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

[AmRacer]

Yes, his results at RVV are 4, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1.


Indeed.

4, 13, 6, 5, 2, 3. 3, 1, 9, 1, 2, 1, 10, 1, 1, 3

Bot of those double digit placings are MSR when he finished in the field within seconds of the winner.

Impressive

 

[Berniece]

Arrest me if im wrong, and I may be wrong here top of my head but isnt it right, besides his debut where he also crashed(woulda gotten higher aswell if not) and got 4, hes never been worse than nr 2 at RVV? Its nuts.

And that first time he wasn’t aware Bettiol rode away

 

[tobydawq]

And that first time he wasn’t aware Bettiol rode away

As if he could have done anything about that after his flower bed exploits.

 

[Berniece]

As if he could have done anything about that after his flower bed exploits.

I think he wouldn’t have been able to follow. We’ll never know, but it was more to the point that he’s just the best at De Ronde

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Arrest me if im wrong, and I may be wrong here top of my head but isnt it right, besides his debut where he also crashed(woulda gotten higher aswell if not) and got 4, hes never been worse than nr 2 at RVV? Its nuts.

MVP is on his way to become the greatest RVV rider of all time but it's also true that he has to face a guy with possibly the highest level ever on those cobbled bergs. It's clash of the titans.

 

[stonerider]

Let's hope that MvdP, Pog, Wout, etc arrive at RVV healthy and injury free. It should be an excellent race to watch if all the toppers arrive on race day in great shape.

 

[Keldergoat]

His career arc is interesting. I personally think he had an amazing and still underrated year in 2019, winning numerous classics and winning in MTB when he lined up, then due to a combination of pandemic, injury, poor decisions (Giro-Tour double, Australia worlds debacle, etc.), didn't reach that level again until the stretch from Worlds 2023 thru the classics season in 2024. If he resumes that level, he should still be decent competition for Pogi at MSR and Flanders.

His 2019 season was something else indeed. I mean, AGR stands out in epicness, but his performance in Flanders was world class as well. Crashing, being basically on your own without a proper team (that Corendon team was nowhere close to Alpecin now), overtaking 80 riders on the Koppenberg and still finish 4th. That was jaw dropping in every sense of the word.

 

[Berniece]

There’s a rumour going around that he might be racing Strade Bianche next week. If so I expect him to be in similar shape as in 2023

 

[Balthazar]

There’s a rumour going around that he might be racing Strade Bianche next week. If so I expect him to be in similar shape as in 2023

Rumour does not come from the team but it wouldn’t surprise me if he did decide to ride it. Weather in Spain hasn’t been great and he has been quite ill during their altitude camp. Few extra miles while riding the Strade, why not.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Arrest me if im wrong, and I may be wrong here top of my head but isnt it right, besides his debut where he also crashed(woulda gotten higher aswell if not) and got 4, hes never been worse than nr 2 at RVV? Its nuts.

If we arrested people for being wrong, this forum would be a prison and we'd all be serving 10 to 20.

 

[Peyroteo94]

His 2019 season was something else indeed. I mean, AGR stands out in epicness, but his performance in Flanders was world class as well. Crashing, being basically on your own without a proper team (that Corendon team was nowhere close to Alpecin now), overtaking 80 riders on the Koppenberg and still finish 4th. That was jaw dropping in every sense of the word.

His performance wasn't epic in AGR. He didn't win that race by being the strongest. He just got lucky to be honest. But it was an epic finale, I can agree on that (one for the ages).

 

[Peyroteo94]

There’s a rumour going around that he might be racing Strade Bianche next week. If so I expect him to be in similar shape as in 2023

Great news. Can't wait for a duel between Teddy and MVP. Definitely the best rivalry in the spring.

 

[jono]

Great news. Can't wait for a duel between Teddy and MVP. Definitely the best rivalry in the spring.

I wouldn't expect much of a duel if MVDP is dropping into his first race of the season. He finished 15th in similar circumstances in 2023, without Pogacar to explode the race.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

First race of the season?? Come on now, the MF just won cyclocross worlds he better put on a good show at Strade Bianche.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I wouldn't expect much of a duel if MVDP is dropping into his first race of the season. He finished 15th in similar circumstances in 2023, without Pogacar to explode the race.

First race of the season?? Come on now, the MF just won cyclocross worlds he better put on a good show at Strade Bianche.

I agree with this. MVP didn't stop racing in August like Vingegaard. I expect him to be good, not stellar but good.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I dream of a Strade Bianche with Pog, MvdP, WvA, Pidcock, and Evenepoel.
Dum spiro spero.

 

[jono]

I agree with this. MVP didn't stop racing in August like Vingegaard. I expect him to be good, not stellar but good.

I don't think merely "good" is good enough on a course that already favors Pogacar.

I also don't think he'll race Strade. Haven't seen a reliable source for this yet.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I don't think merely "good" is good enough on a course that already favors Pogacar.

I also don't think he'll race Strade. Haven't seen a reliable source for this yet.

It favors Pogacar because he is the best in gravel roads like he already showed multiple times in the Tour and SB. Because I already saw MVP winning races with the same or more vertical meters.
However he can compete there if he is in good shape. We already know Pogacar will win but with MVP, some uncertainty will be added to the race.

 

[Berniece]

It favors Pogacar because he is the best in gravel roads like he already showed multiple times in the Tour and SB.

What constitutes being the best in gravel roads? If you mean technically, he definitely isn't. But he can always win those races because he's just a better rider.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I wouldn't expect much of a duel if MVDP is dropping into his first race of the season. He finished 15th in similar circumstances in 2023, without Pogacar to explode the race.

It's true that MVP usually needs at least a few racing days to get into top shape. Pogacar's presence may affect his decision as well (to skip it). I'm not convinced he will start but his participation would surely increase the anticipation (otherwise, noone can prevent Pogi from another solo).

 

[Peyroteo94]

What constitutes being the best in gravel roads? If you mean technically, he definitely isn't. But he can always win those races because he's just a better rider.

I mean a combination of power with technique (yes, he is very good too). This is what allows him to be normally the strongest in gravel races. Or do you think MVP is the best CX rider only because he is very good technically? Of course not, he is also the most powerful rider. I don't think Pidcock is worse technically than Pogacar or MVP but can't stand a chance against both of them. So it doesn't matter to have a lot of technique if you aren't powerful enough and we can apply the same logic to the opposite (for example Remco).

 

[Berniece]

I mean a combination of power with technique (yes, he is very good too). This is what allows him to be normally the strongest in gravel races. Or do you think MVP is the best CX rider only because he is very good technically? Of course not, he is also the most powerful rider. I don't think Pidcock is worse technically than Pogacar or MVP but can't stand a chance against both of them. So it doesn't matter to have a lot of technique if you aren't powerful enough and we can apply the same logic to the opposite (for example Remco).

MVDP isn't the most powerful rider, WVA is more powerful in CX. MVDP is indeed gifted more technically. Pidcock is also better technically than Pogacar, just like WVA and MVDP are.

I think Pogacar wins in Strade because of the hills, not because of his technical prowess. Although he is also technically very good, much better than most in the peloton.

 

[Balthazar]

MVDP isn't the most powerful rider, WVA is more powerful in CX. MVDP is indeed gifted more technically. Pidcock is also better technically than Pogacar, just like WVA and MVDP are.

I think Pogacar wins in Strade because of the hills, not because of his technical prowess. Although he is also technically very good, much better than most in the peloton.

Wout isn't more powerful than Mathieu in CX. He was on occasion but only on top form and only on specific circuits that favour longer sustained efforts. CX rewards raw power and technique, which is why Mathieu is better at it. Saying Wout is more powerful than Mathieu makes no sense when I can make an hour long montage of Mathieu beating him.

 

[Peyroteo94]

MVDP isn't the most powerful rider, WVA is more powerful in CX. MVDP is indeed gifted more technically. Pidcock is also better technically than Pogacar, just like WVA and MVDP are.

I think Pogacar wins in Strade because of the hills, not because of his technical prowess. Although he is also technically very good, much better than most in the peloton.

Recently, we had a gravel stage in the Tour and Pogacar was the strongest (both WVA and MVP were nowhere to be found). I find WVA very overrated technically to be honest due to his multiple crashes (and most of them were alone). But like I said Pogi's success in these type of stages/classics are a combination of power and technique. His SB results explain this, he won last year due to his power and 3 years ago, he won with an attack downhill.

 

[Berniece]

Recently, we had a gravel stage in the Tour and Pogacar was the strongest (both WVA and MVP were nowhere to be found). I find WVA very overrated technically to be honest due to his multiple crashes (and most of them were alone). But like I said his success in these type of stages/classics are a combination of power and technique. His SB results explain this, he won last year due to his power and 3 years ago, he won with an attack downhill.

MVDP literally finished before Pogacar that stage. He attacked with others 43km to go. Not sure what you expected from WVA, he wasn't in shape during that TDF, he finished 1min50s behind Evenepoel in the ITT. Should tell you enough about his form.