“Last week he went at 45 kilometres, here it was 60" - Adrie van der Poel reacts to son Mathieu's dominant Paris-Roubaix triumph
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel claimed a dominant victory at Paris-Roubaix this Sunday afternoon, soloing to the win from a touch under 60km in the longest solo victory for 30 years in the men's version of the French, cobbled monument.
“I think he did the math. Last week he went at 45 kilometres, here it was sixty. In terms of time it's about the same," the world champion's father, Adrie van der Poel proudly reflects to Wielerflits, referring to his son's other monument victory this season at the Tour of Flanders. "There was of course a lot of tailwind and behind it you were lucky that Jasper Philipsen was in a good position there. It was just another strong collective performance.”
To do the Flanders - Roubaix double is a massive success for van der Poel, made even more impressive by the fact he still has just five race days in his legs this season. "It has happened before in the past. Riders who are good in Flanders are also good in Roubaix," Adrie assesses. "There are riders who have already done the double, and riders who have not. That can go a bit in either direction.”
Could the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader make his spring even better though and secure a hat-trick of monuments this season at the upcoming Liege-Bastogne-Liege? "Liège will be a completely different story. Riding in the top five in Liège is the same as winning in Roubaix," Adrie says, attempting to cool expectations somewhat. "But yes, he has to take advantage of the good condition and perhaps the euphoria. Because there will now be a horde of other riders ready who will also be super motivated. It could go either way.”
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I thought it was quite a humble opinion and he gave a take on LBL no-one else has. I wouldn’t have read it if your comment hadn’t brought me here though, maybe think about that next time coz you’re helping his « popularity » rankings :-)
I rather seeing other peoples' opinions over him any day😅. Seen so many times he was interviewed. Often compare him to Max Verstappen's Dad, Jos for his outspoken behaviour. Even Tim Merlier's interview is more interesting.
Yeah ok, fair enough but it’s kind of unavoidable that when MvdP wins they go interview his entourage for general cycling websites and not someone like Merlier (nothing against him) who you can follow at dedicated places. I mean, you were the first to comment on this and no-one forced to to read his dad’s comment, and if they don’t interest you in the least, just discipline yourself :-) I have the weakness (in my generation it used to be considered more a strength) of being very curious and interested in all sorts of things, including understanding different opinions, reactions so I have no problem reading people I don’t like or agree with, I still learn a lot from it.
give him a break. he’s a proud Dad. he deserves to be and as a Dad I don’t mind hearing from him.
You probadly new, so... No wonder you made such a deluded comment🤦🏻
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- Why? He is being too hard on himself. No sane person will blame him if he stopped there and then.
KerisVroom14-04-2025 - You can find a quick explantion by searching for "finish line camera howtown". The camera only captures the vertical line. The photo that we see is a composite of vertical lines.KerisVroom14-04-2025
- Let us not go off the deep end for a start it us not attempted murder. At most common assault. Country dependent. Yes horrible to see and ob not a real fan of the sport or just a VDP hater. This has been going on for years look at Froome in the TDF and other sports such as football. That is soccer to the North Americans. Let the police do there job and hope the offender gets what is coming to him or even her.paultryan200214-04-2025
- Sure but talk about predictable comments, do we really need those (although this time it was more rambling)? Don’t love the media running after him to hear about it each time though. Adrie isn’t even that well informed about his son’s work, can’t they go interview people who have more interesting comments to provide like maybe his mechanic or masseur or nutritionist or driver,oh yes, they’re probably bound by nda’s, which is why no-one tells Adrie anything of importance, didn’t even know his son was sick before Flanders so some of his comments there turned out pointless.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- I think with Tadej it’s often a case of his mind’s will being stronger than his racing intelligence, he’s lucky to be strong enough to recover from potential mistakes so knows he never has to worry too much about going past his natural limit but under pressure he makes more misjudgment than the average elite pro. I think Mohorič knows that about him too and possibly saved him from himself.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- Thanks, strange, I would have thought with digital resolution and light performance these days, you’d see crystal clear high res images like you may have seen if you saw the close up of WVA knee wounds pic taken in-race as he zoomed by. Do you by any chance know what’s special about photo finish tech that leads to this?Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- Not to forget how their star rider is willing to play domestique for sprint stages, a few ladies could learn a lot from this. I was thinking, if either of Tadej or MVDP didn’t exist, the other could have reached Merckx monument level but then again, would they have the same motivation? Is it a coincidence they both have so many already and that the only other two who had more also rode concurrently? The one guy who pays the price of it is WVA who may come away empty handed, the best rider to never win a monument is surely worth an article.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- So good it never happened, this team with MVDP is one of the reasons cycling hasn’t gone to shyt too much yet, I respect Tadej but I don’t think he’s even given much thought to the who and why of financing in sport and how naïve athletes just get used as little pawns in a bigger game.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- It was still an incredible debute and winning this race is very much possible for Pogi if gives it a few more years experience. I was wondering if he didn't get good intel from the car and seemed to be trying to attack round the corner or at least apply pressure which it was just not the right place. Maybe the bikes played a part in why he didn't realise himself but I do feel given his stature and being the first ever Paris Roubaix for Poggi, if he needed more support from those around him in knowing the corners that you simply can't take like normal. I remember a gravel lane I took too hard once and it was a gentle turn but if you try to take hard it will throw you. Seems it was pretty common knowledge now for the others in the event but I didn't know and it ended up bloody and bruised all because I wasn't aware of this corner where the normal rules don't apply. I'd suspect similar myself.HoopoeChai14-04-2025
- That's how the finish line camera worksKerisVroom14-04-2025