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

[ChasingPotatoes]

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.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

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

 

[Peyroteo94]

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)

 

[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.