Cycling, because Van der Poel is better in the world by bike

The man who whispers to the stones. There is no one in the world capable of leading the bike as Mathieu Van der Poel does. And thanks to his extraordinary ability he is the only one who has not yet surrendered to Tadej Pogacar’s superiority: he knows how to wait, he does not lose his wheel, and even manages to beat him with a combination of head and legs, of power associated with an uncommon technical ability. He succeeded in Milan-Sanremo, not at Flander. But in his house, on the most famous pavé in the world, he reiterated that he is the master. Of style, driving, technique. The most classic that tames the classics. It is a question of physical condition, of estate, but above all of balance. Van der Poel on the stones seems that it slides, that it is lightly buys, despite its 75 kilos distributed over 184 centimeters in height. Fly to the pavé, an average of almost 47 kilometers per hour. He paints the curves, it seems one with his bike. But let’s see in detail what makes it so special.

One with the bike

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“The bike is part of her body,” say her teammates admired. His ability, cultivated thanks to multidisciplinary, allows him uncommon athletic gestures. The twentieth stage of the Tour de France 2024 comes to mind, which Mathieu Corse in preparation for the Paris Olympic Games: that day, from Nice to Col de la Couralole he would have won Tadej Pogacar but Van der Poel did something extraordinary. After drilling at the beginning, he had to wait an eternity before his flagship reached him and replaced the wheel. But he did not stop: he continued to pedal with a rubber on the ground, and the worst moment was when during a roundabout the rear tire slipped suddenly behind him. He surpassed her slowly, with an Olympic calm, knowing exactly what the reaction of his bike would be. But for that day it was not over: while pedaling on the first climb, she raised and turned the wheel in front of a bottle to avoid a bottle on the ground. An unprecedented level of security, which demonstrates how the bike is part of its body.

The grip like a caress

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Nobody holds the handlebar like him: the others put the gloves, the plaster, the tap of the strokes of the stones, he runs with bare hands, and when he reaches the finish they are unexpectedly intact. It is not a miracle, it is the consequence of a precise choice. By bicycle, when a stretch of pavé arrives (but it is not different before a bad descent) all the others instinctively stiffen, he does not: Van der Poel remains soft as a caress, gives his handlebar a light socket. It does not oppose the pavé, it indulges it. Thus did Francesco Moser, that Mathieu has just reached three wins in a row at Roubaix and who was the first to give the idea of ​​paving the pavé at speed as now does Van der Poel. So Tom Boonen, who won four times in Roubaix but has already taken into account that the Dutchman will exceed him. So Franco Ballerini did, who had found his private and Roubaix paradise in hell he won two, not to mention all those lost. There are obviously technical reasons behind his grip: Van der Poel is used to pedal in a high socket, probably due to the habit of practicing disciplines other than the road such as cyclocross and mountain bike, where the handle is almost always in the upper part of the handlebar. To compensate for the highest position, then, he works a lot with his elbows bent, he crushes himself a lot. Generally it does very classic choices regarding the bike position and the size of the frame (for years the one who uses is standard in size, Mvdp does not easily bend to fashions like many of his colleagues), and this allows him a more stable and fluid guide in the fastest passages and in those sections of the plain or descent with comfortable curves where he does not take his foot from the gas.

Roubaix as a masterclass

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The Milan-Sanremo, which requires a unique combination of resistance, power, patience and cunning, has won it twice. When he hadn’t run it yet, Van der Poel admitted that his dream was Paris-Roubaix. Certainly it is the road race that requires maximum elegance: pedaling seated, with low hands, with the torso perfectly parallel to the ground. To tame hell you have to counter chaos with the utmost composure. On the most rough ground that there is you have to keep in balance by dancing on the stones. Those who have more strength are also faster, but forget to understand it from outside: if you see Van der Poel pedaling on the pavé it will give you the impression not to be struggling. This is thanks to a superlative driving technique, to an uncommon ability to “feel” the means that has trained from an early age on the fields of cyclocross. His curves on the pavé are manual: it is no coincidence that he managed to save himself when Pogacar fell despite being almost attached to him. It is no different from what happens in cyclocross, a discipline that is literally his home courtyard. Mathieu grew up challenging his brother David in mud while Dad Adrie ran: combine the habit with genetics and here you will get the mud master. “I think the DNA is everything. My father also had a good resistance and my mother is a poulidor. But I don’t understand why I have such a superiority in cyclocross. It is partly a mental question. At the beginning I was not very good and yet I won easily”. Seven world titles, this year eight out of eight wins. “I have reached the maturity: I know my legs, I know my body, and the technical staff that surrounds me brings me to the maximum. Then, it is also a mechanical sport: every detail counts, as in Formula 1. I will make cyclocross as long as possible: it keeps me busy in winter, keeps me in shape, guarantees me high -level races during the road break”. Even in the cross it is of another category: it almost never descends from the bike, when the others run by putting it on the shoulder, thanks to an impressive combination of speed and balance.

Four disciplines

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On the road it has a good maximum speed and higher agility to the average. His explosiveness is rare, his cadence of ride so high as to delay muscle fatigue and allow him to be faster than his opponents. In a cyclocross race, an intense effort of about an hour, has a consolidated tactic that has made the most boring races than when he is not at the start: he soon goes on his head and manages to maintain the push to keep the opponents behind. Thanks to a physical resistance that mainly owes its mountain bike activity. “Sometimes it’s the best tactic,” he said in France this year after the seventh world title. “It is always very annoying to be in a group. Sometimes you can be trapped, but when you are in front it is rare. The goal was to open a passage immediately and discourage others.” In cyclocross, technique, resistance and adaptability are needed. Quality that Mathieu transported on the road. He had a furious acceleration, which produces a power that allows him to distance the rivals on the steep and short climbs or during a standing sprint, such as at the Tour of Flanders of 2022 or at the last Milan-Sanremo, when he burned Ganna and Pogacar in the last 250 meters. Then there is the heart, which beats for the MTB. This year Mathieu will not run the World Cup on the road – for climbers – to try to win the world championship also in the cross country. “The pleasure is the basis of everything, that is my secret. I like to win, but training with friends is even better. And of the three disciplines that I practice, the mountain bike is my favorite: you can make tricks, you can climb mountains or reach places inaccessible with the street bike”. The other discipline, which borders in part with the cross and with Roubaix, is the Gravel: Van der Poel is world champion even there, and this year he certainly wants to defend his title in Holland. The trick is having fun.

Total cycling

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Over the years, these driving skills has added a tactical capacity over the years which in the beginning was not his fort. Tactics plays a much more important role on the road, but Van der Poel has always competed in a very similar way in all disciplines, and his background in cyclocross has decisively influenced his style of pure ferocity: physical, tactic and character. The experience made in the cyclocross has long influenced him: when you are so superior the tactic is not always necessary, and Mathieu in fact seemed to us little case, even when he started running in the World Tour. In the early years he was often accused of reckless and very dispersive choices. The classic example is the 2019 AMSTEL GOLD Race. It was her first complete season on the road: that day she practically led the furious pursuit on Fuglsang and Alaphilippe alone alone. With the comeback in his hand 400 meters from the finish, he turned back to see if someone would have come forward and left too far, without worrying about those behind them, obtaining a sensational victory. It was, like now, pure ferocity. But then he ran almost with contempt for the consequences. As the total football of Holland existed, today there is total cycling of Van der Poel. Going to the attack as soon as possible was his idea, then many followed him. He explained it not long ago. “It starts to sprint from the zero kilometer and stop after 260 km. When you stick and run alone, you suffer less than when you struggle in the wake of someone. At the world championships, in Glasgow, we were all dead 22 km from the finish line. Then I attacked and suddenly I was much fresher, as if the wings had sprung up”. Obviously he won alone, despite a rare fall in the rain, the belt of a broken shoe and a little anxiety. For us who were watching, not for him.