“If he were not Poulidor's grandson he would not be as highly regarded" - Mathieu van der Poel overrated according to Jerome Pineau
Cycling
The controversial Jerome Pineau is no stranger to hot-takes, having previously publicly accused Team Visma | Lease a Bike of mechanical doping. His latest tirade however, might be the most controversial yet.
Former team manager of B&B Hotels-KTM, Pineau has sensationally claimed that dual-discipline world champion Mathieu van der Poel is overrated due to his family ties with the legendary darling of French cycling, Raymond Poulidor. "There is something that bothers me enormously. Do you know why no one criticizes Mathieu van der Poel ? Because he is Poupou's grandson," Pineau explains to RMC.
“If he were not Poulidor's grandson, the songs he performs would not be as highly regarded as they are now," Pineau continues. “Then that would be assessed more accurately than the performance of someone like Tadej Pogacar. And if Van der Poel does not perform, will it be mentioned? No, because he is Poulidor's grandson."
Pineau's comments are sure to spark a reaction! What do you think, is van der Poel overrated because of his legendary grandfather? Let us know your thoughts!
Well let's put it this way, the second to second movements of cyclists are tiresome by the media ie this website ESPECIALLY Vingegard, and not during the Giro - Pogacar..as for MvdP, he'd be good no matter what, his grand-father gave him great genes and obviously his father too.. 🤷♂️
They are only tiresome because the skim the details and stories that could make it more interesting, it’s more headline creation than reporting or educational or investigation and explanation. That said, it’s still nothing compared to the fuss and discussion and dissection made about every team, player, match, predicted or past result, move, pass, foul or replacement made in Football, isn’t it. But somehow football fans never seem to get enough from it all. Maybe cycling fans are just not passionate enough, but then don’t call yourself a fan.
Pineau is back on drugs again, not the kind that make you go faster, the kind that let you fly because your so high lol
Pineau is a moron. No one gives respect to MVDP because he is Poulidor's grandson. Poulidor is forgotten by many fans today. He has achieved respect on his own right long ago when he won the CX WC and so many CX races long ago.
I completely disagree with him, BUT To be fair, I think the media is exploiting this on malevolently for what is now most easily understood as clickbait (one of those words invented so people who don’t want to think much can enjoy taking part in conversation sounding knowledgeable). I am pretty sure, the original interview was in French and aimed at a French public in which case he is obviously referring to MVDPs treatment by the French public. Now, some may argue heritage and nationality don’t affect their opinion of him but as with so many subjects, only because they’ve never asked themselves sincerely. Obviously the fact there is a French connection reduces French criticism or antiness. Things would be different were he competing against pure French rival. We don’t need to look far to see how others were treated when the success of a French rider was at stake, when Thevenet became a potential Merckx beater, the French quickly lost their past respect for him and the disgusting injustice inflicted on him was quickly brushed aside. In today’s Media, the French would have shamed away under international criticism it would have stirred up. So thanks again to the media for knowingly stirring up sh*t for clicks
Yeah, the guy who in 14 months wins Milan-San Remo (going away), Paris-Roubiax (going away), the World Road Championship (going away), the World Cyclocross championship (way, way away), Flanders (2nd time, going away), and then repeats Paris-Roubaix (2nd time, going away) is just coasting on his grandpa's name.
C’mon, it’s just like a monument. Maybe your feeling is affected by who’s won it, or not?
Maybe he suffer dementia or something... Would not be a shock if he suffered from dementia
Someone's on hallucinogens. What in the living bleep is this clown talking about?
What a crock! Not my favourite rider but his legendary performances speak for themselves. Plus lots of casual fans probably not even aware of the family relation.
Am I missing something? All those race wins don't count? Pineau is sounding like he has dementia.
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