Not really. MVDP had a *** winter - still dealing with the back issues. And getting caught out in that early split didn't help. My guess is MVDP wins RVV number 3 in '24. At 100% he's almost unbeatable there.
leadout for Jasper, thereby transferring the disaster onto himself
Apparently he was sicker than I thought. Only recently of antibiotics. Still has the cough. Hopefully he save himself and than do something for stage 19, otherwise I hope its over at least in two weeks.
- Aug 13, 2011
- 7,887
- 12,055
- 23,180
Damn, MVDP is a beast for sticking it through like he has while on antibiotics.
- Mar 13, 2009
- 29,413
- 3,482
- 28,180
He said he went as easy as possible. I don't think or believe or follow the thought he is far off form. His recent mountain stages were very good..
MVDP was at his best or at least very close this year, he said it himself after the RVV that he was pushing great numbers and Pogacar still rode away from him like a mad man. Pogacar was just that much stronger and there really isn't any shame in that. If you take away Pogacar then MVDP soloes to victory unchallenged. And considering his performances in MSR and PR... I don't remember ever seeing a stronger MVDP on the road and I think it's rather silly to imagine that wasn't even his best shape possible.
It's not like he was saying things like "oh I wasn't feeling great", he actually said he was feeling good and admitted Pogacar was just too strong that day. There really is no need to pretend that every time your favorite rider gets beaten it's because he wasn't "at 100%".
- Apr 30, 2011
- 47,181
- 29,826
- 28,180
He is maybe quite fine, but he could obviously go more than just a bit easier than what he has done.
- Mar 13, 2009
- 29,413
- 3,482
- 28,180
legs are fine, health is a bit iffy. The coughing won't go away, the rest did. Thats my take. So he's probably not gonna get rid of the coughing before end of Tour. Then 2 weeks of recovery. And then he'll be right on time for the worlds.
- Jul 1, 2023
- 280
- 400
- 3,130
Agree with most. Only thing that perplexed me a bit was that he couldn't follow Pog better on Kwaremont. The year before when his shape wasn't as good he could follow but not this year. Sure Pog was stronger this year.
- Mar 13, 2009
- 29,413
- 3,482
- 28,180
pog destroyed all kwaremont records so definitely went quicker. I think VDP was at his absolute peak from March until PR. Could've won all of them solo if Pog wasn't at RVV. Just think about how insane that would have been.
Just get to the end of the Tour, with maybe one more lead out for Jasper. Then recover and prep for a busy Worlds......
Road race on Sunday with the XCO on the following Saturday; in between are the XCC qualifiers and XCC finals....Might be useful to get some racing on the MTB before the XCO on the Saturday.....
Road race on Sunday with the XCO on the following Saturday; in between are the XCC qualifiers and XCC finals....Might be useful to get some racing on the MTB before the XCO on the Saturday.....
- Jun 6, 2017
- 6,170
- 3,703
- 23,180
It's not a coincidence that almost all of the classics big guns didn't stressed up about the Tour much, like Boonen, Bettini, Gilbert and even Valverde in the later part of his career.
Mvdp looked to have nothing on stage 19. Couldn't even lead out philipsen.
Hmmmm. Can he turn himself into a superstar again in 2 weeks?
He has either ridden this tour with a shocking level of self restraint for him, or he is well off his best.
Hmmmm. Can he turn himself into a superstar again in 2 weeks?
He has either ridden this tour with a shocking level of self restraint for him, or he is well off his best.
Are you guys serious? Barring a crash over the next couple of days I'd say everything is trending nicely for MVDP - which has been the goal all along. TDF stage wins don't count for much for a guy like MVDP. A World Championship on the other hand (especially in a year where you have 2 Monuments), would be massive. And of course his (the one he has basically built) team has won 4 stages and likely 5 before it's done.
- Aug 29, 2011
- 3,701
- 2,090
- 16,680
Pogacar at RVV 2023 was just incredible though. It's still hard to imagine that he managed to drop MVDP on a climb like that.
I feel like he might want to stop riding GT's all together after this one. Unless he actually gains form/hardness by finishing these he should take the same approach as Boonen and just stage-hunt somewhere else.
I feel like he might want to stop riding GT's all together after this one. Unless he actually gains form/hardness by finishing these he should take the same approach as Boonen and just stage-hunt somewhere else.
Yeah, I wish he could do everything because I like watching him race - especially in CX and MTB. He should do what he likes, but it's all about 1 day races across disciplines. Stages don't count for much for freaks like MVDP and WVA. Too bad for Wout that he seems to hit top form in the TDF every year...
He keeps saying he is not 100 procent yet and I guess it shows. If its that cough then maybe the two weeks rest can do the trick. I'm not sure.
I don't think it's the self restraint. It was in the beginning on that stage that pedersen won (he should have went for that instead of leading out philipsen) but since then he seems to be off the mark. Although he climbing was not even that bad for his standards..
Whatever its the truth, it would be silly to save it all for a one day race where anything can happen (and has in the past) and where there are many favourites..
Yes. I am serious. The great man couldn't even lead out Jasper to a decent fourth let alone pull back the gap today or make a break himself. He has looked a shadow of himself all tour.
As I say I hope he is just being really really restrained and training for worlds while participating in the biggest race of the year, but that's a very different mvdp to the one we all know, the man loves to race.
And I don't really care about Jasper wins. I'm sure most mvdp fans don't either.
- May 29, 2011
- 3,549
- 1,651
- 16,680
- Sep 12, 2022
- 8,207
- 9,722
- 17,180
Pull that whole group solo towards those 3 in front? Not to mention he went on the attack multiple times
Have said this a number of times. That said, his leadouts are adding to the legend...
He didn't pull at all on the previous stage, and while he did yesterday for philipsen it was no more than anyone else in that group and the gap didn't budge.
He's not bad. But not what we are accustomed to seeing from him.
I certainly wouldn't bet against him and I hope to see him destroy everyone in a few weeks.
He is just making me nervous
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