Wout van aert e Mathieu Van der Poel. Mathieu Van der Poel and Wout Van Aert. The historic duel continues. It also continues online, where the two are compared more closely than Pogacar and Evenepoel. But we also want to put them to a duel and the judge of this comparison is none other than Michele Bartoli.
The great former champion, now a trainer, was a great classics rider and also a cyclocross expert. He has all the ingredients to prepare for this challenge.
Van Aert, born in 1994, Belgian, rider for the Jumbo Visma, 39 road victories under his belt. An excellent time trialist, a superb "gregarious," strong on climbs, and a phenomenal sprinter. He's 190 centimeters tall and weighs 78 kilos.
Van der Poel, born in 1995, Dutch, rider for the Alpecin-Deceuninck, 40 road victories under his belt. An excellent sprinter, he holds his own, even destroys almost everyone, on short climbs, and is a strong time trialist. He's 184 centimeters tall and weighs 75 kilos.
Michele, Van der Poel, and Van Aert, let's try to analyze the two...
Van Aert is a sniper, Van der Poel shoots with a bazooka! Van Aert is more complete, when he moves he rarely makes mistakes. Van der Poel is more unpredictable, whatever comes to mind, he does. And he often throws away the result. We saw it last year at Tour of ItalyBut maybe that's also why it's so popular.
They are two phenomena, in any case…
To date what Van Aert wins, Van der Poel cannot win, while the opposite is true And this depends above all on their different tactical capabilities, given that they both have the potential. How can you tell which of the two is stronger? I can say, however, that Van Aert is more reliable. I like the Avengers… There's always a debate about who's the strongest superhero, Thor or the Hulk. Here, VdP is one of the Avengers, Van Aert is one between Thor and Hulk.
With this metaphor, you've won, Michele! Let's get back to the real world. Van Aert is more reliable, but this season, between the two, Van Aert has dominated the cross-country race. Maybe VdP will win the world championship like a year ago...
If VdP gets the tactics right, he does so by luck, and when that happens, he can win. The cross, even if it doesn't seem like it, è An extremely tactical discipline, which requires managing every single meter of the race much more than the road itself: the curve, the effort, the obstacle… And in this, Van Aert is more precise. It could therefore happen that the one time in ten that VdP wins is the world championship.
You mentioned his somewhat reckless tactics, doing whatever comes to mind: does the fact that the Dutchman is also a biker have an impact on you? Does he therefore have a more "free" mentality?
I don't know exactly what that is, but it probably comes from there. If anything I think it's more of a character issue. If Mathieu isn't having fun, he gets bored... And he does what we see next.
Instead, what opinion does the trainer Michele Bartoli give of the two?
From what we can see, Van Aert is able to express more quality at the aerobic threshold: this was also seen at the Tour and in his climbing performances. To do what a rider of his size did, he must have an enormous aerobic threshold, a gigantic engine. While Van der Poel has greater lactic capacity.
If we had to put them in front of the five monuments: who would you see as the favorite?
I guess I should exclude Lombardy and Liège and therefore for Sanremo, Flanders and Roubaix they are there.
Let's also add Liège and Lombardy, which Van Aert also said he wanted to do…
Well, If I have to consider these two too, then I'll still take Van Aert. I remember the 2021 Tirreno when he tried to keep up with Pogačar on the climbs. I thought, "This guy's crazy, what's he doing?" But he was right, because he almost won the overall. Therefore, if it holds up in those stages, it gives me more guarantees for Liège and Lombardy. Van der Poel, on the other hand, with his explosiveness, I see him a little better in view of Sanremo. Of course, we're still talking about one-day races where anything can happen.
In time trial?
Back to the engine issue. Van Aert is very strong. In long time trials there is no contest, while in a prologue or a short time trial Van der Poel may even have an advantage. However, in the long time trials, especially in the Grand Tours, Van Aert is unapproachable.
And in sprint, Michele?
In a head-to-head, Van der Poel is probably better, Mostly because in close-combat sprints, where the sprint is supposed to start at slower speeds, the Dutchman can exploit his power and explosiveness. Meanwhile, in a bunch sprint, where the sprinters arrive at higher speeds, Van Aert has the advantage.
Let's look at their calendar between cyclocross and road, what do you expect for the future?
It amazes me that they have such consistency in doing dual jobs and doing it at that level. It's incredibly difficult, believe me. But they manage it well. They carefully manage their calendars, also because the results they achieve speak for themselves. And they always manage to find the necessary resources. Maybe the time will come when they no longer do both disciplines, but it's also true that they're no longer kids. They've found their balance, at least physically. Because I always tell my athletes: "If you're tired, with a good dinner and a good night's sleep you'll recover physically the next morning, but what about mentally?" If you do too much activity, you risk losing your desire over time.
