Pogacar vs Contador, who has the best career now?

[bNator]

Yeah, but vingegaard got personal problems before paris nice, he didn't made a good preparation. Do you see? The "excuses" can work for everybody.

What did he have in 2022 Tirreno then? And 2022 Basque country? I mean are we really discussing whether Pog’s calendar of hard racing is indeed more stretched than Vingegaards? Check their respective palmares to get your answer.

 

[BigCoward]

. If Pogacar retires with just 2 TDF victories, then no, he won’t pass Bertie unless he suddenly turns into Sean Kelly or Wout Van Aert and wins multiple Paris Roubaixs or all 5 monuments.

??????
Pog has more monuments now than the '2nd eternal 2nd' is likely to finish his career with.

 

[Froome]

What did he have in 2022 Tirreno then? And 2022 Basque country? I mean are we really discussing whether Pog’s calendar of hard racing is indeed more stretched than Vingegaards? Check their respective palmares to get your answer.

I don't know what your point is, but my point is that pogacar doesn't race to much before the Tour de France, he always gets to the Tour de France in top shape. He is the most complete rider in the world, a little different from being the best grand tour rider in the world. Each rider goes to the races that suits most they're characteristics, that's why pogacar does classics and just one grand Tour, and Vingegaard does two grand tours and one week races.

If we talk again about the Tour, i said that if somebody has an argument that pogacar races too much before the Tour and is the reason to lose the Tour, that's ridiculous and doesn't make sense, because even san millan and gianneti already said that pogacar being in good shape in the spring, benefits him on being in top shape in the Tour. I think they know better pogacar than you.

The second argument, the wrist injury, that's a fair argument from somebody, for this year, but in my opinion the performances that pogacar did in the Tour shows that he was in the shape of his life, except on La loze stage.

So, the're just "justifications" to the losses of pogacar in the Tour in the last two years, and are just "excuses". Pogacar is not a better GT rider than Vingegaard, that's why he lost.
But pogacar is and will still continue to be the most complete rider in the world, that's why he will continue to win classics, and grand tours where Vingegaard is not there.
Pogacar is so superior to others like roglic and remco, that he can perfectly win the giro if he wants next year.

 

[bNator]

I don't know what your point is, but my point is that pogacar doesn't race to much before the Tour de France, he always gets to the Tour de France in top shape. He is the most complete rider in the world, a little different from being the best grand tour rider in the world. Each rider goes to the races that suits most they're characteristics, that's why pogacar does classics and just one grand Tour, and Vingegaard does two grand tours and one week races.

If we talk again about the Tour, i said that if somebody has an argument that pogacar races too much before the Tour and is the reason to lose the Tour, that's ridiculous and doesn't make sense, because even san millan and gianneti already said that pogacar being in good shape in the spring, benefits him on being in top shape in the Tour. I think they know better pogacar than you.

The second argument, the wrist injury, that's a fair argument from somebody, for this year, but in my opinion the performances that pogacar did in the Tour shows that he was in the shape of his life, except on La loze stage.

So, the're just "justifications" to the losses of pogacar in the Tour in the last two years, and are just "excuses". Pogacar is not a better GT rider than Vingegaard, that's why he lost.
But pogacar is and will still continue to be the most complete rider in the world, that's why he will continue to win classics, and grand tours where Vingegaard is not there.
Pogacar is so superior to others like roglic and remco, that he can perfectly win the giro if he wants next year.

My point is that your point (which is Pog doesn’t race that much) is weak and the assesment not true. There has never been a serious TDF contender who raced as much as Pog does before TDF since I started watching cycling in late 90s. I guess Hinault did, but I didn’t “experience” that as a viewer.

And by racing much I don’t mean how many race days they make - I mean how hard those race days are ridden. I challenge you to name a guy after Hinault who came close to what Pog does in that respect.

What that means for his TDF challenge is something I didn’t address in my posts at all. It’s just that the mere assessment that he doesn’t race that much is simply false.

But since you brought it up… does racing hard before TDF in fact hinder his TDF chances (and can it serve as an “excuse”)? I would say it does but I wouldn’t go as far as to call that an excuse. It’s just speculation - not that far fetched might I add. I’m not saying Pog would definitely be a better GT rider than Vinge if he focused entirely on GTs. But to claim he wouldn’t at least come closer is a bit pessimistic…

Maybe similar but still a different topic is how does Pog’s preparation and physique (which enables him to be competitive in one day races) affect his GT performance potential. Again I would say it does but I also think changing these things could be very risky and my not yield expected results. However - these are legitimate questions that can be asked without diminishing Vinge’s achievements.

 

[scribers]

Not much after Hinault. But lemond raced a really interesting schedule. I think pog is as lemond a cyclist as there’s been since lemond

 

[Hugh Januss]

My point is that your point (which is Pog doesn’t race that much) is weak and the assesment not true. There has never been a serious TDF contender who raced as much as Pog does before TDF since I started watching cycling in late 90s. I guess Hinault did, but I didn’t “experience” that as a viewer.

And by racing much I don’t mean how many race days they make - I mean how hard those race days are ridden. I challenge you to name a guy after Hinault who came close to what Pog does in that respect.

What that means for his TDF challenge is something I didn’t address in my posts at all. It’s just that the mere assessment that he doesn’t race that much is simply false.

But since you brought it up… does racing hard before TDF in fact hinder his TDF chances (and can it serve as an “excuse”)? I would say it does but I wouldn’t go as far as to call that an excuse. It’s just speculation - not that far fetched might I add. I’m not saying Pog would definitely be a better GT rider than Vinge if he focused entirely on GTs. But to claim he wouldn’t at least come closer is a bit pessimistic…

Maybe similar but still a different topic is how does Pog’s preparation and physique (which enables him to be competitive in one day races) affect his GT performance potential. Again I would say it does but I also think changing these things could be very risky and my not yield expected results. However - these are legitimate questions that can be asked without diminishing Vinge’s achievements.

Per PCS: Race days 2023
Pogacar 49
Evanepoel 67
Vingegaard 67
Roglic 64
Philipsen 65
Van Aert 55 + 14 cross
Pedersen 69
A Yates 65
Hirschi 69
De Lie 54
Mohoric 69
Van der Poel 46 + 15 cross + ? MTB
Kuss 77

Let's just say that Pogacar picks his spots and never does any "unnecessary racing".

 

[bNator]

Per PCS: Race days 2023
Pogacar 49
Evanepoel 67
Vingegaard 67
Roglic 64
Philipsen 65
Van Aert 55 + 14 cross
Pedersen 69
A Yates 65
Hirschi 69
De Lie 54
Mohoric 69
Van der Poel 46 + 15 cross + ? MTB
Kuss 77

Let's just say that Pogacar picks his spots and never does any "unnecessary racing".

Be honest - how much of the post you replied to did you actually read? 😁

 

[RedheadDane]

Regarding the original question.
You could be pedantric, and point out that "Best career now" implies whose career is currently going best. And in that case, Pogacar definitely has an advantage.

 

[Blanco]

Contador will always be referred to as The Great One by me, and for God sakes, I’m an Enric Mas fan so it’s pretty obvious where my loyalties will always lie.

Nationality aside, I do think in style that Pogacar is the natural heir to Bertie in the way he rides. He has conquered different objectives but his acceleration on the climbs and his out of the saddle style is very similar.

I consider Contador a 9 time GT winner, so right now, it’s Contador, but I think Teddy will likely surpass him by the time he finishes his career… but only if he wins another TDF or branches out and wins a couple of Giros or Vueltas. If Pogacar retires with just 2 TDF victories, then no, he won’t pass Bertie unless he suddenly turns into Sean Kelly or Wout Van Aert and wins multiple Paris Roubaixs or all 5 monuments.

This is some kind of a joke, right?!