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

[Keldergoat]

MvdP has the perfect morphology to excel on the cobbles, he's truly the best spring classic / cobbled rider I have ever seen. Pog is maybe just slightly more versatile thanks to his W/kg advantage, but MvdP is really not that far behind and in some ways (sprint, technique) superior. He has really grown in solo efforts as well, there was a time when nobody thought of MvdP as a good TT but during a hard race (like today) and in a TT that matters, he has proven to be able to ride like a machine, holding off Pog and WvA who both have (slightly) better results in TT.

I recall one TT when he actually went for it when he was in yellow in the Tour and he was instantly in the top-5 while he was sitting on his bike like a penguin. The watts that this guys puts out are nuts, so he could very well be a good TT'er he just doesn't enjoy it that much.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

VDP would be a good tt rider if he focussed on it. Not on the level of Ganna/Evenepoel though, but still world class.
The thing that makes him worse than Van Aert and Pogi is simply lack of effort on a TT bike/Aero position.

On a normal road bike that falls away. That is point 1
Point 2 is these solo's usually come after a freaking hard race. His fatigue resistance is simply better than a true TT Specialist such as Ganna/Kung to name some examples

Agreed. At the end - or even just in the middle - of a classic like today, he's a top 3 "time trialist" in the world. Only Pogacar and Evenepoel would challenge him on an effort like this (not saying on cobbles, but in general).

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I was completely wrong. I thought this spring season would be hard for him (his worst) because with Pogi there, I expected classics to be decided in a tactical war (something like MSR 2024 and PR 2014)

it would be if he was as strong as 2024. But he was stronger. And if 2 guys are that much stronger than everyone else they just ride away and there's no tactics involved

 

[SHAD0W93]

Great win by MVP and showed he’s arguably the best cobbled rider ever. I don’t know if he was getting the time gaps or not but he was lucky/skilled to avoid disaster multiple times. Even if Pogacar didn’t crash I think he still would have been able to distance him and win with around 30s or at the very least the sprint at the end. Ties up the score 8-8 but more importantly has stopped Pogacar from winning 4-5 monuments vs the 2 Pog has stopped him in.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Great win by MVP and showed he’s arguably the best cobbled rider ever. I don’t know if he was getting the time gaps or not but he was lucky/skilled to avoid disaster multiple times. Even if Pogacar didn’t crash I think he still would have been able to distance him and win with around 30s or at the very least the sprint at the end. Ties up the score 8-8 but more importantly has stopped Pogacar from winning 4-5 monuments vs the 2 Pog has stopped him in.

Dream race: Merckx - Museeuw - Boonen - Cancellara - Mathieu, all in their prime. I don't think you can say he is the clear winner, though.

 

[jono]

Great win by MVP and showed he’s arguably the best cobbled rider ever. I don’t know if he was getting the time gaps or not but he was lucky/skilled to avoid disaster multiple times. Even if Pogacar didn’t crash I think he still would have been able to distance him and win with around 30s or at the very least the sprint at the end. Ties up the score 8-8 but more importantly has stopped Pogacar from winning 4-5 monuments vs the 2 Pog has stopped him in.

He said in an interview he had no radio and also no power on his computer for most of the last hour.

 

[Sciatic]

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

Yes! Forgot to count today 🙄

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Dream race: Merckx - Museeuw - Boonen - Cancellara - Mathieu, all in their prime. I don't think you can say he is the clear winner, though.

I love that you don't put De Vlaeminck in this, it's just a shame he doesn't get to see it and get angry about it.

 

[jmdirt]

Dream race: Merckx - Museeuw - Boonen - Cancellara - Mathieu, all in their prime. I don't think you can say he is the clear winner, though.

MvdP every day!

 

[Jan the Man]

I love that you don't put De Vlaeminck in this, it's just a shame he doesn't get to see it and get angry about it.

Will he be angrier knowing VdP won knowing there is now a higher probability in two riders eclipsing his 11 monuments😉

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

MvdP every day!

Not if Cancellara is riding the same bike he did in 2010

 

[Peyroteo94]

Not if Cancellara is riding the same bike he did in 2010

His motor were his legs

 

[Berniece]

Dream race: Merckx - Museeuw - Boonen - Cancellara - Mathieu, all in their prime. I don't think you can say he is the clear winner, though.

Merckx easily, people don't seem to understand how good he was. There was a quote last week of someone that was actually alive when he rode: "The media said Merckx wasn't that impressive in the TDF because he didn't win enough stages. Merckx was so annoyed by that comment he attacked in a flat stage and won it."

Out of that list of riders, I can only see Cancellara do that besides Merckx.

 

[Keldergoat]

FYI, in the interview states MvdP that his next race will be a stage race prior to the Tour, so probably either the Dauphine or Tour de Suisse.

'Enorm blije' Van der Poel voltooit trilogie in Roubaix, ondanks 'poging tot doodslag'

De 30-jarige renner van Alpecin–Deceuninck is trots op zijn bijzondere prestatie, drie keer op rij de Franse kasseienklassieker winnen.

nos.nl

 

[Red Rick]

Merckx easily, people don't seem to understand how good he was. There was a quote last week of someone that was actually alive when he rode: "The media said Merckx wasn't that impressive in the TDF because he didn't win enough stages. Merckx was so annoyed by that comment he attacked in a flat stage and won it."

Out of that list of riders, I can only see Cancellara do that besides Merckx.

Tells you how much of a farmers league the Tour de France was back in the day.

 

[KenFiamingo]

Merckx easily, people don't seem to understand how good he was. There was a quote last week of someone that was actually alive when he rode: "The media said Merckx wasn't that impressive in the TDF because he didn't win enough stages. Merckx was so annoyed by that comment he attacked in a flat stage and won it."

Out of that list of riders, I can only see Cancellara do that besides Merckx.

And let all of them compete in 150 races per year.

Another quote from that show was: if Merckx had to race the course of today's Ronde van Vlaanderen, he would have won it 5 times. Regardless of these hypothetical numbers, I think it's fair to say he would have been hugely favored by it.

 

[gavia88]

FYI, in the interview states MvdP that his next race will be a stage race prior to the Tour, so probably either the Dauphine or Tour de Suisse.

'Enorm blije' Van der Poel voltooit trilogie in Roubaix, ondanks 'poging tot doodslag'

De 30-jarige renner van Alpecin–Deceuninck is trots op zijn bijzondere prestatie, drie keer op rij de Franse kasseienklassieker winnen.

nos.nl

or the Belgium Tour

 

[Berniece]

Tells you how much of a farmers league the Tour de France was back in the day.

Or how much better Merckx was.

 

[OlavEH]

I really hope MvdP show up in the Tour this year in absolute peak shape. There are rarely that many stages that fit a rider like VdP. At least stage 2, 4, 6, 7 and 11. Perhaps more. In peak shape he should really be able to rack up 2-3 stage wins with this route.

 

[Red Rick]

Or how much better Merckx was.

Same difference.

With today's fitness levels and equipment, it's literally impossible to just attack a flat stage and win it on demand. It is more a showcase of just how much poorer the overall field was back then compared to now.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations for third PR title and a shame of that Vélo d'Or robbery.

 

[jmdirt]

Merckx easily, people don't seem to understand how good he was. There was a quote last week of someone that was actually alive when he rode: "The media said Merckx wasn't that impressive in the TDF because he didn't win enough stages. Merckx was so annoyed by that comment he attacked in a flat stage and won it."

Out of that list of riders, I can only see Cancellara do that besides Merckx.

Its all relative, and I don't really like comparing eras of any sport, but EM doesn't even win races in todays peloton. Now, obviously he would benefit from modern training, nutrition, and technology so who knows what he COULD be.

 

[jono]

Na hattrick zet Mathieu van der Poel punt achter voorjaar: "Niet mijn favoriete zege in Roubaix"

Interview Voor Mathieu van der Poel was zijn zege in Parijs-Roubaix van zondag niet zijn mooiste overwinning ooit in de Hel van het Noorden. Dat vertelde de kopman van Alpecin-Deceuninck na afloop op de persconferentie, waar WielerFlits ook bij aanwezig was. Daar vertelde Van der Poel ook dat...

www.wielerflits.nl

Van der Poel did not have power data after Arenberg. The radio also went out, though not specified at which point.

So both leaders were without power data for the final 38km. Does the race play out differently if this was not the case?

 

[Oldman]

Merckx easily, people don't seem to understand how good he was. There was a quote last week of someone that was actually alive when he rode: "The media said Merckx wasn't that impressive in the TDF because he didn't win enough stages. Merckx was so annoyed by that comment he attacked in a flat stage and won it."

Out of that list of riders, I can only see Cancellara do that besides Merckx.

Boonen was faster than those others. Not sure he could match the sheer, nasty toughness of Merckx and Musseuw. Those two seemed to hate losing more than they enjoyed winning. You could almost throw the Badger into that mix.