This was great to see:
View: https://x.com/RBH_ProCycling/status/1832864420889825563
The way he made new friends and forced a new destiny for himself at Bora after last year's Jumbo debacle is an integral part of his extraordinary journey, IMO.
In any case after reflecting on this Vuelta a bit I think anything that comes next... is totally bonus. I mean he entered the history books, he's got 5GT wins, he gave Ralph Denk a GT win (thus justifying the transfer & salary fee) & basically proved he could win with any team - not just at Jumbo.
I think notwithstanding Olympics year, there's basically 9 major prizes in a normal cycling season no matter the rider profile: 5 monuments, 1 world championship road race and 3 GT's. Then there's a bunch of other slightly lesser prizes as well. But those 9 races are the main ones.
Flanders & Roubaix? Van der Poel's playground. Milan-San Remo? It seems way too easy for sprinters (even Pog hasn't won that one yet), Liège? Pog & Evenepoel territory. Lombardia? Pogi again. Worlds? Yeah good luck with that one versus the current one day monsters. That leaves 3GT's.
The Tour? Yeah, no. Not with Pog & Vinge at their current level. That leaves the Giro & the Vuelta. And... Rog just won the Vuelta. So there's a logic in what happened but he also had to actually go & win the damn thing, which is easier said than done. And he did so whilst arguably pushing his career best numbers at nearly 35 years old.
So... chapeau Rog.
View: https://x.com/RBH_ProCycling/status/1832864420889825563
The way he made new friends and forced a new destiny for himself at Bora after last year's Jumbo debacle is an integral part of his extraordinary journey, IMO.
In any case after reflecting on this Vuelta a bit I think anything that comes next... is totally bonus. I mean he entered the history books, he's got 5GT wins, he gave Ralph Denk a GT win (thus justifying the transfer & salary fee) & basically proved he could win with any team - not just at Jumbo.
I think notwithstanding Olympics year, there's basically 9 major prizes in a normal cycling season no matter the rider profile: 5 monuments, 1 world championship road race and 3 GT's. Then there's a bunch of other slightly lesser prizes as well. But those 9 races are the main ones.
Flanders & Roubaix? Van der Poel's playground. Milan-San Remo? It seems way too easy for sprinters (even Pog hasn't won that one yet), Liège? Pog & Evenepoel territory. Lombardia? Pogi again. Worlds? Yeah good luck with that one versus the current one day monsters. That leaves 3GT's.
The Tour? Yeah, no. Not with Pog & Vinge at their current level. That leaves the Giro & the Vuelta. And... Rog just won the Vuelta. So there's a logic in what happened but he also had to actually go & win the damn thing, which is easier said than done. And he did so whilst arguably pushing his career best numbers at nearly 35 years old.
So... chapeau Rog.