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

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He has some chances but the level required to win LBL nowadays, given Pogacar and Evenepoel presence, is higher than during your random LBL edition. That's why he's a heavy underdog, more so than he would've been during some past editions.

Yup the big problem is those two. Especially when they open it up from Redoute again. Don't forget in the 2020 edition, despite Mathieu coming from a 70km attack in the Bingo Bongo Bango Benelux tour, just had to endure the attack on Roche Aux Faucons and finished in the 2nd group. Mohoric even descended back from 2nd to 1st group.

That isn't possible in modern LBL if Pogi/Evene go from La Redoute or perhaps even further... and that's almost a certainty.

 

[Red Rick]

Yup the big problem is those two. Especially when they open it up from Redoute again. Don't forget in the 2020 edition, despite Mathieu coming from a 70km attack in the Bingo Bongo Bango Benelux tour, just had to endure the attack on Roche Aux Faucons and finished in the 2nd group. Mohoric even descended back from 2nd to 1st group.

That isn't possible in modern LBL if Pogi/Evene go from La Redoute or perhaps even further... and that's almost a certainty.

That's got nothing to do with attacking on La Redoute. He would get slaughtered if the wait until RaF as well.

 

[staubsauger]

IMHO he wins Amstel and then just looks where he stands in Liege. Of course nobody ever denies a win, but that's not likely to happen this year already.

 

[Red Rick]

IMHO he wins Amstel and then just looks where he stands in Liege. Of course nobody ever denies a win, but that's not likely to happen this year already.

I think racing Vlaanderen, Roubaix, Amstel and Liege in a row is too hard in general. Generally you'll see riders skip Roubaix if they combine Vlaanderen and Liege.

 

[staubsauger]

I think racing Vlaanderen, Roubaix, Amstel and Liege in a row is too hard in general. Generally you'll see riders skip Roubaix if they combine Vlaanderen and Liege.

Hence why I thought the real peak might be Roubaix & Amstel.

He was already surprisingly well in San Remo yesterday though. So who knows?

 

[Red Rick]

Hence why I thought the real peak might be Roubaix & Amstel.

He was already surprisingly well in San Remo yesterday though. So who knows?

Nah I think it's just Ronde + Roubaix and everything after is just a bonus.

 

[Kwaremonster]

I'm still in two minds about yesterday. Maybe he was not as good as last year, but he still had a very good chance. He might even have been faster than Philipsen in that sprintfinish. I hope he will not come to regret it if for some reason he doesn't win any monument this year..

On the other side, they did win, so the team as a whole is in a much better place and in Philipsen he has a grateful teammate..

 

[Slavique Nuke]

He might even have been faster than Philipsen in that sprintfinish.

If MvdP has any weakness then it's sprinting after a long day.

 

[jono]

If MvdP has any weakness then it's sprinting after a long day.

Colbrelli at Roubaix, Asgreen at Flanders, any other notable examples?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

If MvdP has any weakness then it's sprinting after a long day.

Like in RVV 2020 (244km) and Amstel 2019 (266km).

His sprint isn't specifically worse after a long day compared to other riders. But when he's really been pushed throughout the day, he can not keep sprinting for long before his legs run out. He's even had this happen in a few sprints after a hard CX race (which only last an hour). So it's not really related with long day or distance, just how close he's been pushed to the limit and how long the sprint is.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Like in RVV 2020 (244km) and Amstel 2019 (266km).

His sprint isn't specifically worse after a long day compared to other riders. But when he's really been pushed throughout the day, he can not keep sprinting for long before his legs run out. He's even had this happen in a few sprints after a hard CX race (which only last an hour). So it's not really related with long day or distance, just how close he's been pushed to the limit and how long the sprint is.

yup, in glasgow for instance they could've sprinted for it and MVDP would've won as well with those legs. On days he's not super super but just "good" he can lose those sprints

 

[Slavique Nuke]

Colbrelli at Roubaix, Asgreen at Flanders, any other notable examples?

He rarely relies on his sprint. So I don't know what kind of examples you want, what you listed are two lost monuments when he was an overwhelming favourite. For me, that's enough to prove my point.

Like in RVV 2020 (244km) and Amstel 2019 (266km).

His sprint isn't specifically worse after a long day compared to other riders. But when he's really been pushed throughout the day, he can not keep sprinting for long before his legs run out. He's even had this happen in a few sprints after a hard CX race (which only last an hour). So it's not really related with long day or distance, just how close he's been pushed to the limit and how long the sprint is.

So you went back 4-5 years to find a MvdP sprint win. Okay.

Since MvdP is an aggressive rider. The longer the race, the more he will be pushed throughout the day. So these two things are related.

yup, in glasgow for instance they could've sprinted for it and MVDP would've won as well with those legs. On days he's not super super but just "good" he can lose those sprints

Just because he was much stronger than WVA doesn't mean he can always out-sprint him. See 2023 E3 Harelbeke. The ideal situation for him is to finish the race solo, not in a sprint, which he has relied on less and less in the last 1-2 years. Even in the 2023 RVV he was the first to attack, not Pogacar.

 

[Netserk]

white looks even better. I fight in white shorts I almost get a hard one from looking at myself

 

[Stasat]

I'm still in two minds about yesterday. Maybe he was not as good as last year, but he still had a very good chance. He might even have been faster than Philipsen in that sprintfinish. I hope he will not come to regret it if for some reason he doesn't win any monument this year..

On the other side, they did win, so the team as a whole is in a much better place and in Philipsen he has a grateful teammate..

He looked cooked after bad positioning and having to pull back Pog at the top of the Poggio. Pog's descent was relatively slow and MvDP was cornering slower than him, having to pedal out of the corners more so than Pog, that's a sign of going too far into the red IMO. I think it's safe to say he's a better descender than Pog, if MvDP had the legs he would have gone around Pog on the descent.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Colbrelli at Roubaix, Asgreen at Flanders, any other notable examples?

There are genuine reasons for those; he was coming back from the back injury and didn't have the endurance/ fitness in Roubaix. The Asgreen one is even more simple; after that Tirreno stage he was never the same that spring..and didn't even look strong on the final Paterberg.......

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

So you went back 4-5 years to find a MvdP sprint win. Okay.

Errrr... You just wrote in the same exact post:

He rarely relies on his sprint. So I don't know what kind of examples you want, what you listed are two lost monuments when he was an overwhelming favourite. For me, that's enough to prove my point.

And i'm sure if he was capable of doing it then, he can do it now, since he hasn't exactly regressed as an athlete.

Since MvdP is an aggressive rider. The longer the race, the more he will be pushed throughout the day. So these two things are related.

Yes, they are related. It is also related with him putting on a racing bib, because every time he fails, he is wearing one.

It's just not about the race distance, as they only do 30km in a CX race. The more he has been pushed, the more his sprint falters. And because he is so extremely punchy, for some reason with him it doesn't translate to a weak sprint, but just him not being able to keep up the acceleration for long. Each time he starts like a rocket in the first meters, and just "puffs" out.

 

[Billie]

he didn't go in the drops during the descent. I think about 500 metres from top of Poggio he decided to work for the sprint.

 

[Netserk]

he didn't go in the drops during the descent. I think about 500 metres from top of Poggio he decided to work for the sprint.

Yes, after Pogi's first attack when he saw that Philipsen was in the group, he knew what he had to do. Had he pushed it, he could have found himself in a group of himself, Pogačar, Pidcock, Mohorič & Pedersen after the descent. Not a good scenario.

 

[Ricco']

MVDP renews with Alpecin - Deceuninck until the end of 2028, when he'll be 33. It's becoming safe to say that he will only see one team during his entire career.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Pretty nice loyalty, they grew together as team and rider. I see no reason for him to move either.

 

[senna6541]

Pretty nice loyalty, they grew together as team and rider. I see no reason for him to move either.

Yep, why leave a company you basically built.

 

[senna6541]

Great result and performance at SR. If he's in even slightly better position when Pogi attacks near the top, he wins. But seems like he had to go a bit too deep to close it down and was in recovery mode instead of attack mode on the descent. From there on pure genius as a bike racer to get the win for his team - the one built on his back, not a "superteam" he joined up with. 4 Monuments, WC, SB, 6 CX WC's, etc., etc. in the back pocket gives you the opportunity to do things like he did at MSR that will only enhance his legend - at least amongst his peers...

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Pretty nice loyalty, they grew together as team and rider. I see no reason for him to move either.

If he feels in control of his future, and doesn't have the tiniest doubt that he could do better with a different staf around him, other trainers, managers and teammates, then why not. I can only hope that doubt doesn't creep up one day.

 

[proffate]

If he feels in control of his future, and doesn't have the tiniest doubt that he could do better with a different staf around him, other trainers, managers and teammates, then why not. I can only hope that doubt doesn't creep up one day.

If he were going to have that doubt it would have surely been in the early days, not now. For now it seems that he made the better choice compared to WVA.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

If he were going to have that doubt it would have surely been in the early days, not now. For now it seems that he made the better choice compared to WVA.

It wasn't that long ago he was struggling with back issues and the team kept sending him to races he wasn't ready for. On the other hand it is a young team that doesn't have an expansive (with an "a") performance department like Visma for instance.