Teams & Riders Everybody needs a little bit of Roglstomp in their lives

[pablohidalgo7]

Furthermore, it is a very repeated lie. An example of a wheelsucker would be Gerrans.
Roglic has spent his entire career collaborating when he rides with one or a group of cyclists and several times even gifting the victory in Indurain style. Without going into his Vueltas (with multiples examples of it) we can see this in last year's Vuelta a Burgos stage 3 where his relays were stronger than the rest. He really only wheelsucks when he is at the limit (or being heavily attacked uphill close to the line) or has a small advantage to defend against a cyclist who is at the same level and is attacking him and any false move can make him lose and that was the situation last year against a very powerful Remco on some days of the Volta.
Another different thing is that sometimes (not absolutely always) he is minimalist in his way of winning if he considers that he does not need to move from a distance to do so. In Spanish to that we say "pancartero" (Valverde) not "chuparruedas" (Costa and Gerrans).

 

[tobydawq]

Yes there is. Your whole premise is based on you thinking people dislike Roglic, and make stuff up, that isn't the case. Wheel sucking has been around long before Roglic sat on a bike. This was actually said by Eddy Merckx about Joop Zoetemelk.

Wow, this was exactly the example I was about to use

 

[Berniece]

Wow, this was exactly the example I was about to use

Apparently it doesn't count, because of a random reason

 

[Netserk]

I dislike how he rides, huge difference. I find it boring, predictive and unsportmanlike, but the person Roglic I like.

Do you also find tackles in football “unsportsmanlike”?

 

[Elos Anjos]

You read a lot of things that haven't been said. In the end you talk about fandom, well next time just respond to what is said. No one is saying Roglic isn't a great rider. And I don't dislike Roglic... I dislike how he rides, huge difference. I find it boring, predictive and unsportmanlike, but the person Roglic I like.

You can have your opinion of course. If you like that he rides to his strengths and just attacks somewhere in the last 400m, go ahead that's your thing. When someone asks "does he have a reputation as a wheelsucker". The answer is yes. You don't dislike wheelsucking, fine, I do. You don't have to drag fandom or the person Roglic into it.

The truth is that Roglic plays to his abilities while minimizing his strenghts. He would be a knucklehead not doing so. And he does it so well that a good share of his 81 victores are or are due to his style.

@Rackham has been clear about what wheelsucking is or is not about. I prefer to call it the last resort for ressentful fans of a rider that lost several stages to Roglic.

 

[Berniece]

Do you also find tackles in football “unsportsmanlike”?

Everyone does it in football. Do all cyclists wheelsuck?

 

[AmRacer]

Everyone does it in football. Do all cyclists wheelsuck?

Yes, while riding in the peloton. Or for the win (any kind of sprint). some cyclists try attacking from range though.

 

[CyclistAbi]

I actually don't mind if Rogla is a wheelsucker or not, as long as he is good at it. So if Rogla is to win Dauphiné and Tour 2024 by being a wheelsucker. That is perfectly fine with me. If for whatever reason his wins will be more structured and of variety, like most of his 80+ wins. That is perfectly fine with me too.

So to all the cyclists out there, if you believe you can win Dauphiné and Tour 2024 by wheelsucking, certainly utilize it to it's fullest! That would be my advice.

 

[AmRacer]

I actually don't mind if Rogla is a wheelsucker or not, as long as he is good at it. So if Rogla is to win Dauphiné and Tour 2024 by being a wheelsucker. That is perfectly fine with me. If for whatever reason his wins will be more structured and of variety, like most of his 80+ wins. That is perfectly fine with me too.

So to all the cyclists out there, if you believe you can win Dauphiné and Tour 2024 by wheelsucking, certainly utilize it to it's fullest! That would be my advice.

Tadej suck wheels until he had enough and rides away.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Tadej suck wheels until he had enough and rides away.

If you can do that, to just ride away, then indeed, my advice would be just do it. If by any chance you look back, over your shoulder, and Rogla is there. Don't cry about it, you just don't have it, on some race, do better next time, and that is all there is to it.

 

[CyclistAbi]

It's still rather strange that we are discussing wheelsucking right now and at this moment. Considering Rogličes GC advantage has come from different means and on top of that, at least so far, this race doesn't look like Rogla plans to utilize wheelsucking as his main strategy.

I would expect a debate to be more about on how Rogla sucks at bike handling. That is if we really are that much into suck. Or age? Something more appropriate and based on current state of affairs that is.

 

[Oldermanish]

Everyone does it in football. Do all cyclists wheelsuck?

Yes. The best sprinters are the most prevalent example. Climbers will absolutely hide on flat, fast stages. Unless you're Mads, Wout or some other monster diesel that feels comfortable on rolling terrain you'd prefer to be behind those guys until it was time to make a move.
They all do it, Every One.

 

[Berniece]

Yes. The best sprinters are the most prevalent example. Climbers will absolutely hide on flat, fast stages. Unless you're Mads, Wout or some other monster diesel that feels comfortable on rolling terrain you'd prefer to be behind those guys until it was time to make a move.
They all do it, Every One.

I think you don’t understand the concept of wheelsucking. It’s not just whenever you ride behind someone…

 

[Elos Anjos]

I think you don’t understand the concept of wheelsucking. It’s not just whenever you ride behind someone…

Well, we are all ears. Please don't run away and enlighten us with your take.

 

[Red Rick]

I think the criticism that's possibly legit is that he can be too passive when he has good legs and miss out on time gains as a result because he prefers to wait for the sprint sometimes.

But a real wheelsucker is always skipping turns in a group when there's guys up the road, and Roglic basically never does that sort of ***.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I think the criticism that's possibly legit is that he can be too passive when he has good legs and miss out on time gains as a result because he prefers to wait for the sprint sometimes.

But a real wheelsucker is always skipping turns in a group when there's guys up the road, and Roglic basically never does that sort of ***.

Roglic skips turns if he’s not sure the group will stay away, which is smart to save his energy.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Roglic skips turns if he’s not sure the group will stay away, which is smart to save his energy.

When is Roglic in such a group?

 

[Berniece]

Well, we are all ears. Please don't run away and enlighten us with your take.

Cyclist who always goes after someone else and does not take the lead.

There are legitimate reasons for this, when your teammate is ahead or your leader is behind. And Roglic probably also finds it a legitimate reason because he only wants to stomp. Which is fine, but I can call him passive, boring and a wheelsucker.

 

[Netserk]

When is Roglic in such a group?

When his rivals attack him and he manages to mark them.

Cyclist who always goes after someone else and does not take the lead.

There are legitimate reasons for this, when your teammate is ahead or your leader is behind. And Roglic probably also finds it a legitimate reason because he only wants to stomp. Which is fine, but I can call him passive, boring and a wheelsucker.

It's not legitimate to defend a lead, you must actively help your rivals' attack on you?

 

[QueenStagiaire]

When his rivals attack him and he manages to mark them.

It's not legitimate to defend a lead, you must actively help your rivals' attack on you?

But that‘s different, why would he work if they are attacking him? That‘s not because the group isn‘t certain to stay away.

 

[Netserk]

But that‘s different, why would he work if they are attacking him? That‘s not because the group isn‘t certain to stay away.

According to @Berniece, Rogla was a wheelsucker in Catalunya when Evenepoel attacked him and he wouldn't pull for Bambi.

EDIT: And get this right, this is unsportsmanlike behaviour from Rogla:

 

[Elos Anjos]

Cyclist who always goes after someone else and does not take the lead.

There are legitimate reasons for this, when your teammate is ahead or your leader is behind. And Roglic probably also finds it a legitimate reason because he only wants to stomp. Which is fine, but I can call him passive, boring and a wheelsucker.

So your argument is that Roglic is a wheelsucker because you want to be free to call him a wheelsucker. OK.

 

[Berniece]

So your argument is that Roglic is a wheelsucker because you want to be free to call him a wheelsucker. OK.

Sure, and just ignore everything else. Also I’m not the only one, multiple people called him a wheelsucker.

 

[Elos Anjos]

Sure, and just ignore everything else. Also I’m not the only one, multiple people called him a wheelsucker.

One day you're going to find out that what you call wheelsucking is a strategy that your beloved Remco will adopt for the purpose of saving himself some energy.

 

[SHAD0W93]

When is Roglic in such a group?

The most famous example for either side of the spectrum is the 2021 Vuelta when Bernal attacked, Roglic followed, and then refused to pull until they got into the valley despite the group staying away favoring him. Roglic and Evenepoel last year is a poor choice since Evenepoel was his direct rival so had no reason to assist him and potentially lose time to Roglic.