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

[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.

 

[gavia88]

so in summary, what would be MvdP's schedule for the rest of the season?


-some MTB in may??

-Dauphine/Suisse/Belgium Tour
-Tour de France

-MTB worlds

-after that still very unclear. No world championship. Probably he would like to defend his world title gravel in the Netherlands? or will he focus on some autumn classics, like Paris-Tours, Italian autumn classics, European Championship? Or maybe the new Tour of the Netherlands. Or end the season early, like he did in some other years as well.

 

[Berniece]

so in summary, what would be MvdP's schedule for the rest of the season?


-some MTB in may??

-Dauphine/Suisse/Belgium Tour
-Tour de France

-MTB worlds

-after that still very unclear. No world championship. Probably he would like to defend his world title gravel in the Netherlands? or will he focus on some autumn classics, like Paris-Tours, Italian autumn classics, European Championship? Or maybe the new Tour of the Netherlands. Or end the season early, like he did in some other years as well.

Doubt he'll ride anything on the road before TDF

 

[gavia88]

Doubt he'll ride anything on the road before TDF

I think he or his team mentioned it in a post Roubaix interview

 

[theyoungest]

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.

Maybe, but on the other hand, just looking at his physique, Merckx probably couldn't beat Pogacar for the yellow jersey in the Tour. So why compare, it's just a totally different era. Cycling was much smaller back then, just a few countries really competing for the win, and less specialization.

 

[Oldman]

I don't know the context of the Merckx story but it seems plausible for pog to do that today. For example in il giro 2024 it looked like the rest of the field didn't bother following him in some later stages (granted these were not flat). Instead they just complained to the press.

If pog attacked and got a gap when he was already minutes ahead on GC then the only teams you have chasing are the sprinters' squads, and in some grand tours you don't really have too many of those. Even at the letour it seems like there are more and more teams just riding for 10th GC instead of stage wins.

The context was similar to Pogacar's Giro. Most of the riders had given up trying and didn't bother to follow Eddy or Tadej. Why waste the energy?

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

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.

It's always pretty meaningless to say these things like if X then Y would have happened, but it can go both ways in regard of Eddy Merckx. If he had to ride in today peloton (with the strong teams protecting the skinny little boys in the flatter parts in a completely different way than before) he migh not win a single GT, given his weight was way over 70 kilos.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Merckx lost 8 minutes in a mountain stage to a climber in the Tour 1971. He got lucky Ocana crashed out later in the race. He would never win a Tour in the specialization era. He was like a peak WVA.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Merckx lost 8 minutes in a mountain stage to a climber in the Tour 1971. He got lucky Ocana crashed out later in the race. He would never win a Tour in the specialization era. He was like a peak WVA.

So you're saying that Van Aert would have the palmares of Merckx if he was riding in the 60s and 70s, essentially saying that Van Aert is the best rider in history?

 

[AmRacer]

So you're saying that Van Aert would have the palmares of Merckx if he was riding in the 60s and 70s, essentially saying that Van Aert is the best rider in history?

But if Pogi was riding in the 60s and 70s...

 

[Peyroteo94]

So you're saying that Van Aert would have the palmares of Merckx if he was riding in the 60s and 70s, essentially saying that Van Aert is the best rider in history?

Like I said, peak WVA (2020-2022). I am still questioning how he didn't win a PR or RVV in that period.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Has anyone ever seen that film with the weather man, groundhog day

 

[jono]

As per a post in the MTB section of these forums, van der Poel is on the start list for a MTB event in Germany in mid May.

rad-net.de - Content

www.rad-net.de

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Checks in, sees another "Merckx was better" discussion, ok bye

 

[Sciatic]

Checks in, sees another "Merckx was better" discussion, ok bye

That is so
Perfectly on target!

 

[scribers]

Where's Red Rick? I wanted to finish our PHYSICS conversation before this thread drift away to 2026 classics season.

 

[EllaChimp]

As per a post in the MTB section of these forums, van der Poel is on the start list for a MTB event in Germany in mid May.

rad-net.de - Content

www.rad-net.de

I can't wait to watch him doing mountain biking again. Whether he's racing on the road, doing mountain biking or cyclo-cross Mathieu is an exciting rider to watch! Here's a photo I took of him last month in Italy.

https://imgur.com/a/OCeiKYE

View: https://imgur.com/a/OCeiKYE