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

[Ricco']

MVDP renewed with Alpecin towards the end of 2025. He will be 30 when this contract ends.

 

[Monte Serra]

Four more years for MvdP at Alpecin-Fenix:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1434433553027174404

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/AlpecinFenix/status/1434433553027174404

 

[tobydawq]

Have a feeling the news on Monday will be season over. Guess I'll save some money on streaming subscriptions for a few months and maybe get a bit more done around the house the day of the WC and PR. Best to rest and comeback at 100% - wouldn't be MVDP if he could no longer pull of the mindbending stuff like '19 RVV, AG, Tour Brit, Namur, '20 BB, '21 SB, TA, TDF, etc., etc. The dude is wired to win - or go down in flames trying. This is one time he needs to listen to his old man.

You won't watch PR because Van der Poel won't start? Not a fan of cycling, I see.

 

[senna6541]

You won't watch PR because Van der Poel won't start? Not a fan of cycling, I see.

Not much for watching stuff. Keep up with all sports, but won't be sitting on my ass all weekend watching college and NFL games, etc. That said, I did enjoy watching the UCI XC MTB race on Redbull today - helluva race. The WC and PR this year w/o Van der Poel are just not the same. MVDP just brings a different element to any bike race he lines up for.

 

[Bonimenier]

Not much for watching stuff. Keep up with all sports, but won't be sitting on my ass all weekend watching college and NFL games, etc. That said, I did enjoy watching the UCI XC MTB race on Redbull today - helluva race. The WC and PR this year w/o Van der Poel are just not the same. MVDP just brings a different element to any bike race he lines up for.

A PR without van der Poel is still a more exciting race than pretty much every other race (with van der Poel) though.

 

[Bolder]

Extending with Alpecin, yeah or nay? I think he's already brought the team up a few notches. Can they get a few more classics support riders?

 

[Billie]

He will race on Sunday the Ports Classic and afterwards they will decide about the other races. The team says he has been training recently.

 

[Ripper]

He will race on Sunday the Ports Classic and afterwards they will decide about the other races. The team says he has been training recently.

Hard to see it without details of the injury, but in general I don't think that's a good idea. Feeling better from a disc herniation does not mean recovered.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I think this is more Mathieu's ambition speaking than anything else. He wants to try. I think up until the Tour he had a very good road season. Sure he lost RVV which was a bit of a bummer, but other than that it was very good. And without riding Worlds/Worlds MTB/Paris Roubaix it would feel like missing the cake on top of the season.

But if Antwerp feeling isn't good I think he should really stop for this season and rest up and start training for CX

 

[senna6541]

Well, which damn streaming service do I need now to watch the f'ing "Port Classic"?

 

[DaLong]

Well, which damn streaming service do I need now to watch the f'ing "Port Classic"?

It's available on GCN+ everywhere except Belgium.

 

[senna6541]

It's available on GCN+ everywhere except Belgium.

Thanks DaLong. Got that one, and enjoyed watching an American get a big win on it today!

 

[Axel Hangleck]

He will race on Sunday the Ports Classic and afterwards they will decide about the other races. The team says he has been training recently.

Wasn't it more a case of 'riding not training, with no big interval efforts?' One presumes this is to see were he is - and decide afterwards.

 

[Ricco']

Wasn't it more a case of 'riding not training, with no big interval efforts?' One presumes this is to see were he is - and decide afterwards.

Afaik he was always able to ride and when forcing the pace or going for large sessions the back pain appeared. From the team annoucement they say that for the past week he is been training stable, so I assume the situation improved and he is now able to do more intense training sessions.

 

[glassmoon]

Afaik he was always able to ride and when forcing the pace or going for large sessions the back pain appeared. From the team annoucement they say that for the past week he is been training stable, so I assume the situation improved and he is now able to do more intense training sessions.

It's all speculation until the test race though... I'm afraid that at some point of his career the surgery might actually be necessary. Hopefully not though.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

I doubt the crash helped, but it seems like an ongoing issue.....

However, I do laugh at the 'internet experts' who have immediately assumed he needs to drop MTB, and concentrate on the road.

The problem is he combines three disciplines, not two. And he is mixing road and mountainbike (and vice-versa) and he changes seat (saddle) position too often.

 

[glassmoon]

The problem is he combines three disciplines, not two. And he is mixing road and mountainbike (and vice-versa) and he changes seat (saddle) position too often.

well... apparently he plans to continue with it at least till Paris 2024 so it most likely isn't the culprit here.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

well... apparently he plans to continue with it at least till Paris 2024 so it most likely isn't the culprit here.

We'll see. In the meantime, he is already 26 and sees great opportunities pass him by. And he mortgages his sporting career. Whether that is cyclocross together with road cycling (perfect to combine). Or road cycling with mountain biking ( difficult, because mostly in the same season). But combining the three disciplines ? No way. It can work one or two seasons..... to go wrong at the end. One has one body, one has one life. Van de poel doesn't seem to be aware of that.

 

[memyselfandI]

We'll see. In the meantime, he is already 26 and sees great opportunities pass him by. And he mortgages his sporting career. Whether that is cyclocross together with road cycling (perfect to combine). Or road cycling with mountain biking ( difficult, because mostly in the same season). But combining the three disciplines ? No way. It can work one or two seasons..... to go wrong at the end. One has one body, one has one life. Van de poel doesn't seem to be aware of that.

Well he's already achieved wins and goals that over 99% of pro cyclists will never reach.

 

[Rackham]

I doubt the crash helped, but it seems like an ongoing issue.....

However, I do laugh at the 'internet experts' who have immediately assumed he needs to drop MTB, and concentrate on the road.

I usually wouldn't comment because I haven't exactly followed MvdP's career all that closely, but as a spectator I saw him put in a monster TT in the Tour de France... when he'd never even trained before. He literally lost only one second on Wout van Aert & finished 31 seconds behind the winner of the day (over 27km). His only homework was staying up until midnight the night before working on his position.

Point being: this guy is a monster & has untapped potential. How many (even among his fans) would have believed he could TT before the Tour?

So I can see why some people might see the extracurricular mountain bike stuff as surplus to requirements in his career because it really doesn't bring as much glory as la petite-reine aka road racing.

Just my opinion, i.e. a guy who can methodically destroy everyone on all terrains & even TT (on instinct almost) is some kind of once in a generation talent who could probably aim really, really high. I mean no disrespect to Tom Pidcock, but even van der Poel's Olympics crash occurred in an discipline which I wouldn't place anywhere near as high as a Tour de France TT stage in terms of importance in a career.

Road >>>>> all.

 

[DaLong]

I usually wouldn't comment because I haven't exactly followed MvdP's career all that closely, but as a spectator I saw him put in a monster TT in the Tour de France... when he'd never even trained before. He literally lost only one second on Wout van Aert & finished 31 seconds behind the winner of the day (over 27km). His only homework was staying up until midnight the night before working on his position.

Point being: this guy is a monster & has untapped potential. How many (even among his fans) would have believed he could TT before the Tour?

So I can see why some people might see the extracurricular mountain bike stuff as surplus to requirements in his career because it really doesn't bring as much glory as la petite-reine aka road racing.

Just my opinion, i.e. a guy who can methodically destroy everyone on all terrains & even TT (on instinct almost) is some kind of once in a generation talent who could probably aim really, really high. I mean no disrespect to Tom Pidcock, but even van der Poel's Olympics crash occurred in an discipline which I wouldn't place anywhere near as high as a Tour de France TT stage in terms of importance in a career.

Road >>>>> all.

Absolutely agree. That's why I said originally as long as he's okay for WR/RR I don't care. Having said that, I was thinking today with the news of Paris 2024 that we may have to start to accept he may not be the road legend he might've been if he specialized, and it could very well be that person is already in front of us, a Mr. Wout van Aert.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Wout van Aert will be the road legend.

VDP will never 100% commit to it so I don't see him reaching the same highs. He'll have some nice classic wins and maybe a world championship at some point (never guaranteed ofcourse) but I don't think he'll reach the sheer amount and diversity in wins Van Aert will. Not when he is still betting on 3 horses

 

[Open Horizon]

Wout van Aert will be the road legend.

VDP will never 100% commit to it so I don't see him reaching the same highs. He'll have some nice classic wins and maybe a world championship at some point (never guaranteed ofcourse) but I don't think he'll reach the sheer amount and diversity in wins Van Aert will. Not when he is still betting on 3 horses

Van Aert is a physical and mental monster. No question he'll end up with a bigger road palmares than Van der Poel....but here's an interesting fact to consider:

In how many of Van Aert's 10 victories this season, did he outrace Van der Poel?

Answer: none, really.

in 8 of his 10 wins VdP wasn't even present. The remaining two were stage wins in Tirreno (a classic bunch sprint and TT) where VdP didn't bother.

Meanwhile, Van der Poel has directly beaten Van Aert this season to win:

World Championships CX
Strade Bianche
Tirreno uphill sprint
Tirreno Castelfidardo
Mur de Bretagne

Keeping the yellow jersey in the Tdf TT was a moral win for VdP too. Add E3 and Flanders, where he dropped Van Aert, and well; for all Wout's incredible achievements, the 1 vs 1 balance is still heavily in Van der Poel's favour this season.

 

[DaLong]

Wout van Aert will be the road legend.

VDP will never 100% commit to it so I don't see him reaching the same highs. He'll have some nice classic wins and maybe a world championship at some point (never guaranteed ofcourse) but I don't think he'll reach the sheer amount and diversity in wins Van Aert will. Not when he is still betting on 3 horses

I totally think you're right. The dilemma for me now is, as much as MvdP is a favorite of mine, do I start to root for WvA over him so that MvdP doesn't steal any (more) of his potentially great amount of victories? I think that might be the case...

 

[senna6541]

Yep, WVA wins everything on the road, except when he has to go straight up against MVDP - then he turns very human and gets beat much more often than not (whether on the road or CX) - just like everyone else. WVA is tremendous in his own way, but for my money MVDP is just different - a true maverick.