the Dutch can always do kinda dirty thing like Slovakia in Rio (when they sent Sagan to OG) - Vader and others get the points but the federation will send MVP to the OG. It sucks but it happened before...
but time... as always... will tell
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but time... as always... will tell
The probability that MvdP will drop MTB altogether is 0%.
A 'reasonable' plan would be to make less switches between disciplines than last season, in order to give his back some respite.
There is no juicy Roubaix-Leuven combo to prepare his autumn road season for anyway, so nobody would protest if he only did MTB after the tour. There's certainly plenty of interesting options :
If you look at his 'obvious' racing blocks:
Cyclocross
December 18 - January 30 (10-12 CX races)
Prepare for spring classics
February
Spring classics
March 5 - April 17 (Strade, San Remo, E3, Ronde, Amstel, Roubaix)
Prepare for Tour
June
Tour de France
1 - 24 July (he'll seek to finish it)
that leaves open all of May as way too empty for his liking. And hey, there are two MTB World Cups in May 2022. So knowing MvdP, he'll trust in doing a few extra back stretches after breakfast and go for two MTB racing blocks:
MTB block 1
May 5 - May 22
MTB block 2
August 5 - September 4 (or 17)
A 'reasonable' plan would be to make less switches between disciplines than last season, in order to give his back some respite.
There is no juicy Roubaix-Leuven combo to prepare his autumn road season for anyway, so nobody would protest if he only did MTB after the tour. There's certainly plenty of interesting options :
- July 29-31: Snowshoe, USA (XCO/XCC)
- August 5-7: Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada (XCO/XCC)
- August 19 - MTB European Championships Munich (XCO)
- August 24–28: UCI MTB World Championships Les Gets, France (XCO/XCC)
- September 2-4: Val di Sole, Italy (XCO/XCC)
- September 17-18: UCI World Marathon MTB Val di Sole, Italy (XCO/XCC)
If you look at his 'obvious' racing blocks:
Cyclocross
December 18 - January 30 (10-12 CX races)
Prepare for spring classics
February
Spring classics
March 5 - April 17 (Strade, San Remo, E3, Ronde, Amstel, Roubaix)
Prepare for Tour
June
Tour de France
1 - 24 July (he'll seek to finish it)
that leaves open all of May as way too empty for his liking. And hey, there are two MTB World Cups in May 2022. So knowing MvdP, he'll trust in doing a few extra back stretches after breakfast and go for two MTB racing blocks:
MTB block 1
May 5 - May 22
MTB block 2
August 5 - September 4 (or 17)
Nobody would protest if he didn't go for the WCRR? Yeah, right.
*Shrugs
He skipped Imola in 2020.
If the 2022 RR is a sprinter's edition like many have suggested, Groenewegen and Jakobsen will be the Dutch leaders.
Who would want to go to Australia to race? Even their riders are staying in Europe because of the strict lockdowns. Just go ahead and give the WC jersey to Caleb Ewing because the course was designed for him anyway.
All good plans, but per usual, MVDP will do exactly what he wants to do. His huge "self-belief" is what makes him special. I'll watch any race he lines up in, minus the occasional stage race mountain stage that he'll mail in. Especially like watching races where he's a bit over his skis like Lombardia or LBL last year.
Zoef-Lightning
BANNED
....Unless his back hurts again. ....Unless he flips again. ... Unless his results are disappointing. The circumstances, but also his body will decide whether he will go through his full, overloaded program. I'm pretty sure this won't work. And after next season he will already be 28 years old.
Guessing the best bike handler in the world won't be "flipping" again anytime soon on the MTB. You'd agree that elite pro MTB is magnitudes less dangerous than elite pro road cycling, no?
Zoef-Lightning
BANNED
It's not so much about the danger. But about the overload. Mixing road and MTB during the same season...... after a winterseason CX. But I notice that vdp is already reducing its CX program more and more. I guess he will do the same wit MBK.
Hmm, I think Koreztky, Flueckinger, Schurter, and a few of the Downhill/Enduro racers may take issue with that; he's good, but lets not get carried away.
If you crash in MTB, 95-99% of the time it's because you screwed up...like MvdP at the Olympics. In road racing with a huge peloton, you can often be caught up in a crash through no fault of your own. Yes, road racing is more dangerous.
Sure, but your assumption in this case would be wrong. Mathieu has said in an interview that during training there was always a wooden ramp leaning against the rock at the Sakura Drop. Seems it was removed at some point before the MTB race and he wasn’t aware of that. So he definitely did not crash due to inferior handling skills, he just got caught by surprise positioning his bike to ride off that ramp when there was nothing there.
I'm talking about across three disciplines there's no one close. In CX, he's taking time on the rest of the best in the world in and out of every corner. He rides stuff other guys can't ride. Same thing in tough conditions on the road - see PR this year, or 2020 Lombardia when he was desperate to catch back on after the climb and caught and passed the best road descender in the world on the same technical descent that almost buried EVP. No doubt there are guys on the MTB circuit that are his equal (mostly due to experience), but those same guys would have zero chance of staying close to him in bad conditions on a technical CX course - take your pick, but Namur 2019 would be a good example.
Yeah, are there really people out there that think he actually just messed up the drop? I've seen some of that silliness on Pinkbike forums. Sometimes the MTB purists can be as bad as the road purists...
Not knowing the ramp wasn't there was the screw up.
Everyone else knew it wouldn't be there, and both the Dutch coach and Milan Vader said it was explicitly mentioned in the pre-race meetings, so either MvDP wasn't listening, or he thought he knew better and didn't check. In either case, that's screwing up.
Everyone else knew it wouldn't be there, and both the Dutch coach and Milan Vader said it was explicitly mentioned in the pre-race meetings, so either MvDP wasn't listening, or he thought he knew better and didn't check. In either case, that's screwing up.
He crashed because he screwed up, just not a bike handling skills screw up. Given the importance he stated for this goal, 'missing the memo' about the ramp was a pretty major screw up. Hopefully not the kind he makes again.
Yes he screwed up because he was too arrogant to listen to the others tell him the ramp would be removed and because he waited until the last minute to arrive at the venue. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy but he still has a lot of space to improve his mental game for bike racing. He's at the age now where he really needs to take care of his body for longevity in the sport and avoid mental lapses which lead to crashes in MTB races.
True, but it's that same "arrogance" that makes him great - and a helluva lot of fun to watch. Everyone raves about how much more exciting the racing has been over the past few years, and MVDP is more responsible than anyone for that - kicking ass in 3 disciplines, throwing caution to the wind, etc.
That doesn't mean he was too arrogant to listen. He just didn't know. A better word might be inattentive. Or he was just unlucky not to hear it. Or for some reason didn't understand.
I actually don't think he has had many other "mental" lapses, but he does have a style of racing that doesn't follow the conventional wisdom, and thank God for that. Who dares, wins, as the saying goes.
The guy has massive resilience too. That embarrassing and potentially career threatening crash at the OG would have mind f--- a lot of guys, but he comes out and absolutely tears up a very dangerous track at PR - railing through corners that everyone else was nursing their way through. That said, he does seem to get bored easily and needs to be completely switched on. Wouldn't be surprised to see him get into more extreme stuff after the cycling is done.
Bonimenier
BANNED
vdp even explicity says so. In MTB/CX you are your self in control. In the peloton just before an important point you just have to hope for the best
That's a massive exaggeration. 50% of road riders have at least one more serious crash during every single season.
But surely, Mathieu is one of the last guys that you could think of, who would show any signs of fear when riding his bike after such an event, even if that'd be much more serious one. Just hop on his bike the next day, but this is quite obvious for a guy skilled like him.
I think it helps that riders in both those disciplines are technically good; on the road, less so - in fact some are poor, and are a danger to themselves, and other riders.
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