European Championship 2025: Men’s RR, October 5

[dobrien]

It's got to be a bit strange to be Remco at the moment; a generational talent, arguably best TT rider in history, and to still be SOOOO far off Pogacar on the road. Crazy.

 

[ChasingPotatoes]

Remco fans lacking the powers of deduction.

Well I could be wrong, but I thought that the talent of a bike rider is to push hard on the pedals while not moving a lot of air, and while not dragging a lot of weight up the hills. I could be wrong though.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

The strongest two as expected, but Paul Seixxas getting bronze is magnificent

Nice to see such a fresh face next to those two weathered warriors.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Nice to see such a fresh face next to those two weathered warriors.

Remco looks 40 in this pic. The rivalry with Tadej doesn't serve him well.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Do we still think Remco is as good as Pogacar albeit just with a little less ”luck”?

Define "we"?

 

[Berniece]

Define "we"?

Remco’s mother and Oumi

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Remco looks 40 in this pic. The rivalry with Tadej doesn't serve him well.

Give Seixas a couple of years and he'll look 40, too.

 

[houtdffan]

Main takes:
1. Pogacar vs Remco rivalry strikes again: one time Pogacar wins, the other time Remco gets spanked. This rivalry is like Serena vs Sharapova.

2. This race showed a very dangerous thing. Coordination in group 2 with Remco is not enough to beat Pogacar. Pogacar had a 35" gap after the big climb and didn't lose anything. Those who worked with Remco will probably not work anymore because they are working for nothing. They are working to get a chance but they are cooked by Remco later.

which means Remco just needs to go solo earlier and not wait for group 2

 

[Peyroteo94]

which means Remco just needs to go solo earlier and not wait for group 2

See where Ayuso finished. Those who didn't work as much were better in the end

 

[Bolder]

Nice to see such a fresh face next to those two weathered warriors.

Does Pog look a little nervous?

 

[Sciatic]

No sh… Sherlock.

I recently theorized Usain Bolt would be a lesser runner without leg muscles.

Reminds me of a postgame interview by 76ers Charles Barkley after the first time he played guarding Shawn Kemp. Barkley was exhausted from constantly chasing the budding star Kemp in a Sonics win. Barkley wearily shook his head saying “I did everything I could to stop him.” At which point a teammate interjected to say Kemp wouldn’t be any good if he couldn’t jump. Barkley replied “are you crazy?!

 

[houtdffan]

See where Ayuso finished. Those who didn't work as much were better in the end

Remco did most of the work and still dropped everyone

I doubt anything would have changed had he went solo a lap earlier than he did

 

[Andy262]

Another demolition from Pog, congratulations to him.

Maybe we should have a pan flat championship course next year so that everyone can be delighted with Milan/Phillipsen winning.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Main takes:
1. Pogacar vs Remco rivalry strikes again: one time Pogacar wins, the other time Remco gets spanked. This rivalry is like Serena vs Sharapova.

2. This race showed a very dangerous thing. Coordination in group 2 with Remco is not enough to beat Pogacar. Pogacar had a 35" gap after the big climb and didn't lose anything. Those who worked with Remco will probably not work anymore because they are working for nothing. They are working to get a chance but they are cooked by Remco later.

What coordination? Seixas and that Italian guy rode for second the entire time. Seixas is just 19 and the italian guy can't have won much in the past so it's understandable. But they were fake pulling the entire time. remco lost time on pogacar dealing with them, instead of gaining time with their help. Remco would have been better off had seixas failed to pull back remco on that climb. Don't get me wrong, i don't see the result changing if it was remco vs tadej in a full solo battle from 75 kms out. But i do think it would actually have been a harder fought victory for Tadej.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Another demolition from Pog, congratulations to him.

Maybe we should have a pan flat championship course next year so that everyone can be delighted with Milan/Phillipsen winning.

yea, 5 of those in a row with Milan winning the same way each time. I'm sure his fans will be delighted. As for some of the rest of us, it would be just as suffocating as Poggi winning the same way each time. Dull and predictable.

 

[red_flanders]

Main takes:
1. Pogacar vs Remco rivalry strikes again: one time Pogacar wins, the other time Remco gets spanked. This rivalry is like Serena vs Sharapova.

I dunno squat about tennis but I assume that is a reference to a one-sided rivalry. No question.

2. This race showed a very dangerous thing. Coordination in group 2 with Remco is not enough to beat Pogacar. Pogacar had a 35" gap after the big climb and didn't lose anything. Those who worked with Remco will probably not work anymore because they are working for nothing. They are working to get a chance but they are cooked by Remco later.

This race showed zero coordination in group 2, so there's nothing to glean there...

...other than what we know about every race. When riders get dropped, they get dropped because they're not as strong. The tactical situation where all 4 (if that's the number) chasers are both strong enough and have a shared agenda is a unicorn. It really doesn't exist.

 

[pihi42]

It's always interesting how people try to come up with strategies for a lesser rider to defeat a stronger one. I understand rooting for the underdog, but i take that to mean "to become a better rider" or "rise to the occasion" rather than "to find a weird tactic". In any athletic sport, 99% of the work is done before the competition. Results are expected to be in concordance with that. Yet we're somehow still disappointed with the reality. In present situation, it is clear that defeating the champ would necessarily have to involve some weird circumstances, the difference in preparedness and ability is just too great. There is really no "race", there is only measurement of the state of matters. This will inevitably change; maybe next year, maybe in five years, who knows. But there will come a race where Pogi will no longer be able to do Pogi things. And another and another. Then Pogi will most probably check out, if not even before that. Or, less probably, another rider will rise to his level and challenge him. Meanwhile, here and now, if the race is "regular" and everything goes to plan, the winner is almost inevitable. Perhaps it takes the surprise out of it, but it's the only way it can be. I really think noone wants the other option.

 

[houtdffan]

What coordination? Seixas and that Italian guy rode for second the entire time. Seixas is just 19 and the italian guy can't have won much in the past so it's understandable. But they were fake pulling the entire time. remco lost time on pogacar dealing with them, instead of gaining time with their help. Remco would have been better off had seixas failed to pull back remco on that climb. Don't get me wrong, i don't see the result changing if it was remco vs tadej in a full solo battle from 75 kms out. But i do think it would actually have been a harder fought victory for Tadej.

yep, that one flat section Remco lost 45 seconds when Seixas and Seronni refused to pull and Remco was doing the bird bird bird

He lost by 30 seconds

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Does Pog look a little nervous?

Hm, maybe just blinded by the sun...

 

[red_flanders]

It's always interesting how people try to come up with strategies for a lesser rider to defeat a stronger one.

I always love the criticism of tactical minutiae when the reality is that there's simply nothing that can be done when the greatest rider of a generation is on form and kicking everyone's tail.

 

[peterfin]

It's got to be a bit strange to be Remco at the moment; a generational talent, arguably best TT rider in history, and to still be SOOOO far off Pogacar on the road. Crazy.

31 seconds. That's less than a fifth Pogacar lost to him in a 40 km TT.

 

[jotafap]

yep, that one flat section Remco lost 45 seconds when Seixas and Seronni refused to pull and Remco was doing the bird bird bird

He lost by 30 seconds

Hopefully with that math you are not implying Remco would have been close to Pogi.

 

[AmRacer]

31 seconds. That's less than a fifth Pogacar lost to him in a 40 km TT.

Pogi slowed down

 

[AlpRaid]

Reminds me of a postgame interview by 76ers Charles Barkley after the first time he played guarding Shawn Kemp. Barkley was exhausted from constantly chasing the budding star Kemp in a Sonics win. Barkley wearily shook his head saying “I did everything I could to stop him.” At which point a teammate interjected to say Kemp wouldn’t be any good if he couldn’t jump. Barkley replied “are you crazy?!

always loved me some Barkley. a few years ago I listened to a podcast with him opening up about everything/his past/growing up. seems like a good guy who is open to learning life's lessons.

 

[AlpRaid]

yep, that one flat section Remco lost 45 seconds when Seixas and Seronni refused to pull and Remco was doing the bird bird bird

He lost by 30 seconds

didn't seronni (1982 world champ at Goodwood) also manage UAE (before it was UAE)? Makes sense he did not pull to try to catch Pog (of UAE).