Recent content by Rackham

Of course, that's because Merckx would have been suspended for a large part of his career if modern UCI rules were applied to him. He's not the GOAT and it shocks me to see the whitewashing of his career constantly.

It would when you count the fact he'd be winning 5-10 stages per GT. I think people really underestimate the glory to be had in GT's. Especially in the archive reels. Pog took the Monument obsession and dialled it up to a level where IMO he's sacrificing certain GT wins to chase more Monuments...

Right. And it's about the projection of power as well that sticks long after a rider has retired. Consider this: demolishing the Giro for fun with a ten minute lead looks far more impressive than a two man sprint versus Pidcock to win MSR. Pog needs more Giro 2024 style GT wins. Last year's TdF...

Then watch Seixas win 8 Tours in a row and the French media declare him the greatest of all time whilst Pog fans curse those two TdF's lost versus Vinge. I'm only half joking as well. GOAT narratives are also... fluid. And the media plays a bigly role too.

I'll add a caveat to all this and it's the numbers game. Merckx has 11 GT's, Pog has 5. He needs to start winning more because honestly his stage race palmarès is a bit light considering how dominant he is. He should have more by now tbh. There's a point where focus on Monuments becomes a...

The Vuelta had been rising since the early 2010's tbh. Froome and Contador did a lot for the Tour of Spain, as did the profile of the race which went heavy into muritos and those hilarious inhumane rampas. So nothing is set in stone, i.e. for example we see Paris-Nice starting to lose some of...

It's not so straight-forward. The Laporte group was only 25-35 seconds behind for the entirety of the final 40k or so any hesitation or tactical slowdown from WvA and Pog would have resulted in a re-grouping and attacks flying off in every direction (which would mean it becomes a bit of a...

On this 'fan reaction' issue I'd expect people to have some self awareness, take a step back and look at the bigger picture: Pog, a lightweight climber, has been demolishing absolutely every preconceived notion about cycling since 2020 (talk about weight, seasonal peaks etc. no longer means...

I saw Van Aert constantly pulling a gap on Pog when he pulled hard and Pog really didn't look good. At first I thought Pog was just biding his time but apparently not. And the gap to the group behind was really small. It's worth mentioning because VdP put exponentially more power into his chase...

Relax, the salt is literally overflowing and the visible defensiveness is just... no. Personally I'm more curious about Pog's mileage. Dope or no dope every athlete has a body clock and Pog started young. He's going to be 28 in 5 months as well. It's just interesting to me how laboured he...

Van Aert's best wins until today were all his TdF stage wins (and yes I place them over MSR 2020 due to the particularity of that edition back then). But this is absolutely his best result ever. And it's the icing on his career cake.

Calls out "Hilarious meltdowns"... then proceeds to make exaggerated claims to make the defeat seem better. Okay. Personally I think WvA was very good but not a step above his usual best self. He was 'just' at his best. Nothing more, nothing less. You need merely see the gaps to the group...

The eye test says he was stronger in Roubaix last year, certainly relative to the rest of the field.

Wow, go Wout.

Smallest gaps in Roubaix in years. Probably (so far) the most human Pog has looked for a while as well. It's not just relative Van Aert, it's the large group close behind too.