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

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Anonymous. But at least his back seems fine (on a 268km route raced full gas, he wouldn't have finished so close to the front otherwise).

And this is cycling, i.e. once he wins again elsewhere this WC will seem like old news real fast. And that applies to the other big names who came away empty handed today.
 
He probably didn't have that extra spice, but once again starting almost every climb in a bad position (at least one of the Wijnpers before the last Flandrien circuit, the last Moskestraat, the last Bekestraat) and sometimes even needing to close splits in the bunch on his own or with Mollema's help, until the select group was formed.
 
Physiologically he might be a top 3 favorite on quite the range of WC and monument routes but he's wasting so many opportunities with his horrendous positioning it stops being a meme and becomes actually sad instead.

Be that as it may, in today's race his positioning was of a lesser importance as his condition simply wasn't there so it wouldn't have made a difference as far as the results are concerned. When Mathieu is in form it's very obvious as he puts in at least 2 or 3 attacks and jumps on every wheel and doing way too much, which is also something he needs to get a hold of. That might have cost him the win in this year's RVV for example.

An in-form Mathieu would have likely been one of the very few to be able to match Alaphil's attacks today. Big missed opportunity here as the course was tailor made for him. Hope he leaves XCO behind now and gets serious about the road. Highly unlikely, I know.
 
It's obvious that he is going to have to plan his race calendar much better if he wants to be at the top of the races he enters. This jumping back and forth between road and MTB clearly isn't working for him. If he wants to keep competing in 3 disciplines, he needs to schedule dedicated blocks of time between each and with sufficient recovery after every block.
 
It's obvious that he is going to have to plan his race calendar much better if he wants to be at the top of the races he enters. This jumping back and forth between road and MTB clearly isn't working for him. If he wants to keep competing in 3 disciplines, he needs to schedule dedicated blocks of time between each and with sufficient recovery after every block.
I think that this season that schedule was particularly difficult as it was tailored to the Olympics. On top of that he had to race in the Tour as well. Regardless, I think his little adventure in XCO is nice and all, but I feel that the trade-off isn’t worth it in the end.

I feel that he’s going to rue the chances missed at the end of his career. Again, this RR WC was a great chance for him. He might never get a course as tailored to him than this one again. Now he’s empty handed; no XCO OL medal and no RR WC medal. Just a shame.
 
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I feel that he’s going to rue the chances missed at the end of his career. Again, this RR WC was a great chance for him. He might never get a course as tailored to him than this one again. Now he’s empty handed; no XCO OL medal and no RR WC medal. Just a shame.

I know. I was hoping that MvdP was the one male rider who could win a WC in all three: CX, Road, and MTB, like Pauline Prevott did. But apparently it takes a toll on the body as it eventually did with Pauline, to the point where she dropped racing road and CX and now just competes on the MTB. It would be logical for MvdP to drop MTB since the road and CX seasons work better together for a racer in that they are different seasons.
 
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I don't buy the needs to quit the MTB stuff. If not for a mental error at the Olympics he could just as easily won that race and could have been in peak form for today - in which case he would've had a helluva good chance of winning. It was very clear that he was lacking a few % and still managed a good result in a brutally hard race.
 
I agree that combining 3 disciplines is difficult but I think we saw the best MVDP ever in 2019 and in that year he combined them perfectly. But now, if he's gonna add a GT for season, it's probably more difficult to make space for MTB in the summer.

Regarding tailormade WCh courses, I think we're going to need to wait only more 2 years. Glasgow should be very similar to the one of the 2018 ECh.
 
I agree that combining 3 disciplines is difficult but I think we saw the best MVDP ever in 2019 and in that year he combined them perfectly. But now, if he's gonna add a GT for season, it's probably more difficult to make space for MTB in the summer.

Regarding tailormade WCh courses, I think we're going to need to wait only more 2 years. Glasgow should be very similar to the one of the 2018 ECh.
I think it's possible but the issue is a wear and tear it will have on you. Certainly the evidence has been time and time again that eventually there is a toll that must be paid.
 
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I agree that combining 3 disciplines is difficult but I think we saw the best MVDP ever in 2019 and in that year he combined them perfectly. But now, if he's gonna add a GT for season, it's probably more difficult to make space for MTB in the summer.

Regarding tailormade WCh courses, I think we're going to need to wait only more 2 years. Glasgow should be very similar to the one of the 2018 ECh.
I think we can see the actual "best MVDP ever" if he focussed on the road. Like I keep reiterating; there's an undeniable trade-off when focussing on 3 disciplines instead of one. Like has been mentioned before, it's taxing on the body and eventually will catch-up with you. It'd be a darn shame if that were to happen to an uber-talent like Mathieu. CX is fine because it has been proven to serve perfectly as training for the road season. It's more the XCO schedule which intertwines with the road one.

At the end of the day his legacy of doing 3 disciplines will only be remembered if, like someone already mentioned, he wins the WC in each discipline. Otherwise it'll be remembered as a "what could have been" on the road.

Of course I would love for him to achieve this goal, but he needs to evaluate at what cost he's willing to keep chasing this goal.
 
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I think we can see the actual "best MVDP ever" if he focussed on the road. Like I keep reiterating; there's an undeniable trade-off when focussing on 3 disciplines instead of one. Like has been mentioned before, it's taxing on the body and eventually will catch-up with you. It'd be a darn shame if that were to happen to an uber-talent like Mathieu. CX is fine because it has been proven to serve perfectly as training for the road season. It's more the XCO schedule which intertwines with the road one.

At the end of the day his legacy of doing 3 disciplines will only be remembered if, like someone already mentioned, he wins the WC in each discipline. Otherwise it'll be remembered as a "what could have been" on the road.

Of course I would love for him to achieve this goal, but he needs to evaluate at what cost he's willing to keep chasing this goal.
He needs to mature to fully reach his potential.
 
No, we wouldn't. Mixing disciplines keeps him motivated......only doing the most boring of the 3 would be a waste. He'd probably become jaded by the same routine.

You (and others like you) just want him to concentrate on the road.......
I know he likes to venture out in other disciplines because he doesn’t like the one or two hundred km’s before the fireworks begin in a road race. My point is that the opportunity cost might likely outweigh this multi-discipline juggle.

I’d say; winning more big races would keep him equally motivated.

At the end of the day this is just my opinion, I’m certain Mathieu will do what he wants to as he has always done. So you (and others like you) can sleep soundly knowing that he doesn’t frequent CN fora not would he take advice from a random poster on said fora. ;)
 
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The TDF was over two months ago.
He's already had 3 peaks this year: CX World Championship, Strade Bianchi/Tirreno Stage race, and the Tour de France first week. He's done for the year...stick a fork in him. He needs a couple months off to recover and work on his core fitness/back. He can come back to CX in December/January for a little CX fun and better pick his targets for next year. He can't do it all. Both he and Wout need to do a better job in managing their energy IF they want to win the big races.
 
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We didn't see any of his Strade/Mur de Bretagne spine-twisting full-body accelerations yesterday. Whether he was consciously or subconsciously holding back, I'm not sure, but he wasn't 100%, at least visually. When he is really going full gas, you can see how hard it is on his body. He put in a few digs but nothing like we're used to seeing. But yes, that he could go 260 km and be among the top 15 in the world bodes well.
 
I think that this season that schedule was particularly difficult as it was tailored to the Olympics. On top of that he had to race in the Tour as well. Regardless, I think his little adventure in XCO is nice and all, but I feel that the trade-off isn’t worth it in the end.

I feel that he’s going to rue the chances missed at the end of his career. Again, this RR WC was a great chance for him. He might never get a course as tailored to him than this one again. Now he’s empty handed; no XCO OL medal and no RR WC medal. Just a shame.
thats a bit over dramatic. Van der Poels range in one day races is much bigger than people give him credit form. In absolute top shape I'd even rate him on LBL type courses.

But he has to be in top form. And I too think in MTB it's not gonna happen for him. He's still so ridicolously good physically that he can compete with the top there despite a weight disadvantage. But it's never gonna be his top discipline. But unfortunately he's still gonna continue up until 2024.

For CX I feel no need for him to drop that. He only did like 10/15 crosses? its was already very light.
This year it was just too much with the combo Classics + MTB intermezzo + tour + MTB olympics. That kinda killed him I think.
 
thats a bit over dramatic. Van der Poels range in one day races is much bigger than people give him credit form. In absolute top shape I'd even rate him on LBL type courses.

But he has to be in top form. And I too think in MTB it's not gonna happen for him. He's still so ridicolously good physically that he can compete with the top there despite a weight disadvantage. But it's never gonna be his top discipline. But unfortunately he's still gonna continue up until 2024.

For CX I feel no need for him to drop that. He only did like 10/15 crosses? its was already very light.
This year it was just too much with the combo Classics + MTB intermezzo + tour + MTB olympics. That kinda killed him I think.
He might never get another course like this again. Nothing overdramatic about it, just facts. He might get a similar course, but not likely one that is this tailored to his strengths, simple as. I never said anything about his ability to win on different courses or his “range” as you put it.

Furthermore, I’ve said on multiple occasions that CX is perfectly combinable with RR. When I say multi-discipline I mean CXO in particular. I think CX actually helps him to not lose that explosiveness he has as well as bike-handling skills. Not to mention the steady-state interval training.
 
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He might never get another course like this again. Nothing overdramatic about it, just facts. He might get a similar course, but not likely one that is this tailored to his strengths, simple as. I never said anything about his ability to win on different courses or his “range” as you put it.

Furthermore, I’ve said on multiple occasions that CX is perfectly combinable with RR. When I say multi-discipline I mean CXO in particular. I think CX actually helps him to not lose that explosiveness he has as well as bike-handling skills. Not to mention the steady-state interval training.
Again, if he doesn't make a fluky mental (nothing to do with physical stress from racing the MTB) error at the Olympics there is no reason he wouldn't have come into the WC on absolute top form for the road WC's. It's not like he's racing that many MTB races through the year. He came off the block of MTB races late in the spring right in the Tour Swiss and was unbeatabable - then right into TDF in top form. Elite pro road racing is by far the most dangerous/wearing of the 3 disciplines - if anything, he's minimizing his chances of burnout/serious injury by not being a slave to the system.
 

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