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

Page 142 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Calling Pogacar's peak much less flat than Roglic' seems like a bit like an overstatement considering he's been winning pretty convincingly all year. I think it that regard they are very similar. Extreme high base level, close to peak form all season.
I think Roglic’s base level is still higher. Proofs: last years national championships and Dauphine, this year’s Basque. But Pogacar is getting closer it appears.

Maybe “much less flat” is ovestating…
 
I disagree with the notion that the best evidence available all points to Pogacar being stronger. Recent head-to-heads in last year's Tour and this year's Itzulia suggest they are evenly matched. I don't think either of them were riding Itzulia on base form. Pogacar won a monument shortly after that race - he was in good form. As good as Pogacar looks in this Tour, we don't know how Roglic would have performed. The only comparison we can make is the first two stages where they were evenly matched. I don't think it's fair to include the TT where we don't know to what extent Roglic was affected by injuries. In fact, considering what we saw in the mountains, his TT was remarkable. Personally, I don't think Roglic will try to avoid Pogacar and I hope he has another try at the Tour again next year.
 
As for Roglič vs Pogačar. Lets see first if Pogačar had a strategy to win the Tour in the first week and how will he be able to hold the lead till the end. If it will be an effortless task or not.

With all respect to Remco, it's surely too early to suggest he belongs in such august company of GT winners. I, for one, haven't yet seen anything that assures me he can climb with the best.

The way things stand ATM i don't feel it makes all that much sense to prevent one rider to face another in a GT race such as Vuelta. It's not like the overall standings will be affected because of doing that anytime soon. And Evenepoel likely should show a bit more compared to Giro.

If there would be one rider that others can't touch at all, then the battle for the second place still makes sense, for now. But i feel that it won't end up being like that. Regardless of how things look ATM.

P.S. As for Roglič maybe it was Karma. After all it is the Olympics year. Anyway, no point in putting to much thought in it now. Next big goal(s) are days away.
 
This should i guess settle the debate it they plan to do Tour 2022.
There's no debate. Pog is the best.

In fact, J-V went into the race with that attitude. That Pog couldn't be beaten mano a mano.

Plugge just said that that's why Vingegaard was selected. As another GC-threat to wear Pogacar and UAE out. So Rogla could capitalize and beat his stronger rival.
 
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There's no debate. Pog is the best.

In fact, J-V went into the race with that attitude. That Pog couldn't be beat mano a mano.

Plugge just said that that's why Vingegaard was selected. As another GC-threat to wear Pogacar and UAE out. So Rogla could capitalize and beat his stronger rival.
Seems a bit after the fact. Why then did Vingegaard wait for Rogla after both crashes? The second one cost him 55'' in GC (while Van Aert didn't wait).
 
Seems a bit after the fact. Why then did Vingegaard wait for Rogla after both crashes? The second one cost him 55'' in GC (while Van Aert didn't wait).
I don't know how this disproves what that J-V guy said, although his tactics are questionable. (Van Aert was free to do his own race, pretty much)

Roglic is their number #1 - and only proven GC rider (if we don't include has-beens), so Vingegaard had to wait to keep Roglic as close to Pogacar as possible.
 
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I don't know how this disproves what that J-V guy said, although his tactics are questionable. (Van Aert was free to do his own race, pretty much)

Roglic is their number #1 - and only proven GC rider (if we don't include has-beens), so Vingegaard had to wait to keep Roglic as close to Pogacar as possible.

Was Kruiswijk too far behind? Otherwise he should be a good bike supplier for Roglic, with the same height?
 
Was Kruiswijk too far behind? Otherwise he should be a good bike supplier for Roglic, with the same height?
My guess is that Kruijswijk went in as a back-up GC-option (lol). ....that Vingegaard was only third in line, mostly because he's not Dutch. Also unproven as a GT specialist, but Kruijswijk is obviously past it, while Vingegaard was flying. But that's J-V for you. Can't rule it out.

They supported Roglic with a sub-optimal team (and then I take Van Aert's lead-out as a given - even then).

I do feel bad for Roglic. He picked the wrong team, IMO.
 
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I'm afraid JV won't have a TdF winning team next year. They don't have enough talent and many are simply too old. WvA will have free hands again, others are not good enough for proper support.
Dennis, Affini, Foss should be part of the line-up. LaPorte in as WVA's lead-out, Teunissen out. Ditch Kruijswijk, too.

Roglic
Vingegaard
WVA
Dennis
Affini
Foss
LaPorte
Kuss (I assume Roglic wants him in)

Go from there if Van Aert has to have a lead-out. If they don't have the form, replace them. No freebies.

No Dutch riders, though, so it won't happen, but they could field a very strong team if they wanted to.
 
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My guess is that Kruijswijk went in as a back-up GC-option (lol). ....that Vingegaard was only third in line, mostly because he's not Dutch. Also unproven as a GT specialist, but Kruijswijk is obviously past it, while Vingegaard was flying. But that's J-V for you. Can't rule it out.

They supported Roglic with a sub-optimal team (and then I take Van Aert's lead-out as a given - even then).

I do feel bad for Roglic. He picked the wrong team, IMO.

There are very few teams out there as good as JV at building talents. They're like the Arsenal football team of the 2000's. Roglic, Van Aert, Foss, Vingegaard etc. They're very good with all the behind the scenes building, training & development.

As for 2022, Roglic will be there & he'll be at the same strength as this year. 32 years old for him won't be a problem & I'm sure they'll all learn some lessons from this Tour. As for Pogacar, he'll be massive favorite, but that brings its own problems.

Regarding the rest of the season I hope for a speedy recovery, I hope he has some fun in the Olympics (medal or no medal, it's the "Olympic experience" which matters) & I hope to see Roglic racing the Vuelta with some motivation. It'll be tough (it looks like both Bernal & Pogacar will be there), but with a young motivated team & the total backing for the GC, he could do something special on his own hunting grounds of sorts (because the Vuelta & Spanish stages suit the Roglic skillset perfectly).
 
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BTW I think the first or second French stage next year is likely to be a TTT, the only weakness of Pogi. Both Jumbo and Ineos should get a nice buffer from that.
After the snoozefest this year, I expect Prudhomme to bring back TTTs and high mountains. Hoping that Bernal and Roglic can take on Pog. Also Prudhomme should remove the ITT in the last stage, it just gives Pog even more advantage.
 
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