The "MVP" Mathieu Van der Poel Road Discussion Thread

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

1470 max watts on the sprint then vs 1400 now

Clearly past his prime.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hehe, guess that's the difference between a 200+k 'easy' race sprint and a 270km 'tough' race sprint (while leading out the group as well).

 

[proffate]

Re:

MVdP uploaded his Amstel ride on Strava.

Last 5k's: Avg Speed 48.3, Avg Watts 428
Last 10k's: Avg Speed 42.3, Avg Watts 401
Keutenberg: 33.8 Avg Speed, 451 Avg Watts
Kruisberg (where he attacked first): Avg Speed 24.7, Avg Watts 634

For comparison, he generated approximately the same amount of maximum power when he was dutch champion last year (1470 max watts on the sprint then vs 1400 now).

Strava file is here https://www.strava.com/activities/2307958367
The numbers look surprisingly human. He must weigh less than he looks.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

For those speaking Dutch, tonight's episode of Extra Time Koers on Sporza, was about AGR and FW, with Adrie and a lot of discussion about Mathieu.

https://sporza.be/nl/2019/04/24/bekijk-extra-time-koers-van-24-april/

 

[Bardamu]

Daring for Adrie to say in Belgium that if you've done echelons twice, you don't have to train them anymore.

 

[Bardamu]

Dissatisfied with a fourth place in Fortnite. This guy's a real winner.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

"CX and MTB are more fun"

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

MVdP uploaded his Amstel ride on Strava.

Last 5k's: Avg Speed 48.3, Avg Watts 428
Last 10k's: Avg Speed 42.3, Avg Watts 401
Keutenberg: 33.8 Avg Speed, 451 Avg Watts
Kruisberg (where he attacked first): Avg Speed 24.7, Avg Watts 634

For comparison, he generated approximately the same amount of maximum power when he was dutch champion last year (1470 max watts on the sprint then vs 1400 now).

Strava file is here https://www.strava.com/activities/2307958367
The numbers look surprisingly human. He must weigh less than he looks.

VdP is 75kg. Cyclingtips broke down his performance here: https://cyclingtips.com/2019/04/mathieu-van-der-poel-power-watts-amstel-gold/

That was an insane ride.

 

[postmanhat]

His plans for the rest of the season will be announced next week

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Koos Moerenhout (dutch national coach) has suddenly stopped the rule that to compete in the Worlds you need to compete in the NC.

The NC doesn't fit in MvdP's schedule this year. And MvdP would make his choice known next week. I think this action by Moerenhout almost surely confirms MvdP will participate and this was his demand..

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I think it mainly confirms Moerenhout will do anything to get Mathieu on board.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

I think it mainly confirms Moerenhout will do anything to get Mathieu on board.

Which is the only right decision.

If you have a guy with those capabilities you should basically sacrifice a virgin to have him ride the WC :lol:

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I'm not questioning his motives, just making the observation. I do think Moerenhout wants Mathieu to participate more than Mathieu himself. (The situation doesn't seem too different in Belgium, where Verbrugghe is still trying to get Van Aert on board, even though Van Aert himself has said he's not going to ride the WC because he can't keep his form up the entire year.) So i fully understand Moerenhout's attitude.

 

[Mavic]

Why wouldn't Mathieu want to participate as much as Moerenhout wants him to though? On the contrary, It's not every year that Mathieu gets a WC course tailored for him and being the competitor he is I think he's quietly looking forward to having a crack at it. The only "hurdle" along the way was the national championships requirement. He's never had a problem with skipping the USA portion of the CX world cup races anyway.

I wonder if he participates and manages to win if he'll be the first cyclist to win both the CX and the RR elite world championships on his first try. :Question:

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Re:

Why wouldn't Mathieu want to participate as much as Moerenhout wants him to though?

Because he would have made the decission to ride it by now if not weeks ago. I'm not saying he doesn't want to, but he has more things to take into consideration. His schedule does not revolve around the WC. Where as for Moerenhout, it's simple as "yes or no".

 

[Ricco']

How many riders have won a CX World Cup, a XCO World Cup and a WorldTour/CDM classic in the same year?

I'm fairly sure that since the beginning of the World Tour in 2005 the number is 0, but from the past, is there anyone who qualifies for this?

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

How many riders have won a CX World Cup, a XCO World Cup and a WorldTour/CDM classic in the same year?

I'm fairly sure that since the beginning of the World Tour in 2005 the number is 0, but from the past, is there anyone who qualifies for this?

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot across 2014-2015. Add in the road and MTB worlds as well.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

In the heyday of cyclocross, nobody was doing XCO/MTB.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Van der Poel is skipping 2 world cup MTB's later this year so he can have a summer break. Also no NC because of that.
Then he is doing Arctic Tour of Norway, another MTB world cup. The test event in Tokio, and then finally, he has to chose between the road and the mtb world championship.

He is still doubting, but because the world mtb is in canada it's more likely he will do the road world championship. So the chances of that just became bigger.

He also said he wants to lose 4kg next year for the olympic MTB race. He now weights 76kg and says he needs to be lighter if he wants to be able to climb with Schurter. But he is also planning on losing that weight AFTER his road campaign in 2020, because he needs the extra weight 'for power' on the road.

 

[luckyboy]

I saw the schedule news. Where does he say he will lose weight?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

https://www.indeleiderstrui.nl/nieuws/algemeen-nieuws/229717/van-der-poel-wil-voor-tokio-vier-kilo-kwijt-dit-jaar-kan-ik-dat-nog-niet-doen

 

[luckyboy]

Sounds like he won in Albstadt with a big comeback over Schurter

 

[jaylew]

He's amazing.

 

[The Chicken]

Just watched him win the short track XC on Red Bull TV. He was way behind for most of that race but put in a monster move. Worth watching (even though I've spoilt it for you ).

 

[glassmoon]

Re:

Just watched him win the short track XC on Red Bull TV. He was way behind for most of that race but put in a monster move. Worth watching (even though I've spoilt it for you ).

Yep, never doubted him. He is great with those monster pulls during those XCC races. He won 3 of those last season I think.
Super excited for the Sunday's XCO race.