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

[spalco]

Don't forget BMX.
And I'm sure there are some UCI sanctioned Unicycle events.

But seriously: I would not be surprised at all if he could be world class in BMX and Omnium if he wanted to be and put some time into the specific training.

 

[Ricco']

Average power of 739 watts in 60 seconds during Le Tolfe. 1004 watts for 20 seconds on the final climb. 439 watts of normalized power for the last 60k.

Holy moly.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Strade Bianche 🏆 | Strava

View Mathieu van der Poel's ride on March 6, 2021 | Strava

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[Bonimenier]

My heartrate is already 186 just looking at those numbers.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

I don't know if that's necessarily true. He clearly already had the volume to last the race, but the flashes weren't there yet. Making it a long, hard race was his only way to potentially winning the race, however small that chance was. He had no chance if he waited for an explosive outburst from van der Poel or Alaphilippe.

But Van Aert already exhausted himself for the attacks of Ala en Vdp. If Van Aert had not done the forcing that early, the leading group would have been bigger (+ Fughlsang, Wellens, Van Avermaet......). And I'm convinced they would have been in the final with five or six left, Van Aert included, at the foot of the Santa Caterina. But the result would have been the same. Maybe Van Aert could have ended third.

 

[Bonimenier]

But Van Aert already exhausted himself for the attacks of Ala en Vdp. If Van Aert had not done the forcing that early, the leading group would have been bigger (+ Fughlsang, Wellens, Van Avermaet......). And I'm convinced they would have been in the final with five or six left, Van Aert included, at the foot of the Santa Caterina. But the result would have been the same. Maybe Van Aert could have ended third.

I don't think it matters that much to him if he gets 3rd or 4th. The only way he could've won, was if MvdP and Alaphilippe somehow cracked when he made the race hard earlier, so I still think that was his best chance.

 

[Blanco]

. He is better in this kind of race that for sure, Strade is the perfect race for MVDP

I read many posts before the race how Van Der Poel can't climb with Alaphilippe and Van Aert on that last wall though... Many didn't think this is his perfect race.
If he wins MSR, I guess that will be his perfect race too...

 

[Blanco]

I don't think it matters that much to him if he gets 3rd or 4th. The only way he could've won, was if MvdP and Alaphilippe somehow cracked when he made the race hard earlier, so I still think that was his best chance.

This, and he couldn't allow that some Steppers and that duo from Alpecin come back to the front.

 

[Oldermanish]

I read many posts before the race how Van Der Poel can't climb with Alaphilippe and Van Aert on that last wall though... Many didn't think this is his perfect race.
If he wins MSR, I guess that will be his perfect race too...

He seemed to attack the two pivotal sectors very much like he'd attack to gap in a CX race. He has a good instinct for how much he can put out without going too far; which is a benefit of training with data. Racing without the constant reference is a trend I hope will continue and I agree with Nibali's attitude. It's the unexpected shocks in races that allow for success many times although that's a little tougher to apply to a 3 week stage race. Not that GTs are relevant to this type of race. The fact that they aren't would explain why guys like Bernal enjoy them and do well; they're not saving anything for tomorrow.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

his attacks in strade actually reminded me of his attacks vs Nino Schurter in the MTB world cup season in 2019. Same thing.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

his attacks in strade actually reminded me of his attacks vs Nino Schurter in the MTB world cup season in 2019. Same thing.

I heard he was 3kg lighter now than last year. I assume that also made quite a difference. Do you know how much lighter he was during MTB season compared to CX or classics? One of the things that i've always found fascinating was the fact that there seemed to be a discrepancy between his climbing efforts in CX and those in MTB.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

his attacks in Strade actually reminded me of his attacks vs Nino Schurter in the MTB world cup season in 2019. Same thing.

Yeah; I actually went and watched them back; they're both on YouTube RedBull channel.....In both races they were well ahead of 3rd place and were going for it; but in both cases he just went BANG!! - race over! And dropping Nino.......

 

[tobydawq]

This, and he couldn't allow that some Steppers and that duo from Alpecin come back to the front.

There were no Steppers in that group.

 

[Blanco]

There were no Steppers in that group.

No, but Van Aert did the most pulling at the first part of Sante Marie, where Asgreen, Stybar and co were not that far behind. I think steppers collective strength was maybe the biggest fear of all...

 

[tobydawq]

No, but Van Aert did the most pulling at the first part of Sante Marie, where Asgreen, Stybar and co were not that far behind. I think steppers collective strength was maybe the biggest fear of all...

Probably true.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I heard he was 3kg lighter now than last year. I assume that also made quite a difference. Do you know how much lighter he was during MTB season compared to CX or classics? One of the things that i've always found fascinating was the fact that there seemed to be a discrepancy between his climbing efforts in CX and those in MTB.

I think he was around 72kg in MTB, from what i've heard.
I think he also simply climbs better on a mountainbike than on a cross bike (on longer climbs), why idk. Maybe MTB just suits him better when climbing?

 

[Winnen]

I think he was around 72kg in MTB, from what i've heard.
I think he also simply climbs better on a mountainbike than on a cross bike (on longer climbs), why idk. Maybe MTB just suits him better when climbing?

What I found strange is that VDP claimed to be losing weight when starting to train for cylco cross due to the higher intensity (when he started his first cyclo cross race this year people were impressed by his physique), but Wout has just spend 3 weeks on a mountain to lose weight that he gained during cyclo cross. Just the opposite.

Maybe, he is even lighter when training for MTB?

 

[jaylew]

Strade Bianche 🏆 | Strava

View Mathieu van der Poel's ride on March 6, 2021 | Strava

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I obviously race at a much lower level but those numbers are depressing seeing as we're basically the exact same height and weight.

 

[senna6541]

Not sure why some folks here are surprised (talking about his weight, etc.) about MVDP's performance. This was MVDP on form , doing MVDP type things when on form. Last year was the ultimate anomaly due to covid, and no one's schedule was more disrupted than MVDP's - trying to juggle three disciplines and all. If you are talking road, get last fall's SB and SR out of your head, and think back to races like RVV, BP, AG, and Britain from 2019. It's not like he just won a mountain stage at the TDF.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

No and I keep saying 2020 Mathieu was never in 2019 AGR shape.
Even the Mathieu that won RVV 2020 was not 100% his best.

Which is quite telling of his level, being in less shape and still able to top 15 MSR, Strade, top 10 lombardia, 6th in LBL (after BB solo) etc. But... I never felt it was his flashy 2019 self.

 

[Fernandez]

MVDP fandom is the new Sagan fandom

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

well they are very alike. Off road background. Crazy explosiveness, attractive but kinda stupid racing.

But, one comparison I think Sagan was never instantly good in 250km+ classics. He always seemed to struggle there. I don't have that with VDP or WVA for instance

 

[tobydawq]

well they are very alike. Off road background. Crazy explosiveness, attractive but kinda stupid racing.

But, one comparison I think Sagan was never instantly good in 250km+ classics. He always seemed to struggle there. I don't have that with VDP or WVA for instance

To be fair, he was younger when he tried those for the first time. At 22, he would have won MSR if it wasn't for his stupid captain Nibali and at 23 he was second in both MSR and Flanders. And 6th on a very hard World's course.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah that's true, and he still had to contend with Boonen and Cancellara when he was young. Not exactly easy.

 

[topcat]

To be fair, he was younger when he tried those for the first time. At 22, he would have won MSR if it wasn't for his stupid captain Nibali and at 23 he was second in both MSR and Flanders. And 6th on a very hard World's course.

Nibali 1 Sagan 0