Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[scribers]

Cycling fans are a rather astute base, at least compared to a lot of other sports. In general, they know BS when they see it, and can turn on a great rider who lacks composure and grace. His lashing out at a journalist because he is tired of being asked how many stages he believes he can win, is a publicist nightmare. Just a simple polite answer that is humble is gracious will do. And going out on pointless escapades like today will only irritate the fans who want to witness his greatness. He's gotta dial it in. The sponsors and the team need this leadership too. It's not always about winning.

 

[Extinction]

SO STUPID!!!

Cycling fans are a rather astute base, at least compared to a lot of other sports. In general, they know BS when they see it, and can turn on a great rider who lacks composure and grace. His lashing out at a journalist because he is tired of being asked how many stages he believes he can win, is a publicist nightmare. Just a simple polite answer that is humble is gracious will do. And going out on pointless escapades like today will only irritate the fans who want to witness his greatness. He's gotta dial it in. The sponsors and the team need this leadership too. It's not always about winning.

Cycling exploits in the absense of journalistic coverage are meaningless. He should recognize this, as his sponsors do

 

[Panda Claws]

Bit of an overreaction going on here atm. Checking back in a few days.

 

[Offline]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1789749724251119965

View: https://twitter.com/VelonCC/status/1789749724251119965

 

[QueenStagiaire]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1789749724251119965

View: https://twitter.com/VelonCC/status/1789749724251119965

More dominant than Valerio Conti

In fact he has the biggest lead after nine days of racing in the Giro since Jens Heppner in 2002.

 

[Peyroteo94]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1789749724251119965

View: https://twitter.com/VelonCC/status/1789749724251119965

It is probably the biggest advantage since the 80's.

 

[Peyroteo94]

More dominant than Valerio Conti

In fact he has the biggest lead after nine days of racing in the Giro since Jens Heppner in 2002.

Oh, didn't see that

 

[jmdirt]

Cycling fans are a rather astute base, at least compared to a lot of other sports. In general, they know BS when they see it, and can turn on a great rider who lacks composure and grace. His lashing out at a journalist because he is tired of being asked how many stages he believes he can win, is a publicist nightmare. Just a simple polite answer that is humble is gracious will do. And going out on pointless escapades like today will only irritate the fans who want to witness his greatness. He's gotta dial it in. The sponsors and the team need this leadership too. It's not always about winning.

What fans are irritated? Detractors might be irritated, but if they weren't criticizing him for racing hard, the would be calling him a wheel sucker so...

 

[Oldermanish]

What fans are irritated? Detractors might be irritated, but if they weren't criticizing him for racing hard, the would be calling him a wheel sucker so...

So true. Evenepoel was revered at first but made the mistake of being petulant in public. Borderline "fans" called him arrogant, etc. Once he got injured and fought back to form he was somewhat redeemed but he became more responsible for curating his public image. To be fair; he was young and under lots of pressure.

Roglic suffered injuries and was treated fairly well by the press but ran afoul of some of the forum intelligentsia when he had the temerity to beat Remco....repeatedly. He was labelled a wheelsucker and too conservative. He did lose his self-control blaming another rider for a GT ending crash that he's since shut up about; as he should.

None of the pressure sounds like any fun.

 

[hayneplane]

Sure, but the older generation guys are speaking from the unwritten gentleman's agreement that used to prevail in cycling, but evidently, as with all modern business relationships today, no longer does. For example, if it's a sprinters's stage the race leader stays out off their turf, since sprinters have limited GT opportunities to net a victory that may be vital to secure next year's contract. Stuff like this or keeping rival teams at least not trying to sabotage you against their own interests, just out of spite to make you lose. This, to answer your question, is how the pissed off can respond to untoward imperious dominance. Yet in today's cycling I don't know if such recourse would be taken, because the call for results is just too strong.

Limited opportunities for sprinters is a laughable claim. They get far more chances than any other type of rider.

 

[scribers]

What fans are irritated? Detractors might be irritated, but if they weren't criticizing him for racing hard, the would be calling him a wheel sucker so...

It's going to happen. He's under a microscope now that he is winning so much. He has to have a thicker skin, be gracious, and smart. The past day or so he hasn't been any of those.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Roglic suffered injuries and was treated fairly well by the press but ran afoul of some of the forum intelligentsia when he had the temerity to beat Remco....repeatedly. He was labelled a wheelsucker and too conservative. He did lose his self-control blaming another rider for a GT ending crash that he's since shut up about; as he should.

Roglic ran afoul when he blamed Wright for his crash, Evenepoel and his beef started the next season though both fan bases were at each others throat. He was always labeled as conservative for the most part.

 

[dazaau]

It's going to happen. He's under a microscope now that he is winning so much. He has to have a thicker skin, be gracious, and smart. The past day or so he hasn't been any of those.

Pictures or it didn't happen! Where can I see this ungracious interview?

On a side note I'm enjoying G's interviews.

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

Sure, but the older generation guys are speaking from the unwritten gentleman's agreement that used to prevail in cycling, but evidently, as with all modern business relationships today, no longer does. For example, if it's a sprinters's stage the race leader stays out off their turf, since sprinters have limited GT opportunities to net a victory that may be vital to secure next year's contract. Stuff like this or keeping rival teams at least not trying to sabotage you against their own interests, just out of spite to make you lose. This, to answer your question, is how the pissed off can respond to untoward imperious dominance. Yet in today's cycling I don't know if such recourse would be taken, because the call for results is just too strong.

Too bad nobody told Hinault when he went to win in yellow on the Champs-Elysées... twice!

 

[Extinction]

Too bad nobody told Hinault when he went to win in yellow on the Champs-Elysées... twice!

I knew sombody would bring this up. The Champs Elisse isn't a normal sprint stage. Hinault wouldn't have gone for any other sprint stage. It's the last day of the Tour. Why are people arguimg with me? Again, I'm just relating what others said. Don't agree with them? Fine. Don't agree with me? That's a non-sense.

 

[Extinction]

Limited opportunities for sprinters is a laughable claim. They get far more chances than any other type of rider.

Nonsense. That's laughable. They are numerous and have 6, 7 chances to land a big victory in a Giro, Tour or Vuelta. It's practically their entire seasons, as far as contracts go. Unlike domestiques, they have to win to be considered successful at their jobs. Argue with those who said the original matter. Not me.

 

[johnymax]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1789749724251119965

View: https://twitter.com/VelonCC/status/1789749724251119965

It doesn't look that special to me. Conti in 2019 had 5:06 advantage over future race winner Carapaz. This year Pogi has 3:39 advantage over future Giro 2024 winner Ben O'Connor.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So how do you rate Pog form? IMO he was super strong in Liege but his form kinda dropped since then (maybe he really took it easy after Liege). It could be that they really are trying to target top form for the Tour and Giro week 3. Where is @mou when wee need him?

 

[bNator]

So how do you rate Pog form? IMO he was super strong in Liege but his form kinda dropped since then (maybe he really took it easy after Liege). It could be that they really are trying to target top form for the Tour and Giro week 3. Where is @mou when wee need him?

Creating new accounts and making smooth transition to his previous persona.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

So how do you rate Pog form? IMO he was super strong in Liege but his form kinda dropped since then (maybe he really took it easy after Liege). It could be that they really are trying to target top form for the Tour and Giro week 3. Where is @mou when wee need him?

Hard to tell I think. I don't know enough about training, would it make sense for him to have a form buildup, that let's him peak just a bit before the Giro?
He's also supposed to not overly stress himself I guess, so we don't know how deep he dug, except for the TT, and even there he maybe could have cone faster at the start, he kind of indicated that (or it was just really good pacing, also possible ofc)
I think the important factor is how he looks compared to his rivals and I guess we can say, they look like he's toying with them.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Hard to tell I think. I don't know enough about training, would it make sense for him to have a form buildup, that let's him peak just a bit before the Giro?
He's also supposed to not overly stress himself I guess, so we don't know how deep he dug, except for the TT, and even there he maybe could have cone faster at the start, he kind of indicated that (or it was just really good pacing, also possible ofc)
I think the important factor is how he looks compared to his rivals and I guess we can say, they look like he's toying with them.

There is no doubt that hes toying with his rivals and his form his very good. I am just looking at a larger Giro Tour double picture. Has he peaked? I dont think so. Time will tell how he fares in week 3 and at the Tour. Only against Skeletor he needs absolute peak (which may still not be enough), definitely not against Giro competition.

Obviously peaking before the Giro makes no sense but maybe at Liege they realized he is a bit too strong too early.

 

[Cookster15]

It could be that they really are trying to target top form for the Tour and Giro week 3.

I assume this was the case. But realitically, to optmize his chances at he Tour he would win undercooked in the Giro. So far so good I'd say? He looked spent after the TT, but recovered quickly and seemed to win on Prati di Tivo very easily. Yes, toying with them. Also, he did control his instincts on the sterrato stage 6. That was telling.

 

[Cassirer]

Hard to tell I think. I don't know enough about training, would it make sense for him to have a form buildup, that let's him peak just a bit before the Giro?
He's also supposed to not overly stress himself I guess, so we don't know how deep he dug, except for the TT, and even there he maybe could have cone faster at the start, he kind of indicated that (or it was just really good pacing, also possible ofc)
I think the important factor is how he looks compared to his rivals and I guess we can say, they look like he's toying with them.

Yeah, I agree its almost impossible to rate his form, but that was clear when looking at the start list. Dominating this opposition was never gonna tell us anything. Maybe the gap could be even bigger, but we can't know if its form or chilling with july in mind.

 

[SafeBet]

What fans are irritated? Detractors might be irritated, but if they weren't criticizing him for racing hard, the would be calling him a wheel sucker so...

I can tell you most Italian fans love what he's doing. Just go to a stage start or finish and you'll see. His attacking nature, his panache, his (apparent) lack of rationality: that's exactly what the Giro has been missing the past few years... And fans recognize that.

I don't think the peloton has negative feeling towards him either. I was talking to ex Bardiani rider Alessio Nieri a few days ago and he told me Pogacar is well liked by his peers. Nieri told me: "if you have the legs to win why should you not win?" which perfectly sums up this new generation approach to cycling. Uijtdebroeks said the same thing in an interview after Prati di Tivo.

There is a niche of detractors among older journalists / ex pros / perhaps DSs (?) but that's the sad reality in every aspect of life. Old thinks everything old was better and struggles to understand change. Beppe Conti doesn't fancy Pogacar going toe to toe with sprinters in Naples? I think I can live with it.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Like I said prior to the Giro, We must wait for the Tour if we really want to know how good he is. Even his weight looks bigger than other GT's he has done.