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

[Berniece]

Pog went too much into the red trying to catch MVP and cracked. MVP's engine is great on cobbles-asphalt mix. Without Pog crash and MVP flat likely the Dutch wins in a sprint. That being said luck is an important factor in PR history and Pog can surely win it with just a bit of luck.

Definitely, that goes for every race. People also seem to think Nibali wouldn’t have won TDF without bad luck for others

 

[KZD]

Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up to your favorite stand‑up comedian, the one the only Mr Roger De Vlaeminck

"Not by a long shot" - Belgian legend Roger de Vlaeminck argues Mathieu van der Poel is not the best cyclocross rider in history

Roger de Vlaeminck was known for his many victories in pro cycling, including many monuments and dozens of Grand Tour stage wins. Currently he is more often in the spotlight due to his strong opinions...

cyclinguptodate.com

De Vlaeminck will be even more pissed when Pogačar overtakes his monunent count this year and fingers crossed Van der Poel can do the same in a couple of years too.

 

[Red Rick]

Nothing that day showed Pogacar would’ve won without his crash

Pogacar has come into the final km of a monument with Van der Poel in a 2 man group twice and not once did he finish 2nd.

Checkmate thee nonbeliever

 

[dazaau]

MVDP extended his lead throughout the race. Not to mention you only see Pog winning if MVDP had bad luck

That's why I said it may have been Pogs best chance ever. If mvdp is fit it's going to be extremely hard to ride him off the wheel on the flat and not great odds in a sprint.

 

[Oldman]

Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up to your favorite stand‑up comedian, the one the only Mr Roger De Vlaeminck

"Not by a long shot" - Belgian legend Roger de Vlaeminck argues Mathieu van der Poel is not the best cyclocross rider in history

Roger de Vlaeminck was known for his many victories in pro cycling, including many monuments and dozens of Grand Tour stage wins. Currently he is more often in the spotlight due to his strong opinions...

cyclinguptodate.com

"Beat the guys like sometimes I beat Merckx" says it all. I'm old but don't verbalize fantasies about Dutch phenoms I've never met. Seems really creepy but that's surpassed by the sadness of it.
I wonder if he's asked Eddy how valid this premise is. "Did you beat me? Ah, yes. There was that time I crashed..."

 

[Krzysztof_O]

That's why I said it may have been Pogs best chance ever. If mvdp is fit it's going to be extremely hard to ride him off the wheel on the flat and not great odds in a sprint.

It's basically impossible to drop MVP on the cobbles in his current form. But things can change, MVP will get weaker at some point, luck factor is important in Roubaix and Pogacar is a guy who always applies pressure. I mean, even Pogacar will lose Tour and Lombardy one day and the same applies to MVP.

 

[pastronef]

I wish for some tactical miss, some feud between UAE and Alpecin, some 2011 situation, and the breakaway wins. preferably an Unibet rider. enough with these star riders

 

[Wyndbrook]

I'm hoping for a wet Paris Roubaix. A very wet and muddy one.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Mvdp got a flat near the end. Do we really think mvdp would have caught back up with Pog on smooth roads again before the sprint? I wonder if that was Pogs best chance for a win at Roubaix. What might have been.

Would MVDP have gotten the flat if he wasn't pushing the limit to hold off Pogacar? There are a lot of "what ifs" that can be applied here.

 

[Sciatic]

I'm hoping for a wet Paris Roubaix. A very wet and muddy one.

Rhat would favor MVDP even more, though it would also add more randomness with spills and flats.

 

[Oldman]

I wish for some tactical miss, some feud between UAE and Alpecin, some 2011 situation, and the breakaway wins. preferably an Unibet rider. enough with these star riders

PR is the one, undeniably honest race for exposure to risk and maximum demand on talent. Most riders that become a "star" gained the credibility winning PR. Not like it's a gift in any way.

 

[Breh]

Wet Paris Roubaix is overrated

 

[pastronef]

PR is the one, undeniably honest race for exposure to risk and maximum demand on talent. Most riders that become a "star" gained the credibility winning PR. Not like it's a gift in any way.

no gift, but Vansummeren, O'Grady pulled great wins. tactical mishaps, etc. I'd love love love an underdog win instead of the stars

 

[Netserk]

Wet Paris Roubaix is overrated

i wouldnt mind another edition as overrated as 2021

 

[Red Rick]

Roubaix has the weakest field of winners of all monuments historically. Monument by far the most prone to a donkey winning

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Roubaix has the weakest field of winners of all monuments historically. Monument by far the most prone to a donkey winning

If there were more races like Roubaix in the calendar, some of those donkeys may be considered greats, though I will admit that the weakest field of winners thing is true (unless you hate the likes of Cipollini and Cav ever winning anything at all).

 

[Oldman]

Roubaix has the weakest field of winners of all monuments historically. Monument by far the most prone to a donkey winning

That's because a rider needs to be capable and willing to train for a brutal race they won't win. GT and climby monument seekers need not apply. It's what makes it unique but you should ask Boonen, Gilbert,Sagan,VanAvermaet, Degenkolb, Cancellera, etc....how they managed to get their shaggy asses over the line first.

 

[Red Rick]

That's because a rider needs to be capable and willing to train for a brutal race they won't win. GT and climby monument seekers need not apply. It's what makes it unique but you should ask Boonen, Gilbert,Sagan,VanAvermaet, Degenkolb, Cancellera, etc....how they managed to get their shaggy asses over the line first.

Half of those focusing Roubaix every year cause they're too washed to focus anything else. And cobbles are a self fullfilling prophecy in that regard because the competition is thin and there's 2 monuments in 8 days that 2 great riders just win 592 monuments by focusing on a single week every year while doing *** all the rest of the year.

It works like that in every sport when you have an even that's very different from the rest, the field is gonna be weaker on average becuase the traits aren't that well selected for.

 

[Netserk]

Half of those focusing Roubaix every year cause they're too washed to focus anything else. And cobbles are a self fullfilling prophecy in that regard because the competition is thin and there's 2 monuments in 8 days that 2 great riders just win 592 monuments by focusing on a single week every year while doing *** all the rest of the year.

It works like that in every sport when you have an even that's very different from the rest, the field is gonna be weaker on average becuase the traits aren't that well selected for.

half of those who can contend in lombardia dont even start

over the past decade, its far from obvious to me which monuments generally had the best field

 

[Oldman]

Half of those focusing Roubaix every year cause they're too washed to focus anything else. And cobbles are a self fullfilling prophecy in that regard because the competition is thin and there's 2 monuments in 8 days that 2 great riders just win 592 monuments by focusing on a single week every year while doing *** all the rest of the year.

It works like that in every sport when you have an even that's very different from the rest, the field is gonna be weaker on average becuase the traits aren't that well selected for.

Jonas' new coach would like a conference with you....

 

[Oldman]

Definitely, that goes for every race. People also seem to think Nibali wouldn’t have won TDF without bad luck for others

Seem to believe!??? When the major protaganists are injured in one of the first week's stage and forced to drop out, who was the other contender? Rafal Majka?

I'm a Nibali fan, by the way. His brilliant, opportunistic and suicidal win at MSR is one of the greatest versions.

 

[Cycling111]

MVDP extended his lead throughout the race. Not to mention you only see Pog winning if MVDP had bad luck

It's curious, because in the Monuments where Pogacar is the favorite, you find it hard to see it so clearly .
For example, Liège, the last two times he hasn't won it has been due to that bad luck.

 

[Berniece]

It's curious, because in the Monuments where Pogacar is the favorite, you find it hard to see it so clearly .
For example, Liège, the last two times he hasn't won it has been due to that bad luck.

I wouldn’t call your mother in law dying “bad luck”

 

[Oldman]

I wouldn’t call your mother in law dying “bad luck”

You know his mother in law that well?

 

[jono]

Earlier this month or last there was speculation that MVDP might ride Omloop. Has anyone heard anything further on this?