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

[jmdirt]

MvdP is just at a different point in his breathing than the others. You guys are just being silly, right?

 

[Sciatic]

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.

I love that we have such an amazing group of great classics riders with attacking mindsets right now. Really looking forward to the cobbles.

One minor point: although I think MVDP will get there , this group is still not at the level of Boonen-Cancellara when it comes to cobbled monuments. Between the two of them, they had 13 wins and 22 podiums at Ronde and Roubaix.

 

[OlavEH]

I love that we have such an amazing group of great classics riders with attacking mindsets right now. Really looking forward to the cobbles.

Yeah, as long as they get too dominant over a very long period of time, I agree. Like in tennis where it has been a bit too much Federer-Nadal-Djokovic dominance for almost 20 years. But cycling has more factors that will prevent that. Tactics is important, crashes will probably prevent one or more of them on occassions. In addition I think peak form is really important. Even if these guys are great, a form drop of only 1-2 % will probably give other guys a much bigger chance. And both Van Aert and Van der Poel have probably lost big wins from trying bite off more than they can chew by having too many main goals during one season. And in more than one discipline.

 

[Netserk]

Roglic could never follow an explosive attack like that. In fact I daresay when VDP is in absolute his best day, like SB 2021 or here, nobody can follow an attack that explosive, currently.

Depends on the climb. How explosive an attack do you think he can launch on Mur de Huy? I don't think he could make an attack as deadly as Rogla did in 2021.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Depends on the climb. How explosive an attack do you think he can launch on Mur de Huy? I don't think he could make an attack as deadly as Rogla did in 2021.

Mur de Bretagne? Strade Bianchi steep hill attacks? Hello?

 

[Open Horizon]

Mur de Bretagne? Strade Bianchi steep hill attacks? Hello?

The steep parts on Mur de Bretagne, Patersberg, Le Tolfe and Via St Catarina, etc are significantly shorter than on Mur de Huy. Lends itself to a different type of effort and type of rider.

 

[Red Rick]

Mur de Bretagne? Strade Bianchi steep hill attacks? Hello?

Strade finish is much shorter. And it's after a really hard race where simply being fresher really helps. In terms of pure watts that finish isn't high.

I think the Mur de Huy really negates what MvdP is best at, namely the super short bursts. On Mur de Bretagne he rode away on the easy section while Roglic and Pogacar were looking at each other, on de Mur the attacks fly at 20%.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Strade finish is much shorter. And it's after a really hard race where simply being fresher really helps. In terms of pure watts that finish isn't high.

I think the Mur de Huy really negates what MvdP is best at, namely the super short bursts. On Mur de Bretagne he rode away on the easy section while Roglic and Pogacar were looking at each other, on de Mur the attacks fly at 20%.

easy section? i suggest you look back he went at a steep part

 

[Red Rick]

easy section? i suggest you look back he went at a steep part

The steep part of Mur de Bretagne is most definitely not at 800m to go.

 

[Netserk]

easy section? i suggest you look back he went at a steep part

On the first ascent he went on the steep part (but with a steady, non-explosive effort). On the final ascent, he countered Colbrelli with 800 m to go.

This was his first explosive effort that day:

 

[Blanco]

Mur de Huy is definitelly too hard for him, It's a climb for Roglic, Alaphilippe, Bala, Purito type of riders, lighter ones with a great kick.
He is deadly on shorter steep climbs (Via Santa Catharina, Paterberg), or longer shallow climbs (Poggio).

 

[Panda Claws]

Post of the year

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Ganna said after he did the highest numbers he has ever done and for MVDP to pull ahead on a climb like this the numbers he can achieve is unfathomable. When hes in form there is noone who can match his raw power output

And Roglic dont make me laugh hes a lvl under Vanaert, Pog and Ganna in raw numbers and they got smoked roglic wouldnt stand a chance. The end.

What is your objection to the word 'level'? Y dnt lv th vwls t f ny thr wrds.

 

[Netserk]

What is your objection to the word 'level'? Y dnt lv th vwls t f ny thr wrds.

Should you not have left out both vowels of "any"?

 

[Gratemans]

Yesterday i feel that only Roglič could be able to follow

Okay, I gotta be fair here. I attacked Logic about him defending Remco, but now you're just randombly pushing Roglic. "what if Primoz was here"? Yeah. He wasn't was he? Don't diminish someone winning by some random ".. but what if x or y were here". We get enough of that here already.
Especially in cycling, "what if x or y was there"is just meaningless.

 

[jmdirt]

This thread has gone a bizarro. MvdP had a massive win, yet instead of eenjoying that, there is a debate about 'who is the strongest racer'. Enjoy his impressive victory.

Yes, this is a 'discussion forum', but these types of discussion are for when there is no racing. When there is racing, shouldn't we discuss the races?!

 

[Gratemans]

Okay, I gotta be fair here. I attacked Logic about him defending Remco, but now you're just randombly pushing Roglic. "what if Primoz was here"? Yeah. He wasn't was he? Don't diminish someone winning by some random ".. but what if x or y were here". We get enough of that here already.
Especially in cycling, "what if x or y was there"is just meaningless.

And even if Roglic was here, they wouldn't have won. That's what I love about classics. It's the legs, baby*.



* and timing. In classics, riders can make those choices themselves, they're not being controlled from the cars. The cars might think so, but it's really up to the guys on two wheels.

 

[senna6541]

The reality is that if and when MVDP is able to get to full power (w/o back issues, w/o the being off at the start of the weird covid year, w/o the WC hotel nonsense) he is an absolute nightmare for anyone and everyone in every major 1 day race minus the overly hilly classics like Lombardy and LBL. Physically and even more so mentally, he is on a different level. Massive self-belief - just assumes that he is better than everybody else and defaults to doubling down on himself. And then of course he has that sick handle that makes him the perfect bike racer.

 

[Oldermanish]

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

The others set the cyclocross/interval star up perfectly. So much for Zwift wattage management. It's who can go a few beats higher for the 60 seconds it takes to get the gap and be first into a technical section. TEXTBOOK.

 

[Nick2413]

VdP and Wout flipped spots on the odds sites for PR but Pog still above him for Flanders.

 

[Berniece]

Okay, I gotta be fair here. I attacked Logic about him defending Remco, but now you're just randombly pushing Roglic. "what if Primoz was here"? Yeah. He wasn't was he? Don't diminish someone winning by some random ".. but what if x or y were here". We get enough of that here already.
Especially in cycling, "what if x or y was there"is just meaningless.

And we know what happens. He was there last year, and he was nowhere to be seen and left Wout hanging again.

 

[Netserk]

And we know what happens. He was there last year, and he was nowhere to be seen and left Wout hanging again.

Where was this from?

 

[Berniece]

Where was this from?

This was way before when it mattered? Where was he when Kragh Andersen actually attacked, and WVA, MVDP, Pogacar and Kragh where away with the 4 of hem? He wasn't even with the first 17 riders on top of the Poggio. He needed to be at least in the bigger group of 9 riders, so he could actually work for Wout when it mattered.

That's what I mean when I say that he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe I should clarified it with nowhere to be seen "when it mattered".

 

[Netserk]

This was way before when it mattered? Where was he when Kragh Andersen actually attacked, and WVA, MVDP, Pogacar and Kragh where away with the 4 of hem? He wasn't even with the first 17 riders on top of the Poggio. He needed to be at least in the bigger group of 9 riders, so he could actually work for Wout when it mattered.

That's what I mean when I say that he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe I should clarified it with nowhere to be seen "when it mattered".

You don't think he pulled at that moment by orders, or did you expect him to make the selection after working on the part where being in the wind matters most?

Was Wellens also nowhere to be seen this year?

 

[CyclistAbi]

As for Roglič debate. Each wrote his own opinion. And possible approaches for the future. Hence best to now wait if maybe next year this actually happens. Going further. I agree that this thread went form congratulating the winner to the whiners fest.

So again congratulations to Mathieu van der Poel for winning MS from my side. Now i am moving over to Catalunya.