Mathieu Van Der Poel is coming...

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by chiasticon

theoretically, yes. but dude has won enough that he knows his body and if he's on great form or not. if he had entered that turn first, realized he had great legs, lit it up and immediately gapped everyone in the first lap, it wouldn't have been the first time.

also the longer you wait to move through traffic, the more potential you have to get stuck behind (vastly) inferior riders, bleeding time.

Oh yes, I suppose he is familiar with winning the easy way by just being so much faster than everyone else.

Wouldn't it be so much more amusing for MVDP to see how long he can ride in last position before stepping on the gas and coming in first?

[chiasticon]

Originally Posted by sparky33

Oh yes, I suppose he is familiar with winning the easy way by just being so much faster than everyone else.

Wouldn't it be so much more amusing for MVDP to see how long he can ride in last position before stepping on the gas and coming in first?

hahaha the easy way!

well probably the last 1/4 or 1/3 of the field was pulled about five laps in. so I guess you could say that's about how long he has. but at that point, he'd have a few minutes to make up within a few laps. much *easier* task going from last to first in the first lap, before it's all spread out.

[Andy sti]

Tim Merlier had a very impressive comeback too. He was last after that crash and worked back up to 9th for the finish. He's been getting better every week. Interesting that he doesn't ride for Corendon after his amazing road season with them. I can only guess that his cross contract was set in place prior to joining Corendon on the road. I think he was riding independently on the road to start the season.

[Spoker]

Herygers (WC "94) : "vdP could have started the race in De Panne and won."

[Lionel]

Originally Posted by JStonebarger

Damn:

March 8: Strade Bianche
March 11-17: Tirreno-Adriatico
March 21: Milan-San Remo
March 29: Gent-Wevelgem
April 1: Dwars door Vlaanderen
April 5: Tour of Flanders
April 12: Paris-Roubaix
April 15: Brabantse Pijl
May: UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
July 27: Olympic Games, cross-country mountain bike
August 14-September 6: Vuelta a España

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van...2020-schedule/

Would be great to see him win flanders or roubaix

[mcc21]

he had a great year. cant believe he beat so many people

[echappist]

March 7: Strade Bianche

March 11-17: Tirreno-Adriatico

March 21: Milan-San Remo

March 23-29: Volta a Catalunya

April 1: Dwars door Vlaanderen

April 5: Tour of Flanders

April 12: Paris-Roubaix

April 15: Brabantse Pijl

April 19: Amstel Gold Race

April 22: La Flèche Wallonne

Personally would love to see him ditch Flèche Wallonne and do Liege instead. But then again, he might just be able to punch it vs. riders who are a good 10-15 kilos lighter... At least he'll be defending his Amstel title.

Originally Posted by JStonebarger

Damn:

March 8: Strade Bianche
March 11-17: Tirreno-Adriatico
March 21: Milan-San Remo
March 29: Gent-Wevelgem
April 1: Dwars door Vlaanderen
April 5: Tour of Flanders
April 12: Paris-Roubaix
April 15: Brabantse Pijl
May: UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
July 27: Olympic Games, cross-country mountain bike
August 14-September 6: Vuelta a España

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van...2020-schedule/

[dougefresh]

From what I’ve seen of the Tokyo Olympics mtb track and the carnage the test event brought, a spring racing on the road isn’t what he needs to win there.

But my money is on him to bag at least one monument on the road this year.

[echappist]

Is it more gnarly than the course at Mt Ste Anne?

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by echappist

Is it more gnarly than the course at Mt Ste Anne?

Judging from the test event, yeah. PVP, I think, took a pretty bad fall on one of the big rock drops.



MVDP is a great bike handler, but he doesn’t stand out from other XC pros. His difference is in power.

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/video-a-...xc-course.html

[echappist]

goodness, maybe it's due to the camera angle (rider's POV vs the camera stations we are used to see in broadcasts), but that looks savage. Those are some serious boulders! At least they padded the trees...

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by echappist

goodness, maybe it's due to the camera angle (rider's POV vs the camera stations we are used to see in broadcasts), but that looks savage. Those are some serious boulders! At least they padded the trees...

They may tone it down a little before the summer, but there are some legit 5 ft huck-to-flats in there. Enduro territory. On top of that, there isn't really a long sustained climb anywhere. MVDP usually makes his hay by laying down watts on non-tech uphill drags and no one can follow. It's going to be a really tough course for him, but this entire thread is a testament to the fact you should never count him out.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by echappist

goodness, maybe it's due to the camera angle (rider's POV vs the camera stations we are used to see in broadcasts), but that looks savage. Those are some serious boulders! At least they padded the trees...

Seems to get pretty dicey around the 3:30 mark. Just out of curiosity, what length handlebars are people running to avoid getting clipped on single track?
I run 740s, but I mainly go on fire roads and double track. That would seem way too wide for a course like that.

[Jaybee]

Kate Courtney is running 680s. So is Nino and PVP and Neff. Seems pretty standard for the XC lycra crowd. I think my 760s feel narrow though.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by echappist

Is it more gnarly than the course at Mt Ste Anne?

Yes. Gnarly may not be the right word. Difficult = yes. Hucks = yes. The Olympic XC course seemed more enduro than the XC WC courses. If not it is on that side of the spectrum