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

[HashRouge]

This argument is weird. If Pogacar is confident and his main goal is too keep remco from coming back than there is no reason for him not to set a consistent pace if that were to help him keep Remco off. I also very much disagree with your premise. The whole thought process seems wrong as MVDP was not riding slow at all. The work was in fact being shared. Not 50/50 but MVDP clearly helped pogacar. The only reason pogacar could accelerate was cause MVDP gave him respite

This. I know some posters say that he just brute forces everything and there are no tactics involved, but he's actually quite a clever racer and he used MdvP's presence to his own advantage at RvV. Didn't he say afterwards that he tried not to drop MdvP too soon so that he could benefit from his present on the flatter sections?

 

[canina82]

Yes, Pogacar drops MvdP more easily if he does 100% of the pulling. Makes perfect sense.

You are really assuming Pogacar would happily pull with MVP on his wheel all the time?

 

[SHAD0W93]

Since MVDP was already stronger than Evenepoel I see no reason why he would sandbag. Even more so if he wants to win… if they get back, he wins the sprint against those two anyway

He knows his body more than us and knows if he works and turns into a group of 3, his odds decrease due to Pogacar and Evenepoel attacking. Evenepoel while being dropped showed he was in great shape and if he goes on a flier there’s no guarantee Pogacar works.

This argument is weird. If Pogacar is confident and his main goal is too keep remco from coming back than there is no reason for him not to set a consistent pace if that were to help him keep Remco off. I also very much disagree with your premise. The whole thought process seems wrong as MVDP was not riding slow at all. The work was in fact being shared. Not 50/50 but MVDP clearly helped pogacar. The only reason pogacar could accelerate was cause MVDP gave him respite

Like Pidcock and MVDP working in MSR argument wasn’t?
Pogacar was concerned of doing all the work and MVDP hanging on to win a sprint. MVDP was riding yes, but the majority of his pulls were fake and that’s when Evenepoel started catching up.

 

[Berniece]

He knows his body more than us and knows if he works and turns into a group of 3, his odds decrease due to Pogacar and Evenepoel attacking. Evenepoel while being dropped showed he was in great shape and if he goes on a flier there’s no guarantee Pogacar works.

I think his chances would improve, and actually think he would've won Flanders if Evenepoel came back. Working with Pogacar the whole time, and then having no energy anymore. That's how you lose

 

[AmRacer]

I think his chances would improve, and actually think he would've won Flanders if Evenepoel came back. Working with Pogacar the whole time, and then having no energy anymore. That's how you lose

The only relevant is what Mathieu knows.

 

[jmdirt]

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/ISRho6z2JO4?si=-gJWg4w3Li-2_kc3

 

[jono]

MVDP promo video

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OTs-NDpLTQ

More MTB specific stuff in this video than cyclocross. Should we read anything into this re: his future goals, or is it just a matter of Shimano having XTR groupsets to sell?

 

[saunaking]

I think he is done with cx and is ready to pass the jersey to his teammate Tibor

 

[jmdirt]

More MTB specific stuff in this video than cyclocross. Should we read anything into this re: his future goals, or is it just a matter of Shimano having XTR groupsets to sell?

Obviously Shimano makes those video 97% for marketing.

 

[jono]

I think he is done with cx and is ready to pass the jersey to his teammate Tibor

This could well be true, but CX isn't getting in the way of his XC ambitions. If he wants to pursue the mountian bike, his sponsors would need to be ok with him giving the Tour de France a miss for a season or two.