High praise! Contador calls Vanderpool Messi

Alberto Contador likened Mathieu van der Poel to Messi, the world’s top footballer, saying the Dutchman has unparalleled star charm to attract cycling enthusiasts.

As a rising all-round star in the cycling world, van der Poel has dominated the CX world and won three CX world championships. At the same time, he has also achieved great success in the mountain bike industry. In 2019, he performed amazingly in the road world. Especially in the spring classics last year, van der Poel staged a shocking reversal in the final sprint of the Amster Gold Race, staged the most dramatic bicycle race in the professional car scene in recent years, detonating the car scene.

The 24-year-old driver’s reckless offensive behavior resonated with Contador. In an interview with the Dutch website Wielerflits, Contador said: “Now van der Poel is like Messi. Why do you say that? Because even if you don’t support Barcelona , If if you have the opportunity, you will want to go there to see May West kicks. If there is Vanderpool, even if it is a small game, people will come for him, it is incredible. ”

As far as road bike sports are concerned, van der Poel’s career is still in its early stages. In the short term, after winning his third CX World Championship last week, he will focus on the Spring Classic, which includes Paris-Roubaix, and then the Olympic mountain bike project. After that, he hopes to enter the Tour de France and start his first Grand Tour of his career.

Contador also expressed his thoughts about van der Poel’s future challenge to the Grand Tour Championship. “Sometimes we are crazy, guessing ‘maybe he can win the Tour de France, or something else’. Some riders are great, like Peter Sagan, (people always say) ‘Maybe if Peter loses weight …’ but Peter Sa Gan is Peter Sagan. ”

“van der Poel may attack and make himself 5 seconds faster than other sprinters. Winning the second driver will feel like they are winning because they lose to van der Poel. In my opinion, it is important that we clear His amazing ability, we must appreciate his victory, which will allow him to continue to play and improve steadily.