Mathieu VDP at the finish line of the road race in Paris. #Olympics
"We're keeping our fingers crossed, he feels good" - Mathieu van der Poel's dad is confident heading into the Paris Olympics
CyclingTuesday, 23 July 2024 at 01:00
Mathieu van der Poel spent the past three weeks a bit under the radar. Wearing the rainbow didn't grant the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider wings to win a stage himself. Even then, he played a key role in Jasper Philipsen's three triumphs, which was almost enough to defend the Green jersey from last year. But back to the Dutchman. Van der Poel declared ahead of the race that Tour de France would be only a piece in the puzzle which should be completed at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Cyclism'Actu asked his father Adrie van der Poel whether he thinks Mathieu is ready for the Olympics. "Yes, I think so, but there are many who are ready as we saw at the Tour. But hey, it's another race." For example Tadej Pogacar. "He's a rider I've been following for a long time, he's great, he puts on a show. We know him, he does exceptional things. He races a bit as he wants, if he wants to attack he attacks, I like that!"
And what about doubts and suspicions? "It was the case in the past, it's talked about today, it will be talked about in the future... I hope and believe that cycling is a clean sport. Some things have changed, like training, bikes, altitude training... These are things that have changed cycling, in our time it was different. Now there are riders who are ready with very few days of racing, in our time you had to do races to be in shape. Many things have changed, you have to accept it."
The punchy course in Paris should more than suit the Dutchman. Will Mathieu become the new Olympic champion? "We're keeping our fingers crossed, he feels good. The last stages were tough, but I don't think he suffered too much. It's good training, there are two weeks left to dot the i's. I'm very confident, he's going to do something good."
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- i don’t know nearly as much about bruyneel or hincapie as most of us do about lance, but we judge people by the company they keep. i hand no idea what psychological problems the other two have, but there’s gotta be something pretty severely wrong with them if they continue to choose to be close to armstrong.OCexile26-12-2024
- Ayuso and Rodriguez are only 22 and 23. Don't pressure it as they're still so sooo young.
James2631826-12-2024 - Not sure that can be true, in that USA Cycling is part of the UCI.acem8226-12-2024
- Oh, and yes: I am no psychiatrist/psychologist, but Bruyneel and Texas Turd are both sociopaths. It goes well beyond "protect my world and anyone would" that is the usual zeitgeist of their bullshit. No normal person has Bob Roll go at Greg Lemond with an audio recording device at Ron Keifel's bike shop...for example.EricJensenRidesBikes26-12-2024
- Funnier: this website keeps giving credo to their ramblings. In this case, why in any possible way would Boonen want to create a fantasy world to attach himself to these two clowns when more likely he would want to forget he was even there? Laughable.EricJensenRidesBikes26-12-2024
- A sociopath is an informal term used to describe someone with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), a mental health condition characterized by a chronic pattern of disregard for social norms, laws, and the rights and feelings of others.EricJensenRidesBikes26-12-2024
- Rowe spent his whole career on one team being nothing more than a thug for Skyneos. I have no idea why another team would want import this type of person into their program.Sweep26-12-2024
- “CyclingUpToDate would like to extend it's condolences to family and friends of Pascal.” Paging a copy editor….menk26-12-2024
- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024