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

[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.

 

[Berniece]

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.

He’s just not Visma material. I think he could be even better with more strict coaching, but that wouldn’t work with him. This is the best team for him, no one will get more out of him.

 

[DNP-Old]

A very long time ago Mathieu said he could never race for Team Sky because of how strict they are. Indeed, he wouldn’t work on Visma. However, there have been manier occasion where his ultramythical talent has saved him from completely broken logic. So to say he made a ‘better choice’ than Wout doesn’t seem very fair to him. Wout just isn’t as talented and can’t get away with stuff like Mathieu can.

 

[Berniece]

A very long time ago Mathieu said he could never race for Team Sky because of how strict they are. Indeed, he wouldn’t work on Visma. However, there have been manier occasion where his ultramythical talent has saved him from completely broken logic. So to say he made a ‘better choice’ than Wout doesn’t seem very fair to him. Wout just isn’t as talented and can’t get away with stuff like Mathieu can.

Both riders made the best choice in context of how they are as a person, and how they work

 

[Ricco']

Now I just want at least one season without cross in the winter to have an early start. Rack up those minor classics that are missing like Omloop, for example

 

[Slavique Nuke]

He also signed a 10-year contract with Canyon.

 

[Didinho]

He went to the barber. Lost 500gr in his neck alone. Mullet gone.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

He went to the barber. Lost 500gr in his neck alone.

Shouldn't have gone to Sweeney Todd.

 

[Kwaremonster]

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.

Interesting. A contract against the best terms probably. From the perspective of alpecin: they are taking a risk. You often see that star riders get offered one good contract too many when decline sets in earlier than expected. Clearly they expect mathieu to be good for a long time still. So far the roodhooft's gamble on mathieu always paid off though. Also Canyon will cover part of his salary probably.

 

[Didinho]

Masterclass.

 

[Keldergoat]

Gonna say something very ballsy, but: it looks like he's in shape for de Ronde van Vlaanderen.

 

[KZD]

Great to see Van der Poel adding E3 to his palmares.

He looks ready to retake the RVV crown.

 

[LookProGoSlow]

Ominous form

 

[jmdirt]

MvdP!