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

[HashRouge]

But that's also the only thing involving those two that I'm looking forward to. I agree with Rackam's general point. But I also agree with toby that MSR was awesome even if I don't particularly care for any of the riders involved.

I also understand the general point, but I don't think it applies in scenarios where Pog and MdvP are evenly enough matched. I know that technically Pog would always be the favourite of the two for Flanders, and MdvP for MSR and Roubaix, but it's close enough that you can never be certain.

Last year's MSR was particularly exciting because we saw something that hasn't been seen in years - someone blowing the race up on the Cipressa.

 

[Netserk]

did he even crash at the bottom?

caught up behind one

pedersens sprint would have changed the calculus between mvdp and pogi, whereas i dont think pidcock would have changed much

 

[Cycling111]

How can you even say this with a straight face?

He's saying about them what has always been said about Roglic 😅.

The battles with Enric Mas in the Vuelta are better.

 

[Cycling111]

I said I like suspense, unknown and unpredictability. I never said anything about only enjoying cycling when Rog does well. I have no idea why this has become a tangent here. I never said anything of the sort.

Pog makes races boring. VdP makes races boring. Their battle are also boring unless you're a fan of either.

I much preferred the last week of the Giro last year (especially Finestre) and even the Vuelta (despite all the protest shenanigans & the fact it was pretty much the worst Vuelta in years) because both at least had the glorious uncertainty of sport.

And Rog featured in neither. I like tuning into a race and not knowing what the outcome will be.

You're saying about them what has always been said about Roglic.

And the people who agree are mostly Roglic fans who have always said that races like the Giro weren't boring.
The conclusion is simple.

 

[Rackham]

You're saying about them what has always been said about Roglic.

And the people who agree are mostly Roglic fans who have always said that races like the Giro weren't boring.
The conclusion is simple.

The conclusion among the people who didn't like Rog's prime years was that he was a 'boring rider'. But since we're doing this I might as well point out the fact the actual suspense and 'unknown' in the vast majority of his wins was intact until the very end.

That's because the thing he was derided for (namely being a mountain sprinter) meant the result wasn't a forgone conclusion and bad stuff did happen (crashes, echelons, bad days).

I'm talking about suspense in sport. The great uncertainty of sport as the French call it. What Pog and VdP do is attack over 50km out, drop everyone and face no challenge. That is not suspenseful.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Generational or even multi generational winners are in a way all boring to some extent.

Poggio is a suitable hill for Rogla. What his role or form will be remains to be seen but i guess anything is possible.

Excited.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Generational or even multi generational winners are in a way all boring to some extent.

Poggio is a suitable hill for Rogla. What his role or form will be remains to be seen but i guess anything is possible.

Excited.

It’s not suitable after 250 plus kilometers of hard riding and having to fight for position the final 50-70 kms.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

It's quite a plot twist to me that it's Rogla instead of Remco in the MSR.

 

[Red Rick]

It’s not suitable after 250 plus kilometers of hard riding and having to fight for position the final 50-70 kms.

Have you ever seen power data from Sanremo?

It's not hard for 290km

 

[CyclistAbi]

It’s not suitable after 250 plus kilometers of hard riding and having to fight for position the final 50-70 kms.

Rogla participated in this race twice in his career and in the era on where he was already an established rider he came in 11s down on winner Moho. I remember, back then, we had discussions on how JV could utilise Rogla on this race to a greater extent but in the end they opted out. As for the 2026 edition it's hard to say if Rogla participates on what exactly his role will be. RBH likely won't be taking their finest selection and hence UAE will likely be able to toy with them and to execute their plan to the finest detail. Still, relatively fresh Rogla can try to exploit a moment of hesitation on Poggio and then anything is possible. We'll see.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

If I was designing the 2026 calendar of Roglic;

Tirreno Adriatico
Milano Sanremo
E3
Ronde van vlaanderen
Amstel
Fleche
LBL
Romandie

Suisse
Tour de France

Vuelta a Espana

Emilia
Lombardia

 

[vappaxbipmv]

If I was designing the 2026 calendar of Roglic;

Tirreno Adriatico
Milano Sanremo
E3
Ronde van vlaanderen
Amstel
Fleche
LBL
Romandie

Suisse
Tour de France

Vuelta a Espana

Emilia
Lombardia

How many times do you want him to crash?

"Yes"

 

[SHAD0W93]

Have you ever seen power data from Sanremo?

It's not hard for 290km

It’s not hard, but the final has been raced far harder than when Roglic last raced MSR making the fight for position more difficult. Roglic at least for now also seems to have lost his explosiveness if we look at last year. He can absolutely finish in a second or third group if the race plays out like last year but he won’t be in the front. Nor would he be chasing the front group down.

Rogla participated in this race twice in his career and in the era on where he was already an established rider he came in 11s down on winner Moho. I remember, back then, we had discussions on how JV could utilise Rogla on this race to a greater extent but in the end they opted out. As for the 2026 edition it's hard to say if Rogla participates on what exactly his role will be. RBH likely won't be taking their finest selection and hence UAE will likely be able to toy with them and to execute their plan to the finest detail. Still, relatively fresh Rogla can try to exploit a moment of hesitation on Poggio and then anything is possible. We'll see.

The race has been rode harder each year by UAE to set up a Pogacar win. In order to do anything on Poggio if the group is together or he’s in the front group he’d have to reclaim the explosiveness that he seemed to have lost last season.

 

[Red Rick]

It’s not hard, but the final has been raced far harder than when Roglic last raced MSR making the fight for position more difficult. Roglic at least for now also seems to have lost his explosiveness if we look at last year. He can absolutely finish in a second or third group if the race plays out like last year but he won’t be in the front. Nor would he be chasing the front group down.


The race has been rode harder each year by UAE to set up a Pogacar win. In order to do anything on Poggio if the group is together or he’s in the front group he’d have to reclaim the explosiveness that he seemed to have lost last season.

There's an element of RNG involved in positioning, and being too far back isn't a given, as Roglic tends to expend more energy before the start of a climb to try and get in front.

If he gets on the wheel before the attacks fly on the Cipressa, I would assume he can follow the likes of Ganna at the very least.

That said, the main reason I'm a big advocate of riders like Roglic racing Sanremo is that the opportunity cost is super low and the RNG in this race is rather high. It's unironically the monument he would have the highest chance of winning, even if it's 1%.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

The Pogacar-MVDP battles in MSR and PR are the most exciting of the year IMO. Roglic in Vuelta is always fun, too. Anyone who doesn’t think his Vuelta have been entertaining didn’t watch them. I don’t see any way he doesn’t come to Poggio with bad positioning to be honest, which will end his effort given who strong the top 2 are and how they tend to hit it hard out of the gates. If he can manage to position well, let’s go!

 

[SHAD0W93]

There's an element of RNG involved in positioning, and being too far back isn't a given, as Roglic tends to expend more energy before the start of a climb to try and get in front.

If he gets on the wheel before the attacks fly on the Cipressa, I would assume he can follow the likes of Ganna at the very least.

That said, the main reason I'm a big advocate of riders like Roglic racing Sanremo is that the opportunity cost is super low and the RNG in this race is rather high. It's unironically the monument he would have the highest chance of winning, even if it's 1%.

It’s also good to see him expand his schedule and try new things.

 

[Cookster15]

Have you ever seen power data from Sanremo?

It's not hard for 290km

A little exaggeration? Cipressa is at 230km and they don't soft pedal that these days.

Also, RNG - Random Number Generation (positioning) ?

 

[Netserk]

Cipressa is at 230km

 

[Cookster15]

I've done this before - misread the altitude for the distance. So 260km, not 290km. Thanks.

 

[vappaxbipmv]

A little exaggeration? Cipressa is at 230km and they don't soft pedal that these days.

Also, RNG - Random Number Generation (positioning) ?

Unless you're at the front pulling the peloton I sincerely doubt that you're out of your Z1 for at least 200km

 

[CyclistAbi]

The race has been rode harder each year by UAE to set up a Pogacar win.

RBH should prevent UAE to execute their plan down to the last detail. Said that RBH likely won't bring such team to this race, team being capable of that. So Poggio it is.

In order to do anything on Poggio if the group is together or he’s in the front group he’d have to reclaim the explosiveness that he seemed to have lost last season.

It was there in the 2025 season too. It's just that Rogla didn't tend to unleash it a couple of meters before reaching MTF. Was unleashed at for example Catalunya and some stage at the Tour, not near the end.

Anyway, we should get good indictor of that at TA already.

 

[red_flanders]

I've done this before - misread the altitude for the distance. So 260km, not 290km. Thanks.

One simplistic way to think about it is that the watts start to go up when they hit the ocean road. Another step up is when they hit the capi, then blows it up when it blows up, either the Poggio or the Cipressa. But to me it's a step up on each of those sections.

The rest of the race historically is piano. Of course that is changing to some degree every year...

 

[Red Rick]

Basically if they go at 45kph on a flat road the middle of the peloton is still smash bang in zone 1 at way under 200 W.

Van Gils in 2024 did 184W average before they hit Cipressa, so you're already over the Capi at that point.

 

[Berniece]

RBH should prevent UAE to execute their plan down to the last detail. Said that RBH likely won't bring such team to this race, team being capable of that. So Poggio it is.

Who do they need for that?

 

[CyclistAbi]

Who do they need for that?

Somebody capable and willing of making a difference at Cipressa, long shot, for the plan of UAE to fall apart completely there already. Or maybe Rogla will jump in to do that, but then who from RBH can follow?

Anyway, Poggio it is, hopefully for Rogla to benefit from some other favourites hesitating.