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

[Axel Hangleck]

At long last has the shared most monuments in his own family.

Well he's equal with his father - but one behind if you include Poupou.....

 

[Ripper]

Great racing!

 

[Red Rick]

Still hit 1400 W in that sprint

 

[Mick Dundee]

This year, VDP is the number one favorite for Flanders. He'll be sunday at top level, he is much fresher than his rivals (Van Aert, Asgreen), has more explosivity. The only question is Pogacar. He will be good. But the lack of experience will play tricks on him. I don't think Pogacar will dare to attack from afar this time. And VDP loose on the Patersberg, I don't think so. And in a sprint with two or three, I don't think Pogacar will beat VDP. But all is possible, like last year.

Good call last Tuesday btw

 

[Lequack]

I wonder if at some point he will start getting the Sagan treatment, like when poeple just didn't want to come to the line with him anymore, because Sagan would always win.

 

[KZD]

It would be amazing if Van der Poel followed this win with a double on Roubaix in two weeks time

 

[Red Rick]

He confirmed he's starting in the AGR.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Good call last Tuesday btw

I don't think it was a good call. Van Aert was in absolute top shape with the better team - if he raced today, he would be favored more than Mathieu who I dont think has reached his absolute peak shape yet this year. Not saying he wouldn't have won, but its always easy to say good call after the no. 1 favorite gets the Rona.

Anyways, incredible performance today. A super memorable race for me. I hope he can get his 3rd and eventually the mythical 4th win in the future. Favourite for Amstel and Roubaix, obviously

 

[Red Rick]

I wonder if at some point he will start getting the Sagan treatment, like when poeple just didn't want to come to the line with him anymore, because Sagan would always win.

He and Van Aert have shared that position a few times.

But in de Ronde and PR Sagan hasn't had many near misses actually, and I think VdP and WvA are both better than Sagan in these races.

 

[Ripper]

Obviously none of us know what his actual body weight is right now, but he looks a bit lighter than his typical. I suspect that helps him in a race like Flanders as well as AGR. Not sure if it will make a difference for him in Paris Roubaix.

 

[Netserk]

The only spring Roubaix he rode that wasn't a near miss was in 2010.

 

[Red Rick]

The only spring Roubaix he rode that wasn't a near miss was in 2010.

Who are you talking about?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I was also very surprised by Madouas here. Basically all the top 4 are reasonably good climbers or better.

I wonder how much modern material has to do with this. Wider tyres, advances in gearing... How much of a difficulty or specialty is cobbles?

 

[tobydawq]

Who are you talking about?

Sagan.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I don't think it was a good call. Van Aert was in absolute top shape with the better team - if he raced today, he would be favored more than Mathieu who I dont think has reached his absolute peak shape yet this year. Not saying he wouldn't have won, but its always easy to say good call after the no. 1 favorite gets the Rona.

Anyways, incredible performance today. A super memorable race for me. I hope he can get his 3rd and eventually the mythical 4th win in the future. Favourite for Amstel and Roubaix, obviously

the numbers VDP did in 2022 were better than i n2021 according to strava. And in that RVV he dropped Van Aert.
So IDK. Yes Van Aert looked amazing last few weeks. But Van Aert has often looked amazing leading up to a big race, only to not be that amazing when the day comes around.

 

[Netserk]

Sagan.

Gotta contribute with a Red Rick-ish take.

 

[Netserk]

the numbers VDP did in 2022 were better than i n2021 according to strava. And in that RVV he dropped Van Aert.
So IDK. Yes Van Aert looked amazing last few weeks. But Van Aert has often looked amazing leading up to a big race, only to not be that amazing when the day comes around.

Given that you made the comparison to 2021, maybe look at Van Aert in E3.

 

[Red Rick]

I wonder how much modern material has to do with this. Wider tyres, advances in gearing... How much of a difficulty or specialty is cobbles?

I think lower rolling resistance already benefits lighter riders. And I also think the super heavy weight riders will be dead weight outside of Roubaix.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

VDP also confirms that this was his best RVV concerning wattages he ever did.
So better than 2019/2020. For people who doubted

 

[Valv.Piti]

Doesnt necessarily mean he is stronger than those years. If Pogacar raced those editions like he did today, the wattages would be higher most likely - he basically just followed a motorbike on the climbs shared the workload on the flats. And how about 2021?

I still think he can get slightly better. It doesnt make sense that this is his absolute peak shape to me.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Doesnt necessarily mean he is stronger than those years. If Pogacar raced those editions like he did today, the wattages would be higher most likely - he basically just followed a motorbike on the climbs shared the workload on the flats. And how about 2021?

I still think he can get slightly better. It doesnt make sense that this is his absolute peak shape to me.

i already compared it to 2021 and 2022 was better

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Doesnt necessarily mean he is stronger than those years. If Pogacar raced those editions like he did today, the wattages would be higher most likely - he basically just followed a motorbike on the climbs shared the workload on the flats. And how about 2021?

I still think he can get slightly better. It doesnt make sense that this is his absolute peak shape to me.

2022 RVV was comparable to Strade Bianchi 2021 in terms of performance from what I saw on Strava

 

[Red Rick]

Now I really want compilations of climbing times in Vlaanderen mostly on the Koppenberg and the Kwaremont/Pater combos.

We obviously have the context that some races were done more aggressively than others.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Aight DT, but maybe Im old fashioned or straight dumb, but that doesn't tell me that much. Theres a lot of context missing even though stuff like watts, climbing times etc. matter, but I think its a lot easier to compare longer climbs in GTs than a classic such as RVV

 

[tobydawq]

I'm pretty sure his wattages on the stretch from the one kilometre to go banner to 250 metres before the line were some of the worst he has ever done.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I'm pretty sure his wattages on the stretch from the one kilometre to go banner to 250 metres before the line were some of the worst he has ever done.

he dropped to 200w before the sprint yeah