• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

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

Page 22 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Re:

Deserved win. He was the strongest in the race. Maybe Jungels was on par, but if Bob wanted to win, he had to force Mathieu to go after Benoot. No way he was going to win a sprint against Mathieu.

Valv.Piti said:
Apparantly Lefevre was asked whether he liked Mathieu or van Aert the best and the said Mathieu since he was more of a winner. I think thats a very sound, yet simple analysis. Amazing kick he had in the sprint.

He was asked this question by Vannieuwkerke. His respons was "That's a dirty question. *pauses* But i think i'd have to go with Mathieu in the end. Because he's more of a winner."

I don't agree with that last part, because "being a winner" usually refers to a mental state. And i think mentally Wout is every bit as strong as Mathieu, or more. But Mathieu simply has a better sprint and punch. So he will win more and more easily. In that sense it's correct. He's more of a winner because he wins more, but not because he's mentally more of a winner than Wout. Imho.

He also said he was in talks with Wout to join DQS before he joined Jumbo Visma, but that he didn't want to risk anything due to Wout's legal issues with his former team.
 
Re: Re:

He was asked this question by Vannieuwkerke. His respons was "That's a dirty question. *pauses* But i think i'd have to go with Mathieu in the end. Because he's more of a winner."

I don't agree with that last part, because "being a winner" usually refers to a mental state. And i think mentally Wout is every bit as strong as Mathieu, or more. But Mathieu simply has a better sprint and punch. So he will win more and more easily. In that sense it's correct. He's more of a winner because he wins more, but not because he's mentally more of a winner than Wout. Imho.

He also said he was in talks with Wout to join DQS before he joined Jumbo Visma, but that he didn't want to risk anything due to Wout's legal issues with his former team.

Though I agree with the mental aspect, I think the "so he will win more and more easily" part is what most teams will look at at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, Wout's mentality is what I love most about him. I mean, look at what he's been going through regarding his contract issues and he STILL produces these types of results. So consistent, so strong, but Mathieu simply wins more. Wout will, more often than not, have to either come solo, or make sure he's in a group with rider's he's confident he can take on in a sprint. I'm a fan of both Wout and Mathie, which is possible if you're neither Dutch nor Belgian I suppose. ;)
 
Re: Re:

Mavic said:
He was asked this question by Vannieuwkerke. His respons was "That's a dirty question. *pauses* But i think i'd have to go with Mathieu in the end. Because he's more of a winner."

I don't agree with that last part, because "being a winner" usually refers to a mental state. And i think mentally Wout is every bit as strong as Mathieu, or more. But Mathieu simply has a better sprint and punch. So he will win more and more easily. In that sense it's correct. He's more of a winner because he wins more, but not because he's mentally more of a winner than Wout. Imho.

He also said he was in talks with Wout to join DQS before he joined Jumbo Visma, but that he didn't want to risk anything due to Wout's legal issues with his former team.

Though I agree with the mental aspect, I think the "so he will win more and more easily" part is what most teams will look at at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, Wout's mentality is what I love most about him. I mean, look at what he's been going through regarding his contract issues and he STILL produces these types of results. So consistent, so strong, but Mathieu simply wins more. Wout will, more often than not, have to either come solo, or make sure he's in a group with rider's he's confident he can take on in a sprint. I'm a fan of both Wout and Mathie, which is possible if you're neither Dutch nor Belgian I suppose. ;)

Well, would you have thought he would just stop training and placing himself in a corner the whole winter?

I suppose it did have a detrimental effect in the beginning of the cross season but it certainly shouldn't influence with anything now!
 
Re: Re:

Well, would you have thought he would just stop training and placing himself in a corner the whole winter?

I suppose it did have a detrimental effect in the beginning of the cross season but it certainly shouldn't influence with anything now!

Where exactly did I suggest he would stop training and place himself into a corner? Let’s not exaggerate, I think you know what I meant. Furthermore, it’s still an ongoing issue and the court date has been set for later this year. Finally, his contract issues and the fact that he’s been served has been consistently brought up in the media. In the middle of March of this year Nuyens was in the media again talking about the lawsuit and how he’s “very confident” about the case. But again, the point is not what is being said in the media, the point is that Wout has handled it extremely well in spite of it, which is something I admire.
 
Re: Re:

Mavic said:
Well, would you have thought he would just stop training and placing himself in a corner the whole winter?

I suppose it did have a detrimental effect in the beginning of the cross season but it certainly shouldn't influence with anything now!

Where exactly did I suggest he would stop training and place himself into a corner? Let’s not exaggerate, I think you know what I meant. Furthermore, it’s still an ongoing issue and the court date has been set for later this year. Finally, his contract issues and the fact that he’s been served has been consistently brought up in the media. In the middle of March of this year Nuyens was in the media again talking about the lawsuit and how he’s “very confident” about the case. But again, the point is not what is being said in the media, the point is that Wout has handled it extremely well in spite of it, which is something I admire.

Of course I exaggerated a bit but I would have been surprised if it had had a noticeable effect on his riding. He still trains like he normally does and he did ride the full cross season like usually.
 
Re:

Blanco said:
This guy is a real deal, he just has it in his DNA. If he doesn't commit himself fully on the road racing in next couple of years, it will be a big loss for RR.
I'm sure he'll be all over this road racing-thingy, after the Olympics next year. ;)
His motivation to hop on the MTB is mainly because he sees it as a better chance of winning. He's not a real climber (although he could be with only a little bit of dieting and training), so the Dutch will most likely be sending guys like Mollema, Dumoulin, Kruijswijk and Poels. Mathieu wouldn't even be in the team.
 
Re:

yaco said:
Who will be his team in 2021 - My guess is QS will make a big play.
Back in 2017 he named a few teams where he'd really like to ride. Quick-Step was one of them and, back then, his favorite. There others were Sky, FDJ and BMC.

Quick-Step is almost 1+1=2. They know him, he knows Lefevere (his father knows Lefevere), their way of racing is attractive to him too.
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
Gotta love how Dutch media are now talking about how he's more developed than Sagan at his age.

:eek:

How quickly people forget...

People also said the same of Gaviria :rolleyes:

I didn't see him winning WorldTour races two months after celebrating his 20th birthday.

And I think Sagan almost hit his peak already at 22 (or 23). Maybe not endurance-wise but he is definitely not a much better rider now than then.
 
Re: Re:

tobydawq said:
Red Rick said:
Gotta love how Dutch media are now talking about how he's more developed than Sagan at his age.

:eek:

How quickly people forget...

People also said the same of Gaviria :rolleyes:

I didn't see him winning WorldTour races two months after celebrating his 20th birthday.
True, people forget what Sagan coming onto the scene was like. No one has been as good at that age in the years since. That said, MVP has done two WT races and finished 4th and 1st which is remarkable, especially considering the races.
 
Even EBH had more of an impact at a young age than anyone I see in the current peloton (apart from Sagan obviously, although even he was being compared to EBH when he was young)

But that's not to take away from how impressive riders like MVP have been, hopefully they'll live up to their potential a la Sagan rather than a la EBH
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
Gotta love how Dutch media are now talking about how he's more developed than Sagan at his age.

Well, it's hardly surprising. It's a natural result of a nation starved of a rider who excels in a certain discipline. Terpstra has been keeping the Dutch honor high in the classics these last few years but aside from him the Netherlands is ill represented in the top bracket of riders for the |(spring) classics and has been for some time. Look at how the Belgian media hyped Evenepoel because they have been starved of a top class stage racer. In both cases the hype is merited to a certain degree, but the media will always take it one step too far.

What I do believe is that Mathieu should have made this step long ago. Not necessarily giving up CX, cause Wout and now himself, have proven that it can be combined. However, I guess in a way it's admirable that he picks his own course and doesn't waver in spite of the many comments about how he's been wasting his talent in other cycling disciplines.
 
With his grandpa, Raymond Poulidor (winner of the 1964 Vuelta a España):

82047_poludorv.jpg
 
Mar 14, 2009
3,436
0
0
Visit site
Re:

Red Rick said:
Gotta love how Dutch media are now talking about how he's more developed than Sagan at his age.

The media are still nothing compare to some blindfolded fanboys on this forum ... and obviously, I'm not talking about MVP.

That being said, being ahead of the development curve is (in most cases) just a temporary advantage, and most of those "early birds" will plateau sooner than the slow bloomers.

Also, a lot of those very young stars just can't handle it, regardless of how many "career advisors" they have around them.
 
Re: Re:

Mavic said:
Lequack said:
With his grandpa, Raymond Poulidor (winner of the 1964 Vuelta a España):

82047_poludorv.jpg

Such a great picture, is that from 2015? When Mathieu won his first senior CX world title? Mathieu looks so young there. In any case, the boy's got great genes from both sides of the family.

I think the picture is from 2016 yes. Got it for this article (translated):
https://translate.google.com/transl...47.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Route - Raymond Poulidor: "Van der Poel is good everywhere"

Recent performances by Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) impress many observers including his grandfather Raymond Poulidor . The former winner of the Tour of Spain is very attentive to the performance of the champion of the Netherlands. " He's good, is not he?" At Gent-Wevelgem, he was a bit locked in the sprint, he won and it's logical Mathieu is a real winner He is not satisfied with "Second place, and it's good all over the road and in cyclo-cross," said " Poupou " in remarks reported by Wielerflits . Raymond Poulidor also analyzed the chances of his grandson on the Tour of Flanders this Sunday. "It 's not just a race, you need the experience to win it, Mathieu has but less than some riders, and he wants to win it in the future, " he concludes.

Raymond Poulidor at the 1966 Tour de France.

800px-Raymond_Poulidor%2C_Tour_de_France_1966_%28cropped%29.jpg
 
Re: Re:

Jancouver said:
Red Rick said:
Gotta love how Dutch media are now talking about how he's more developed than Sagan at his age.

The media are still nothing compare to some blindfolded fanboys on this forum ... and obviously, I'm not talking about MVP.

That being said, being ahead of the development curve is (in most cases) just a temporary advantage, and most of those "early birds" will plateau sooner than the slow bloomers.

Also, a lot of those very young stars just can't handle it, regardless of how many "career advisors" they have around them.
I think that MVDP still ring dirt makes it easier for him to handle it.
 
benzwire said:
Nice little flick of the front wheel here. Wish I could do that at speed.

https://twitter.com/sporza/status/1113388632306540552

:lol: I love how he's just so playful on the bike. It's like the bike is an extension of himself. Great to watch, also how he did a wheelie on his way to the press conference after his win on Wednesday. There's this short video that Canyon made about him, clips from him as a kid, his achievements up to this point in the disciplines he races in, and the fact that racing is in his blood from both sides of the family, it's worth a watch. How can anyone not like this guy?
 

TRENDING THREADS