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

[jmdirt]

Congrats MVdP!

 

[Pantani_lives]

He wins the Tour of Flanders and the GP Wallonie in the same year, and that for a Dutchman.

 

[senna6541]

Presumably you are referring to him dusting Pog at the end of Flanders. Evidently WvA isn't the only one MvdP can psych out, because Pog was clearly the strongest rider that day and, as we saw in Liege before and more recently in Montreal, Tadej can make a really good sprint at the end of a long, hard race.

It will be interesting to see whose got more left in the tank at the end of Worlds, while, as we have seen before in England, sometimes MvdP does run out of gas on these really long and demanding circuits. Then you have to wonder what having a Vuelta in his legs is going to mean for Remco. Will he be spent or flying? If the latter then between him and WvA, Belgium has two very dangerous cards to play and that's going to be a lot to handle for the other guys. Unfortunately, Evenepoel is also doing the TT and we saw where that left WvA after he challenged in the TT on the Leuven circuit. So it's risky for the road race.

MVDP simply bonked at '19 Worlds. Didn't get enough calories/carbs in those uniquely *** conditions. Can't think of any other cases where the distance has been a problem. As for Flanders this year, watch the finish footage again and tell me if you really think Pogi could have beaten MVDP straight up. He had his chance on the Paterberg, but MVPD has a unique ability to go a bit deeper when he smells the finish line. Race was over at the top of that climb and MVDP was never going to be dropped there.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I must admit, I find it bizarre; he's had one high profile race where he faded late on. We know why, it's old news, it hasn't really happened since.
His only issue is lack of fitness/ hard racing...but only he will know if he's done enough. Which is why he's still in Europe and racing today.....

 

[stonerider]

I think he leaves it too late when traveling to these high profile, far away races. He was probably the last XCO racer to arrive at the Olympic venue in China and we know how that turned out. He's not giving his body time to properly adjust to the time change which causes him to make bad decisions.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

I think he leaves it too late when traveling to these high profile, far away races. He was probably the last XCO racer to arrive at the Olympic venue in China and we know how that turned out. He's not giving his body time to properly adjust to the time change which causes him to make bad decisions.

Is he still riding the mixed ITT on Wednesday ? Seems like weird prep.

 

[Billie]

I think he leaves it too late when traveling to these high profile, far away races. He was probably the last XCO racer to arrive at the Olympic venue in China and we know how that turned out. He's not giving his body time to properly adjust to the time change which causes him to make bad decisions.

he does not like being in a hotel way before a race.

 

[tobydawq]

Is he still riding the mixed ITT on Wednesday ? Seems like weird prep.

Yes, he says so in this long interview:

Mathieu van der Poel: "Pas anderhalve week geleden definitief beslist over WK-deelname"

Interview Mathieu van der Poel is klaar voor het WK. Hij heeft een poos getwijfeld of hij wel naar Australië zou afreizen, maar anderhalve week geleden heeft hij de knoop doorgehakt. “Omdat de vorm goed is en ik denk dat ik daar iets kan betekenen. Al zal het allemaal moeten meezitten. Maar dat...

www.wielerflits.nl

 

[dazaau]

he does not like being in a hotel way before a race.

Sure, but it's a long way to Australia. His body will be smashed by the time difference. If I were him I'd be here by now. Wout is. What good can another little race in Europe really do?

I love MvdP, but he often makes decisions that leave me scratching my head (like doing two grand tours in a row after avoiding them for years). But it's part of him keeping it so interesting I suppose

 

[Didinho]

He won't race tomorrow. Bad weather this week, no risks for the WC.
Just one last training session.

 

[search]

sounds reasonable. Although he'll probably never again get the chance to do a race which finishes only 20k away from the airport he plans to depart from anyway

 

[Ricco']

sounds reasonable. Although he'll probably never again get the chance to do a race which finishes only 20k away from the airport he plans to depart from anyway

Was he supposed to fly to Australia tomorrow or on sunday? From the excerpt that I read it sound like he antecipated in a day the travel.

 

[Didinho]

Was he supposed to fly to Australia tomorrow or on sunday? From the excerpt that I read it sound like he antecipated in a day the travel.

He would normally fly a couple hours after the race tomorrow, so I think he will just take the same plane as planned

 

[Wyndbrook]

he does not like being in a hotel way before a race.

Maybe he should make himself 'like it'.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

He's withdrawn from the Primus Classic, citing that the forecasted bad weather makes it risky.

 

[search]

Was he supposed to fly to Australia tomorrow or on sunday? From the excerpt that I read it sound like he antecipated in a day the travel.

He would normally fly a couple hours after the race tomorrow, so I think he will just take the same plane as planned

yeah, I think so too. The Swiss team had to fly in Eco because late upgrades would have cost 10000 Euro, so I guess it doesn't make much sense to do any changes.

In the Wielerflits interview he said Saturday evening from Brussel, via Dubai. That flight leaves at 21:45 and he arrives in Sydney on Monday in the morning.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Now that is nice… Mathieu skipped Primus Classic, he feared to get a cold or to crash, a week before WC RR.

Did Mathieu then stop in Barbados, on his way to Australia? He seems to have become National RR Champion there, on Sunday:

National Championships Barbados ME - Road Race 2022 One day race results

Gregory Vanderpool is the winner of National Championships Barbados ME - Road Race 2022, before Jamol Eastmond and Joshua Kelly.

www.procyclingstats.com

Changed his name slightly… lol gg

Just like VDB entered a Gran Fondo or something like that in Italy, subscribing as Francesco del Ponte…

Only joking, but who knows?

 

[Ricco']

After a hunger knock in Yorkshire and a missing plank in Tokyo now a stuck chain and a random crash getting in the way of a medal in a major competition (it's mixed relay I know, but a World Championship medal nonetheless). Thank god I didn't bother to wake up early to watch it as I did in Tokyo.

Let's see what sunday's road race has in store.

 

[BR2]

After a hunger knock in Yorkshire and a missing plank in Tokyo now a stuck chain and a random crash getting in the way of a medal in a major competition (it's mixed relay I know, but a World Championship medal nonetheless). Thank god I didn't bother to wake up early to watch it as I did in Tokyo.

Let's see what sunday's road race has in store.

He looked strong today, honestly. I heard the commentators say there are two basic possibilities to deal with the jet lag - arrive really early or arrive really late. Just not in between which they thought the worst. No idea.
Anyway, today at least he looked in good condition.

 

[42x16ss]

Good condition? He's looking as lean and mean as I've ever seen him. He means business these WCs from the look of him.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He's certainly gonna be in the final. That could be like Leuven 2021, good, but not great. Or hopefully more like spring 2022, great after a long absence. It's a total guess

 

[Blanco]

He's gonna win on Sunday. I call it now.

 

[Big Doopie]

He's gonna win on Sunday. I call it now.

i already called it a while back. Boom. Haha.

 

[sir fly]

He's gonna win on Sunday. I call it now.

i already called it a while back. Boom. Haha.

But who's gonna be outsprinted?

 

[gerundium]

But who's gonna be outsprinted?

bettiol and cosnefroy in 3 up sprint.