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

[senna6541]

Tremendous win. Massive self-belief and the phenomenal talent to back it up.

 

[Ripper]

Actually he was the second to do so. But since we're speaking of Van Aert and Mathieu, considering the way things looked in early January, this has been a good few months for MVDP in the rivalry. Stretches his lead in rainbow jerseys from 4-3 to 5-3, and now in monuments from 2-1 to 3-1.

While Amstel is a classic, I don't think it is a monument.

Edit - never mind the above. My brain is just not working today!

 

[jmdirt]

I wouldn’t be surprised if a fair amount of pros check forums every so often.

The slipstream guys read the old velonews forum and JV and DZ would post sometimes.

 

[Oldermanish]

Tremendous win. Massive self-belief and the phenomenal talent to back it up.

And a solid, strategic use of his arch nemesis. He perfectly used Wout to bridge back to Pogacar and Ganna; then jumped before the summit while they're all gassed! The 5 seconds he opened up allowed the momentum to be in his favor on the descent. Totally heads-up move.

 

[Oldermanish]

The way he relied on WVA to close the gap when Pogacar attacked was something that wouldn't have happened two years ago.

Well, he just go a little smarter, then.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Why are you always writing posts like this as if you're actually congratulating the winners directly?

Cant wait for E-3. Wout, Mathieu and Poga in this shape, add some QS spice (hopefully), and an incredibly strong Jumbo, and this will be a much better, harder and more tactical race than what we witnessed today. Lets judge their form by then, but he looks imperious, and when he does stuff like today you can't help but think he's the best classics rider of the generation.

I wouldnt be surprised if vdp pulls the usual *** offday a week before big goal and makes everyone doubt him again

 

[Berniece]

I wonder how long he can keep this form, and if he’s still 100% at Roubaix. He wasn’t last year but of course he had a worse preparation in the winter back then. Because with the form of yesterday he would win De Ronde and Roubaix too

 

[Barnacle Bill]

I wouldn’t be surprised if a fair amount of pros check forums every so often.

 

[Red Rick]

Little sad he doesn't upload to Strava anymore.....

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I wonder how long he can keep this form, and if he’s still 100% at Roubaix. He wasn’t last year but of course he had a worse preparation in the winter back then. Because with the form of yesterday he would win De Ronde and Roubaix too

last week we were contemplating whether he would have any form at all in MSR and now you are afraid he's peaking too early?

lol

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Little sad he doesn't upload to Strava anymore.....

He does. But only sets it to private. His activity count on strava is still gaining. But you just don't see it

 

[Didinho]

 

[Red Rick]

Top picture only one of them appears to have a heart rate under 200.

 

[Didinho]

Top picture only one of them appears to have a heart rate under 200.

First picture only Mathieu not gasping for air. You can see he got something left for an attack.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

If you ever win Milano Sanremo then i promise i will tell you.

If Valv.piti ever wins Milan - San Remo, he will probably be aware of it even without you telling him.

 

[CyclistAbi]

If Valv.piti ever wins Milan - San Remo, he will probably be aware of it even without you telling him.

The same goes for you.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Hey look, it's 3 men suffering like dogs on the absolute limit and then there's Van der Poel in the picture as well

 

[vwpe]

the display MVDP put on historicaly couldnt be any more telling the guys he did it against left no doubt in mind that on top lvl hes just able to put down more power than anyone else on the planet...to be able to ride away at that speed pogacar himself even told thats scary.

 

[topcat]

the display MVDP put on historicaly couldnt be any more telling the guys he did it against left no doubt in mind that on top lvl hes just able to put down more power than anyone else on the planet...to be able to ride away at that speed pogacar himself even told thats scary.

We hear you.

 

[OlavEH]

Ganna = Best time triallist in the world.
Pogacar = Best stage race rider in the world.
Van Aert = Best all-round rider in the world.

MvdP: "What the heck. I'll just drop these three and win!"

It has to be a bit discouraging to be a top rider in quality just below these guys and Remco. At the moment IMO we have 4 one day riders which are on par with the best we've seen in the last 15-20 years. And that means guys quality like Bettini, Boonen, Cancellara and Gilbert.

And while the performances and peak form of the latter were scattered out over a period of many years and not very frequent (Gilbert didn't have many times after 2011 where he undoubtedly were in peak form), all the four top guys seemingly are in or close to their best this spring, and able to dominate all the monuments. At least two of them should will probably compete and should be able to dominate the race in each of the monuments.

MSR: Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pog
RVV: Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pog,
PR: Van der Poel and Van Aert
LBL: Pog and Remco
Lombardia: Pog and Remco

If one or more of these four are in peak form and don't have any accidents, it will be really difficult for other to win. Especially in races which are easier to control and have profile easier for the strongest rider to win (RVV, LBL and Lombardia). MSR is ususally the most open of these races, now I think it's only PR where an other winner is somewhat plausible.

 

[Valanga]

I wouldnt be surprised if vdp pulls the usual *** offday a week before big goal and makes everyone doubt him again

That's the only "problem" I have with him. He's such a big champion, he doesn't need stuff like that, and he's done that quite a few times already.
His form was fine in Tireno already, you don't go from "meh" to "omgwtf" in 1 week.

Apart from that, what a beast! Without a doubt the best on such terrain, by a big margin.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

That's the only "problem" I have with him. He's such a big champion, he doesn't need stuff like that, and he's done that quite a few times already.
His form was fine in Tireno already, you don't go from "meh" to "omgwtf" in 1 week.

Apart from that, what a beast! Without a doubt the best on such terrain, by a big margin.

but here is the thing, he doesn't act the offday. He literally has these off days. He just can't be as consistent as a Van Aert or Pogacar. It's not in his system.

 

[Andy schleck]

Look at the first photo. The only one who don't look with a suffering face is van der poel.

 

[Netserk]

but here is the thing, he doesn't act the offday. He literally has these off days. He just can't be as consistent as a Van Aert or Pogacar. It's not in his system.

When was the last time he had an off day for a target while he had a good day nearby?

 

[CyclistAbi]

Yesterday i feel that only Roglič could be able to follow. He would likely be positioned behind van Aert. Pogi would do most of the work and empty himself. As van Aert was on the limit. We know that in such situations it's Roglič that has a bit of an extra kick reserved.

But if Roglič and van der Poel would go over the top together. It's reasonable to expect van der Poel to win the sprint. Hence there would need to be more to it than that. At Cipressa the pace would need to be higher.