said the tailwind pushed MVDP to the win looooool.

Then he goes on some tangent about how the weather was PERFECT for MVDP and if its 30 degrees at LBL and MVDP drops Teddy, THEN he will consider bumping him in the rankings haha

Horner has a crazy crush on Van Aert and has some kind of extreme overvaluation for Tour Stages and Jonas domestique work.

A couple years ago Boonen commented that Wout has to focus on the classics and not so much on the Tour or something to that effect,
Horner went off on Boonen on in one of his vids and said Boonen has accomplished less than Wout hahaha. I'm not making this up

At this point watching Horner's takes on Van der Poel and the 'big guy' Van Aert is like watching a clown perform a number in a circus, we can just laugh at his fanboyism.

 

[saunaking]

At this point watching Horner's takes on Van der Poel and the 'big guy' Van Aert is like watching a clown perform a number in a circus, we can just laugh at his fanboyism.

Horner's top 6 rankings:
4 GC guys (ok, fine, he was a GC guy)
1 - best possible GC domestique
1 - best 1 day racer

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Is your running VO2 max still increasing or steady. Since I started running regularly, every day, it has been increasing by one unit every 2-3 weeks. That's why I think it's a gimmick.

Pretty steady. I only run about 3 times per week. When I’ve taken time off it’s dropped as low as 53 and taken some time to creep back up to 57 then seems to stay there. I haven’t really committed to running enough to get better though. It sounds like your rise might be directionally accurate.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Pogacar will grind him into oblivion in Liege, but will be fun nevertheless to see how he goes. He will do that to the entire field ofc

Amstel? Huuuuge favorite. Big upset if he doesnt win like in Flanders

 

[masking_agent]

I don't know if this was posted before , but I think he's the only one riding Paris Roubaix without gloves ? I can't believe his hands can handle that thrashing ?

 

[Didinho]

I don't know if this was posted before , but I think he's the only one riding Paris Roubaix without gloves ? I can't believe his hands can handle that thrashing ?

You got more friction on the cobbles with gloves. He also rides them in the bracket, if that's what it called in English. Not on the top, but like a sprinter. And double handlebar tape.

 

[Nick2413]

I don't know if this was posted before , but I think he's the only one riding Paris Roubaix without gloves ? I can't believe his hands can handle that thrashing ?

Not nearly as long of a race but Kopecky didn’t in the women’s race. I also recall noting at least one other guy in the top 10 on the men’s but not sure who.

 

[velaso montador]

immensely impressive watching this guy on this form, one thing is his win but for me the way he usually wins to is as impressive as the win with this guy usually, just such a beast.

I read he said he was pretty close to his Glasgow form. Gonne be really fun to see what he can do in Amstel again or if hes starting to get tired.

 

[RobertCrawley]

That hat was thrown right at his back wheel. Someone was trying to do damage.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1776981610249748987

View: https://x.com/eurosport/status/1776981610249748987

 

[RobertCrawley]

Do people really follow these advices? I wear the FR955 all the time but it gives me such stupid recommendations, like I've had my easy morning run almost 10 hours ago but even now it recommends 23 hours of recovery time and constantly suggests runs at a joke 5:30 pace or rest days. Of course I never follow them.

The only value of these watches is that you can see your pace while you're running, accurate GPS and you can connect your chest strap to it. Sometimes a map if you're in unfamiliar territory. The rest is just a bad gimmick. I wonder how bad Whoop can be if it offers none of these things.

From the looks of things, MVDP's recovery time was about 12 seconds.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Good to see MVP trying a monument that is out of his comfort zone (MSR, Flandres, Roubaix). It's the first time since 2020. Judging by his form he can get a good place in Liege (he was 6th in 2020 and I wouldn't put a podium place out of his reach, especially if he finishes from a small group) but with Pog around it will be very difficult for other guys to win it.

 

[tobydawq]

Cancellara: "Mathieu should do Liège after Ronde-Roubaix double"

Lol, this guy should get a mirror.

 

[DNP-Old]

Cancellara: "Mathieu should do Liège after Ronde-Roubaix double"

Lol, this guy should get a mirror.

Wonder if he regrets never doing it. Man was frigging of the charts in Mendrisio and Beijing.

 

[tobydawq]

Wonder if he regrets never doing it. Man was frigging of the charts in Mendrisio and Beijing.

He should. If Gerrans could win it...

 

[awavey]

I don't know if this was posted before , but I think he's the only one riding Paris Roubaix without gloves ? I can't believe his hands can handle that thrashing ?

He isn't by any stretch of it,and infact they always claim its worse with mitts, though its all about preparation and how you hold the bars ultimately

 

[awavey]

Not nearly as long of a race but Kopecky didn’t in the women’s race. I also recall noting at least one other guy in the top 10 on the men’s but not sure who.

Lizzie didn't when she won, her blood from the blisters became part of the post Roubaix look of the bike.

I was more interested this year that Zoe B didn't wear mitts, got some blisters but Elynor B did wear mitts and appeared to suffer much much worse, and I think Magnus always said in comms at least, don't wear gloves for it.

 

[Red Rick]

He should. If Gerrans could win it...

Cancellara outsprinting Valverde in Ans is on your bingo card?

Imo Cancellara actually never did that much outside the cobbles and TTs, and especially in hard hilly races there's only 2 races that stuck out, and Beijing and Mendrisio where IMO both considerably easier in the finale than Liege and he won neither despite a full focus on it.

In 2014, the year Gerrans won Liege, he was in blistering form and was one Kwiatkowski away from winning the WC.

 

[Sciatic]

He should. If Gerrans could win it...

Yeah, I always wished he would attempt it at least once at the close of one of his successful cobbled seasons. And there were editions of LBL during that span that were ridden laggardly enough to allow riders to hang on until Ans.

 

[tobydawq]

Cancellara outsprinting Valverde in Ans is on your bingo card?

Imo Cancellara actually never did that much outside the cobbles and TTs, and especially in hard hilly races there's only 2 races that stuck out, and Beijing and Mendrisio where IMO both considerably easier in the finale than Liege and he won neither despite a full focus on it.

In 2014, the year Gerrans won Liege, he was in blistering form and was one Kwiatkowski away from winning the WC.

Valverde didn't win Liège between 2009 and 2014. Cancellara repeatedly won Strade, and it's not like climbing skills are unimportant there. He could absolutely have been competitive in it and it was silly not to try.

And it's even more silly to now play the role as the wise old man who gives advice to younger riders that goes against what he would do himself (not to mention that he didn't take the time to check Mathieu's programme before writing his column).