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

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He is still leading the XC World Cup, even after the Friday evening XCC race......Would like to see him do the full World Cup, as he'd probably win it; he finished 2nd in 2019, despite missing two rounds.

Can't see him do a full MTB season ever. Or a full CX season ever again, for that matter. Both would take way too big a bite out of his road season, rest periods and altitude camps. His team, sponsors and fans want to see him blow up the TdF up every summer. No escaping that, I'm afraid.
 
Has there been any indication of when he is thinking of leaving the Tour? If he is interested in stage wins, then the latest I can see him targeting a win would be the stage to Quillan, which might be a stretch. Otherwise, I could see him being done as early as the second weekend, with the stage to Le Creusot being a decent bet for him.
 
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So Alpecin has payed tribute to the Mercier team of Raymond Poulidor. I hope he takes at least as many yellow jerseys as his grandfather!

55ceef24-d523-11eb-94b2-13dd06c997b6.jpg
 
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It's always flashes of absolute stunning brilliance combined with mediocre displays. Today was one of the first. So typical with him.

If you ask why people often rate VDP so highly it's because when he wins, it's always something like this. Attacking twice on the Mur de Bretagne. Who even comes up with that lol.

And then the day before and the NC was so mediocre. And the Tour de Suisse was brilliant again.
Brilliance / meh performances.
 
It's always flashes of absolute stunning brilliance combined with mediocre displays. Today was one of the first. So typical with him.

If you ask why people often rate VDP so highly it's because when he wins, it's always something like this. Attacking twice on the Mur de Bretagne. Who even comes up with that lol.

And then the day before and the NC was so mediocre. And the Tour de Suisse was brilliant again.
Brilliance / meh performances.
View: https://twitter.com/daniellloyd1/status/1409194428233826309?s=19
 
It's always flashes of absolute stunning brilliance combined with mediocre displays. Today was one of the first. So typical with him.

If you ask why people often rate VDP so highly it's because when he wins, it's always something like this. Attacking twice on the Mur de Bretagne. Who even comes up with that lol.

And then the day before and the NC was so mediocre. And the Tour de Suisse was brilliant again.
Brilliance / meh performances.
Except his "mediocre" is a level most professional cyclists will never see...
 
His interview today softened my heart for the guy...I've always respected the talent, but prefer the more muted attitude of van Aert. Today, he won me over a bit.

Also, Alaphilippe's comments about MVDP's win, after the stage, were pure class.

Genuine question. I just wonder how Mathieu's "attitude" is to you as opposed to Wout's "muted" attitude? He's one of the most likable guys in the pro peloton imo. Even between the riders themselves.

OT: Elated for Mathieu. Thoroughly deserved win. You can clearly see how much it means to him. Now that that huge weight is off his shoulders and he has set the record straight for his late grandpa he can start thinking about Tokio.
 
Genuine question. I just wonder how Mathieu's "attitude" is to you as opposed to Wout's "muted" attitude? He's one of the most likable guys in the pro peloton imo. Even between the riders themselves.

OT: Elated for Mathieu. Thoroughly deserved win. You can clearly see how much it means to him. Now that that huge weight is off his shoulders and he has set the record straight for his late grandpa he can start thinking about Tokio.
yep. Mathieu for some people has a attitude image, while in the interviews he is super respectful and usually downplaying his own chances even
 
Genuine question. I just wonder how Mathieu's "attitude" is to you as opposed to Wout's "muted" attitude? He's one of the most likable guys in the pro peloton imo. Even between the riders themselves.

OT: Elated for Mathieu. Thoroughly deserved win. You can clearly see how much it means to him. Now that that huge weight is off his shoulders and he has set the record straight for his late grandpa he can start thinking about Tokio.
There's a great American quote that applies to MvdP a bit: "It ain't bragging if you done it."

I think some of the criticism of him goes back to when he was pretty young - he and Wout got into some minor wars of words regarding CX, don't recall the details, but he's not recently come off to me as having an attitude...
 
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