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

[Didinho]

Another one. Good to be a big fan of Mathieu. A shame he got sick last week but his level is just insane in these races. Would’ve loved to see a duel but that won’t be remembered if you count his classics win.

 

[skippo12]

Pogi is the best road racer in the world, but he is not the best all-around bike racer in the world. That guy won the bike race today. Now on to the MTB!

Reminded me of Glasgow two years ago. Even ignoring potential crashes he saves an insane amount of energy with his bike handling ability. And it's not even about the cobbles. It's about corners.
Compared to a good (for a GC rider) bike handler like Pog he gains 1-2s in every single tight corner. Over 6h and 250+ kms that adds up to an advantage that is almost impossible to match on a course that doesn't offer enough vertical meters to make it about w/kg.
Not to even mention that he also has one of the biggest engines in the field. Probably 2nd or 3rd behind Pog (maybe Remco).

 

[Red Rick]

He was just doing more work than the rest of the group for much of the race inbetween the Arenberg and when he and Pogacar finally went h2h. He's just built for this race.

 

[senna6541]

He got 3rd before Tokyo...

Nope. The Olympics were in July and PR was in early October.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Compared to a good (for a GC rider) bike handler like Pog he gains 1-2s in every single tight corner.

I don’t think it’s anywhere close to that and this is one of the things that are getting constantly overrated.
If they go at 40 km/h 1 second faster means he should create a gap of 11 meters. A bike is shorter than 2 meters, meaning that if Van der Poel is 1 seconds faster in a corner at 40km/h he should gain 5-6 bike lengths. If they go at 20km/h it should be close to 3 bike lengths. And we all know that the small gaps that opens up (because VdP is of course clearly better) are not anywhere close to being that big.

 

[KZD]

Best 1 day racer in the peloton. A well deserved win, and another monument. A shame Pogacar crashed but Mathieu showed he was the better rider in spring season.

Pogačar is still going to ride the Ardennes classics...

Van der Poel looked incredible today though, he was the strongest and is quite possibly the best rider ever for Roubaix.

 

[senna6541]

I'm not sure if getting 2nd in Roubaix disqualifies Pogacar for that title... he could have won. MVDP can never in a million years win the Tour de France. That's the difference. Not to take anything away from MVDP's win, but Pogacar was ridiculously strong today (didn't look very strong initially though).

Talking about the greatest multi-discipline bike racer. Road racing counts as ONE discipline. MVDP's biggest goal (his words) this year isn't even on the road bike.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

He isn’t the best classic rider in the world. Let’s not be silly—earning that title would require winning races like Liège or Lombardia to match Pogacar, and we all know that’s nowhere near happening.

Why would it require WINNING these races?
Pogacar has been close in San Remo and Roubaix, but he is still yet to win it. It is therefore silly to demand that Van der Poel would have to WIN all five when his competitor still “only” have won three.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Nope. The Olympics were in July and PR was in early October.

You're right. Forget that.

 

[Berniece]

Pogačar is still going to ride the Ardennes classics...

So? Even if Pogacar wins the triple he still wasn’t better than MVDP this spring.

 

[KZD]

So? Even if Pogacar wins the triple he still wasn’t better than MVDP this spring.

Strade, Flanders, Amstel, Flèche, Liège is better than Le Samyn, E3, Sanremo and Roubaix.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Strade, Flanders, Amstel, Flèche, Liège is better than Le Samyn, E3, Sanremo and Roubaix.

I appreciate your patience.

 

[skippo12]

I don’t think it’s anywhere close to that and this is one of the things that are getting constantly overrated.
If they go at 40 km/h 1 second faster means he should create a gap of 11 meters. A bike is shorter than 2 meters, meaning that if Van der Poel is 1 seconds faster in a corner at 40km/h he should gain 5-6 bike lengths. If they go at 20km/h it should be close to 3 bike lengths. And we all know that the small gaps that opens up (because VdP is of course clearly better) are not anywhere close to being that big.

Thanks for the maths.
So maybe a 0.5-1s? On technical sections he tends to leave a gap of 3-4 bike lengths and usually closes the gap in the corner, doesn't have to accelerate as hard as the rest coming out of the corner.
Accumulated over the entire race that's still an insane advantage.

 

[Jan the Man]

Chaepau Mathieu - amazing ride. Pretty certain he will have the most impressive palmares of any cobbled classic rider by the end of his career. Truly remarkable.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

There's just no one beating him in Roubaix. What a beast. His winner instinct is second to none. I've never seen a killer like him in the peloton. Well done today!

 

[jmdirt]

Hopefully they inspect his bike because after he tossed it down the team car bumped it.

 

[Berniece]

Strade, Flanders, Amstel, Flèche, Liège is better than Le Samyn, E3, Sanremo and Roubaix.

I don’t agree, but I’ll wait to see how good Remco is. Because that influences how “easy” Pogacar might have it.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He isn’t the best classic rider in the world. Let’s not be silly—earning that title would require winning races like Liège or Lombardia to match Pogacar, and we all know that’s nowhere near happening. It’s not a debate. its silly

However, he is undeniably the best cobble classic rider of this generation and arguably one of if not the greatest cobble riders of all time. Personally, I’d take MvdP in every cobble classic match-up, even against this Pog—everyone except RVV.

Ofc Pog is the best (he is the best everywhere). But I would say MvdP is the 2nd best classics rider of this era. Not only can he win MSR, RVV, PR. But he also finished 6th and 3rd in LBL, won AGR, won Strade, 3rd in Zurich on a hard course.... and i wont mention Lombardy because that edition was wack

 

[hayneplane]

Best 1 day racer in the peloton. A well deserved win, and another monument. A shame Pogacar crashed but Mathieu showed he was the better rider in spring season.

Spring season is not over until the conclusion of Liege.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Ofc Pog is the best (he is the best everywhere). But I would say MvdP is the 2nd best classics rider of this era. Not only can he win MSR, RVV, PR. But he also finished 6th and 3rd in LBL, won AGR, 3rd in Zurich on a hard course.... and i wont mention Lombardy because that edition was wack

Completely agree. The gap between MVP/Pogacar to the rest is massive

 

[Sciatic]

Completely agree. The gap between MVP/Pogacar to the rest is massive

Which raises the question, how long will we have to wait before someone other than those two wins a monument? This makes 6 straight between the two of them. I enjoy watching both riders win, but really want to see another rider or two on the top step!

 

[Red Rick]

Which raises the question, how long will we have to wait before someone other than those two wins a monument? This makes 6 straight between the two of them. I enjoy watching both riders win, but really want to see another rider or two on the top step!

Milan Sanremo some year

 

[Vinther1991]

MvdP and Pogacar are definitely the greatest one-day racers in the peleton. Which is better is hard to say. Both have 8 monument wins and 1 WC. Both have won three different monuments (MSR-Flanders-PR and Flanders-LBL-Lombardia respectively). Pogacar is also competive in MSR and PR, but would have a difficult time winning if MvdP is there, while MvdP is competitive in LBL, but wouldn't really stand a chance against Pogacar there. Looking at "second tier" classics, MvdP has Amstel, 2X E3 and Strade, Pogacar has 3X Strade, Amstel, Fleche.
So it is relatively even, but I would give the edge to Pogacar, since MvdP would never stand a chance of winning Lombardia, and Pogacar would almost surely extend his lead in the Ardennes.

 

[Vinther1991]

Which raises the question, how long will we have to wait before someone other than those two wins a monument? This makes 6 straight between the two of them. I enjoy watching both riders win, but really want to see another rider or two on the top step!

It is 7 actually. Flanders-PR-LBL-Lombardia-MSR-Flanders-PR....

Pogacar is massive favorite for LBL. There is a chance he will be too tired after Tour-Vuelta-WC to do/win Lombardia

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It is 7 actually. Flanders-PR-LBL-Lombardia-MSR-Flanders-PR....

Pogacar is massive favorite for LBL. There is a chance he will be too tired after Tour-Vuelta-WC to do/win Lombardia

for the foreseeable future the results of the monuments are:

MSR: VDP
RVV: Pogi
PR: VDP
LBL: Pogi
Lombardy: Pogi