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

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Ofc the parents/kids are at fault for setting this off.

But the larger point: You are a public figure. You need to be aware that your conduct is under scrutiny at all times.

We can rail at these kids -- and that's what they are, kids -- and their lousy parents but MvDP failed here, too, by flying off the handle. Has anyone here ever had teenagers? They are NOT adults, they don't understand very much about consequences; their brains are not yet equipped that way.

I have a teenager of that age, I was a teenager of that age, and while I know that some of them are silly like there are adults who are silly I think usually in that age they know quite well about the consequences. I don't know about the rules in other countries, but in Germany you are "strafmündig" at 14, meaning you are liable (although in reduced form) by law for a reason.

But then I was an extremely shy and serious teenager who would just never have knocked on other people's doors constantly, so maybe that's where part of my judgement comes from, too.
 
The tragedy in this case is that now Van der Poel will now be known worldwide to everyone who doesn't follow cycling as The Underwear Guy that Chases and Hits Teenage Girls. Basically even more of a clown than Wout van Aert, which no one would have thought possible just 5 days ago. Just more proof that cyclocrossists shouldn't try to think they can ride on the road.
First time reading this I thought it said 'The Underwear Guy that Chases and Hits on Teenage Girls'

I'm not sure which is worse
 
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I have a teenager of that age, I was a teenager of that age, and while I know that some of them are silly like there are adults who are silly I think usually in that age they know quite well about the consequences. I don't know about the rules in other countries, but in Germany you are "strafmündig" at 14, meaning you are liable (although in reduced form) by law for a reason.

But then I was an extremely shy and serious teenager who would just never have knocked on other people's doors constantly, so maybe that's where part of my judgement comes from, too.

Apparently, you have "saint like standards" if you don't go about knocking on people's doors as a teenager, or so I have been told in this thread.
 
Yes, but no better moments to show anger than during extreme efforts on the bike for 5 or 6 hours. Not even during this TdF where he was complete *** he seemed anytime to show anger towards others. Pogacar also seems always joyful and a 'happy kid' but we had that episode with Van Baarle in the end of this year's Ronde. I don't remember anything like that with VdP.

The guy's first reaction to being beaten in a sprint with Girmay in the Giro was to applaud him, I just don't have the evidence to conclude that this surely isn't the first time it happened.

And I know he has said that during recovering earlier in the year he wasn't the best person to be with, but that also doesn't mean that he resorted to violence or to anger towards others. Accumulated frustration could also lead to apathy, overall depressing feelings and lethargy, which aren't also good things to deal with for anybody closer to him but don't necessary lead to violent actions.
Agreed about the overall analysis and I hope you're right. (I can be quite cynical at times. :))
 
Is there still any doubt that both parties are very much at fault here? The kids were repeat offenders, and as such, the parents are to blame. They knew it happened before, they failed at disciplining, educating and/or supervising their kids to make sure it would not happen again. There is no need to get into parenting discussions about how to educate children, that's completely besides the matter. The thing is, whatever they did, however they chose to address the issue, they failed. Let's not pretend knocking someone's door at night for hours on end is anything else than harassment.
Van der Poel on the other hand has, to me at least, crossed a line by entering the room of the girls. This is what i find the most inexcusable. He claims he only grabbed one kid by the arm, if that had happened as he caught her red handed trying to knock his door in the hallway, i could somewhat understand that, but chasing them into and entering their room is a totally different matter. It was their room, their safe place. The equivalent of their home away from home. You don't barge into someone's home like that, regardless of what happened prior.
They should probably have thought about their "safe place" before repeatedly knocking on a superstar's door on the night of his biggest objective of his season.
 
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Wow! 174 pages devoted to this incident. I'm not sure what kind of world other posters live in but if I'm at a hotel and have a problem, I ask the front desk to fix it. That's what I'm paying for. If I had the faucet in my bathroom is dripping, I ask for a new room or for it to be immediately fixed. I don't go out, buy plumbing tools and fix it myself. And I've never been to a hotel where the front desk completely ignores their guests' issue.

MvdP missed out the on Worlds because he acted like an idiot, went into another guest's room and pushed down a teenager. That's the full story. You can't get away with that even if you win Ronde van Vlaanderen 4 times. Hopefully, he'll be less of a dope in the future. And, for the love of Wollongong, put on some pants next time!
 
Wow! 174 pages devoted to this incident. I'm not sure what kind of world other posters live in but if I'm at a hotel and have a problem, I ask the front desk to fix it. That's what I'm paying for. If I had the faucet in my bathroom is dripping, I ask for a new room or for it to be immediately fixed. I don't go out, buy plumbing tools and fix it myself. And I've never been to a hotel where the front desk completely ignores their guests' issue.

MvdP missed out the on Worlds because he acted like an idiot, went into another guest's room and pushed down a teenager. That's the full story. You can't get away with that even if you win Ronde van Vlaanderen 4 times. Hopefully, he'll be less of a dope in the future. And, for the love of Wollongong, put on some pants next time!
Yeah the thread was made specifically for this incident
 
Still, this incident made this thread gain 752 posts. It's a 21% increase.

Remco's World Championship win gave him 286 posts (and I'm being nice to count the speculation of the move to Ineos here).

And I'm not gonna even gonna talk about the 500 posts or so that the Jonas Vingegaard's thread got from the beginning of the Tour until now.

This is performance of the year right here for Mr. VDP.
 
Really, can you folks just start another thread about parents/kids—it’s not cycling related.

I see MVDP is on the PCS start list for Emilia on 1/10, do folks know if that’s confirmed? Could be the showdown we thought we might get at the WCs with Pogacar, Alaphilippe, and MVDP all racing.
 
Really, can you folks just start another thread about parents/kids—it’s not cycling related.

I see MVDP is on the PCS start list for Emilia on 1/10, do folks know if that’s confirmed? Could be the showdown we thought we might get at the WCs with Pogacar, Alaphilippe, and MVDP all racing.
I can name about 40 riders who could finish ahead of Van der Poel in case he would actually start. I doubt there would be any kind of showdown. Something like Bernocchi would suit him far better.
 
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Yes, I only saw the italian classics announced in Pro Cycling Stats. Which is comical for someone who is everytime very obnoxious about his website publishing only things when are announced by the teams, since I think even the proper VdP said that they would see plans for next races after WCH.
90% PCS is mentioned on CN it's because they have riders on startlists that no other place have and that end up not starting.
 
Crappy year, stressed because he's in a hurry as he's getting old. Two weeks rest at home when he was injured made him very frustrated. And he knows no other world than cycling.

There's gotta be a ton of pent up frustration and pressure and there's no wonder it boils over.

That's my point. He's been on my radar for some time in regards to mental health.

Not judging, just watching with empathy.
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Good Lord. Hilarious. Nice that you are concerned, but I think MVDP is probably fine in terms of his "mental health". I know "mental health" is a big thing these days, but it's not as if he had to charge the beach at Normandy this year. For a freakishly talented and driven person who's probably won more elite level pro bike races than anyone in the world over the past 7 years or so, he seems to be pretty humble and respectful to his family and other people - and pretty happy with lot in life. My guess is you wouldn't have caught him banging on hotel doors back when he was winning world titles at 13. The guy makes millions doing what he loves. He was put in a very bad position and obviously had a very bad lapse of judgement. Happens to the best of us. And BTW, he did win the biggest bike race of the year for someone of his ilk. Maybe the only bike racer in history talented and mentally tough enough (dug pretty damn deep vs. Pog on the Paterberg) to have a Flanders winning year classified as "crappy".
 
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