Is MVP not able to get away after his attack? Did someone catch MVP in Glasgow, PR, Flandres? History shows that MVP would not be caught if WVA wasn't there. So my point is valid.
The typical MVP recipe is to cook the competition first with his superpower: ultra-explosive efforts combined with his ability to recover faster than anyone else. Once cooked, it will be hard to get him back.
If competitors can create race situations against MVP that reduce the amount of interval, it will most likely benefit them. It’s like cyclocross races that are so muddy they become basically time trials, where WVA often outperforms MVP.
One vs. one, if the race is far from the finish, just don’t let him put you on the grill. Give him a few seconds on the climb and stay within your power limits. Then use the Paul Herijgers (ex-cyclocross rider) strategy: “It is better to be the hunter than the rabbit.” This means if MVP wants to start a time trial battle to keep the lead, it will be to your advantage because a time trial involves less interval than taking turns. As the hunter, it is up to you to decide when to take him back. If he abandons the time trial, he has burned a bigger match than you.
This only can work for the few riders who are, according to me, if not cooked, better rouleurs than MVP, like Remco, WVA, and Pogacar.
Pogacar, of course, could take up the interval battle as well.