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

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yeah you might be right, Alaphilippe did become even stronger than 2019.

My only question is if MvdP can hold or even improve this form until Roubaix. That will be interesting to see.

 

[limak_]

It's quite possible it was a better performance by MvdP than Alaf in 2019, i was never saying it wasn't, i was simply saying that to me it was clear that Alaphilippe wasn't on the same level he was in 2019. Overall climbing time being faster now is no proof that he was.

I was addressing more to Dekker_Tifosi's point of view but it seems we agree that climbing times doesn't say that much about the racing level.

What's also worth pointing out, is that MVDP played it out very smartly today. When WVA and JA pushed hard on the front on the earlier ascents, Mathieu kept it calm in their wheels, saving his strengths for those two extraordinary attacks at the last part of the race.

 

[Sciatic]

Just for context, MVDP said in his post-race interview ( the one in English) that he knew Ala didn’t have great legs heading into the final climb.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yeah you might be right, Alaphilippe did become even stronger than 2019.

My only question is if MvdP can hold or even improve this form until Roubaix. That will be interesting to see.

Well... if he can improve on this form, the competition doesn't even have to bother showing up. I assume he'll be able to hold it long enough for the rest of the classics. I would hope the others will improve.

I was addressing more to Dekker_Tifosi's point of view but it seems we agree that climbing times doesn't say that much about the racing level.

What's also worth pointing out, is that MVDP played it out very smartly today. When WVA and JA pushed hard on the front on the earlier ascents, Mathieu kept it calm in their wheels, saving his strengths for those two extraordinary attacks.

I know, i was simply saying how/where the debate originated.

 

[Pantani_lives]

He has an exceptional combination of flat sprinting, uphill sprinting, flat pushing, uphill pushing, peddling, stomping, cyclocrossing, mountainbiking, road racing, tactical racing, impulsive racing, long attacks, short attacks and winning.

In other words he's just very good.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

i'm just happy to be alive in this era, where you can see riders such as Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Pogacar, Bernal, Evenepoel etc.

Blessed! And we can see them for years hopefully

 

[Red Rick]

Climbing times can quite often be a decent indicator if wind direction is well known and the race is always similar beforehand.

In Strade Bianche however, it should be pretty worthless

 

[Blanco]

I thought I would wait very, very long to see bigger talent then Valverde and Sagan...

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I thought I would wait very, very long to see bigger talent then Valverde and Sagan...

I know, right!? Let's hope he recovers completely from his crash in Lombardia!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

If Evenepoel gets back to his level from before the crash that's another complete alien yeah.

 

[jmdirt]

i'm just happy to be alive in this era, where you can see riders such as Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Pogacar, Bernal, Evenepoel etc.

Blessed! And we can see them for years hopefully

Why no mention of me?

 

[jmdirt]

I assume that most have read the interesting bit about his bike? Yesterday I posted about that, but didn't expect them to drill holes in the frame to make a different bar/stem work.

 

[Publiuszam]

i'm just happy to be alive in this era, where you can see riders such as Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Pogacar, Bernal, Evenepoel etc.

Blessed! And we can see them for years hopefully

Riders come and go. I said about the same thing about some riders way back when

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Put him in the Olympic omnium, and the Dutch squad for the radball world cup events this year. And the Artistic Cycling World Championships fall nicely between the road and CX seasons. Let's see if he really can do everything.

 

[RedheadDane]

Put him in the Olympic omnium, and the Dutch squad for the radball world cup events this year. And the Artistic Cycling World Championships fall nicely between the road and CX seasons. Let's see if he really can do everything.

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

 

[Oldermanish]

Yeah you might be right, Alaphilippe did become even stronger than 2019.

My only question is if MvdP can hold or even improve this form until Roubaix. That will be interesting to see.

I wonder if he can diesel out his effort like that. It's more than a long CX race and requires huge amounts of luck.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

i don't think that's the question. He can win Roubaix. But i'm not sure if it's this year. 5 weeks is a long time to keep such form

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

i don't think that's the question. He can win Roubaix. But i'm not sure if it's this year. 5 weeks is a long time to keep such form

Van Aert showed last year that 5 weeks is not a problem if managed well. Of course he CAN win Roubaix this year. That doesn't mean that he will. It's a race where a lot can happen, and even the best man doesn't always win (like van Aert didn't win in 2019).

 

[hayneplane]

Just for context, MVDP said in his post-race interview ( the one in English) that he knew Ala didn’t have great legs heading into the final climb.

I don’t actually think that is true (clearly MVDP felt that and said it) as I genuinely think that was a very very good version of Alaphillipe but MVDP is simply better.

 

[Bonimenier]

I don’t actually think that is true (clearly MVDP felt that and said it) as I genuinely think that was a very very good version of Alaphillipe but MVDP is simply better.

Best Alaphilippe we ever saw

 

[Sciatic]

I don’t actually think that is true (clearly MVDP felt that and said it) as I genuinely think that was a very very good version of Alaphillipe but MVDP is simply better.

I have no idea, I just know that’s what he said immediately post-race.

 

[LuchAlaph]

I don’t actually think that is true (clearly MVDP felt that and said it) as I genuinely think that was a very very good version of Alaphillipe but MVDP is simply better.

I think it is a bit early to say that MVDP Is better than Alaphilippe. He is better in this kind of race that for sure, Strade is the perfect race for MVDP like FW is the perfect race for Alaphilippe.
I'm waiting to see what happens in the Poggio, if MVDP drop Alaphilippe then yes we can say that MVDP is better.

 

[SafeBet]

Be prepared cause the Poggio climbing record might fall after a long time.

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

I noticed it was Van Aert who was doing the forcing and most of the work a few dozen of km from the finish. Later, he got help from Ala and later also from Van der Poel. That was a big mistake from Van Aert. As he en we knew it was his first competition. I don't think Van Aert could have won the race. But by riding more on reserves, he had made it through to the final climb.

 

[Bonimenier]

I noticed it was Van Aert who was doing the forcing and most of the work a few dozen of km from the finish. Later, he got help from Ala and later also from Van der Poel. That was a big mistake from Van Aert. As he en we knew it was his first competition. I don't think Van Aert could have won the race. But by riding more on reserves, he had made it through to the final climb.

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.