Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Mina.S]

I think people are grossly underestimating Pog's chances in Roubaix, partially because Roubaix itself is grossly overrated - especialyl the whole 'hell in the north' marketing angle which makes it look like The Hunger Games or something. Then there's Rob Hatch screaming about the Arenberg Trench like it's 1916 all over again. The whole 'danger imminent' thing about Roubaix is part of the hype machine. Sure it's a dangerous race but most cycling races are these days.

Point being: Pog is a good bike handler and has proven he can ride cobbles well. He'll be there or thereabouts the win. And VdP isn't invincible either. He's been beaten in two man sprints after a hard race before.

I think he can podium but win is hard, even if its just him and MvDP sprinting at the end.

 

[Berniece]

Point being: Pog is a good bike handler and has proven he can ride cobbles well. He'll be there or thereabouts the win. And VdP isn't invincible either. He's been beaten in two man sprints after a hard race before.

It’ll be a harder race for Pogi because he doesn’t have the skills of MVDP. After every hard corner he’ll have to put in an extra effort.

 

[SHAD0W93]

First of all, recovery is a skill very important if you want to be a GT rider. Almeida is sick all the time because he can't recover like others. Everything has to be flawless for him. Do you know how many times he got sick in a GT?

Yes I’m aware, I bring it up frequently. First of all, Almeida was also looking very strong. Especially compared to previous attempts at the Vuelta while this was a big goal of his. He has had been sick frequently, but when he’s not he rides very well. Roglic was also in great shape. There’s no guarantee Pogacar manages to win after his extensive schedule. Almeida was there best bet and he got sick, it happens.

 

[Arvid Falk]

I think people are grossly underestimating Pog's chances in Roubaix, partially because Roubaix itself is grossly overrated - especialyl the whole 'hell in the north' marketing angle which makes it look like The Hunger Games or something. Then there's Rob Hatch screaming about the Arenberg Trench like it's 1916 all over again. The whole 'danger imminent' thing about Roubaix is part of the hype machine. Sure it's a dangerous race but most cycling races are these days.

Point being: Pog is a good bike handler and has proven he can ride cobbles well. He'll be there or thereabouts the win. And VdP isn't invincible either. He's been beaten in two man sprints after a hard race before.

Pog will probably do fine but it will be his first time riding PR and doing 50k of cobbles in a very hectic race is different from doing some cobble sections in the tour. And with no Kwaremont-climbs it will be harder for Pog to drop MVDP. Can he win a sprint against MVDP after a hard race? Yes, but the odds are not in his favour. I actually give WVA a bigger chance of beating MVDP in PR. But I will never underestimate Pog, he can win.

 

[Rackham]

It’ll be a harder race for Pogi because he doesn’t have the skills of MVDP. After every hard corner he’ll have to put in an extra effort.

I think he can podium but win is hard, even if its just him and MvDP sprinting at the end.

I think Pog is going to win, or podium. I also think people are a bit too caught up in technicalities and they're forgetting who and what Pog is. He's a monster.

The only thing that can catch him out would be being in the wrong split or something. Or being too eager and attacking at the wrong moment. But IMO VdP's presence also makes it simpler for Pog tactically, i.e. just follow VdP and see what happens.

Pog will probably do fine but it will be his first time riding PR and doing 50k of cobbles in a very hectic race is different from doing some cobble sections in the tour. And with no Kwaremont-climbs it will be harder for Pog to drop MVDP. Can he win a sprint against MVDP after a hard race? Yes, but the odds are not in his favour. I actually give WVA a bigger chance of beating MVDP in PR. But I will never underestimate Pog, he can win.

I'm sorry but if Pog is in top shape, he'll smoke WvA.

Cycling has changed. This isn't about weight, cobbles or specialists, this is about a guy with more power than Darth Sidious racing his bike.

Pog will be there or thereabouts the win. Just looking at top 10 finishers in recent years should tell you Pog will be close.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I think Pog is going to win, or podium. I also think people are a bit too caught up in technicalities and they're forgetting who and what Pog is. He's a monster.

The only thing that can catch him out would be being in the wrong split or something. Or being too eager and attacking at the wrong moment. But IMO VdP's presence also makes it simpler for Pog tactically, i.e. just follow VdP and see what happens.



I'm sorry but if Pog is in top shape, he'll smoke WvA.

Cycling has changed. This isn't about weight, cobbles or specialists, this is about a guy with more power than Darth Sidious racing his bike.

Pog will be there or thereabouts the win. Just looking at top 10 finishers in recent years should tell you Pog will be close.

This is one of the best posts made this year. Pogacar is on a different level, even from MVP. MVP didn't even dare to cooperate in Cipressa with Pogacar because he was afraid of being dropped. And we are talking about 4% gradients.
2 years ago, MVP was doing his best numbers ever and he was dropped in Kwaremont. After the Kwaremont, MVP couldn't get closer to Pogacar so his engine can't match Pogacar's engine.
So I expect MVP to win PR but he will not drop Pogacar. He will do what brings him more chances to win PR and RVV and that is wheelsucking Pogacar and beat him in a sprint.

 

[Mina.S]

This is one of the best posts made this year. Pogacar is on a different level, even from MVP. MVP didn't even dare to cooperate in Cipressa with Pogacar because he eas afraid of being dropped. And we are talking about 4% gradients.
2 years ago, MVP was doing his best numbers ever and he was dropped in Kwaremont. After the Kwaremont, MVP couldn't get closer to Pogacar so his engine can't match Pogacar's engine.
So I expect MVP to win PR but he will not drop Pogacar. He will do what brings him more chances to win PR and RVV and that is wheelsucking Pogacar and beat him in a sprint.

Just for context too Pog actually raced U19 PR in like 17/18? and came 13th and he wasn't really a star early in his junior career.

 

[Arvid Falk]

I'm sorry but if Pog is in top shape, he'll smoke WvA.

Cycling has changed. This isn't about weight, cobbles or specialists, this is about a guy with more power than Darth Sidious racing his bike.

Pog will be there or thereabouts the win. Just looking at top 10 finishers in recent years should tell you Pog will be close.

If WVA is in top shape I doubt it. In Ronde absolutely, in PR not so sure. But my point was that I think WVA has a better chance of beating MVDP than Pog because he has a better sprint than Pog, not because he is necessarily stronger than Pog.

I agree he will probably be there or thereabouts, but what I wonder is if he will be strongest over the cobbles after 200k. Guess we will see next sunday.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Just for context too Pog actually raced U19 PR in like 17/18? and came 13th and he wasn't really a star early in his junior career.

Did you see his body? He has probably more than 10% of body fat. This is one of the reasons (other reasons we can't mention here) he improved so much when he moved to UAE. He was very raw, not probably like some belgian riders (Cian) who were training like pro since they were juniors.

 

[Mina.S]

Did you see his body? He has probably more than 10% of body fat. This is one of the reasons (other reasons we can't mention here) he improved so much when he moved to UAE. He was very raw, not probably like some belgian riders (Cian) who were training like pro since they were juniors.

He didn't figure out his body composition even when he won his first tour.

 

[Berniece]

I think Pog is going to win, or podium. I also think people are a bit too caught up in technicalities and they're forgetting who and what Pog is. He's a monster.

The only thing that can catch him out would be being in the wrong split or something. Or being too eager and attacking at the wrong moment. But IMO VdP's presence also makes it simpler for Pog tactically, i.e. just follow VdP and see what happens.

Sure, I’m just saying he’s not as technically gifted so he’ll need to compensate that with more power. Luckily he has more than enough of that.

 

[Rackham]

Sure, I’m just saying he’s not as technically gifted so he’ll need to compensate that with more power. Luckily he has more than enough of that.

I'm not even a fan, per se. I'm quite ambivalent on this rider. But when he inevitably wins Roubaix or comes very close (this year or next) we're going to see people act shocked or whatnot.

I mean hello? This is Pogačar. Not Contador or Froome.

I mean yes sure sure obviously the Grand Prix de Denain isn't Roubaix but when Rogla raced it 3 years ago he was actually pretty good on the cobbles. He was in the breakaway and the small group was only just tagged back right at the end. And he managed all that because of his engine. Point being: Pog in Roubaix will be the real deal.

 

[Peyroteo94]

He didn't figure out his body composition even when he won his first tour.

And some people act like crazy rackoons for what he became after his not so stellar junior career (compared to what we see today).

 

[Salvarani]

And some people act like crazy rackoons for what he became after his not so stellar junior career (compared to what we see today).

You could just go to the first page of this thread to see people already recognition the talent that is/was there and how young he still is at that point.

Some people are just obsessed with that junior thing. Not actually thinking about his age at that time and his humble beginnings.

The raw talent was always there and there are stories about how he was very small but was still laps ahead of the other kids in races.

 

[Berniece]

I'm not even a fan, per se. I'm quite ambivalent on this rider. But when he inevitably wins Roubaix or comes very close (this year or next) we're going to see people act shocked or whatnot.

I mean hello? This is Pogačar. Not Contador or Froome.

I mean yes sure sure obviously the Grand Prix de Denain isn't Roubaix but when Rogla raced it 3 years ago he was actually pretty good on the cobbles. He was in the breakaway and the small group was only just tagged back right at the end. And he managed all that because of his engine. Point being: Pog in Roubaix will be the real deal.

Yeah that’s ridiculous if those people. Pogacar will win all 5 monuments in his career, all 3 GT’s and a lot more

 

[Red Rick]

I think Pog is going to win, or podium. I also think people are a bit too caught up in technicalities and they're forgetting who and what Pog is. He's a monster.

Pogacar still is first and foremost a climber over everything else. And Roubaix ain't got any of that.

 

[Rackham]

Pogacar still is first and foremost a climber over everything else. And Roubaix ain't got any of that.

Sure. But he still demolished Evenepoel on the flat part of Lombardia 2024.

I've seen enough of what we call 'modern cycling' over the last 5 years to figure most of the criteria we used to base our predictions on is pretty much irrelevant nowadays when a rider like Pog is involved.

Forget logic. It's about unlimited power Star Wars style.

 

[Red Rick]

Sure. But he still demolished Evenepoel on the flat part of Lombardia 2024.

I've seen enough of what we call 'modern cycling' over the last 5 years to figure most of the criteria we used to base our predictions on is pretty much irrelevant nowadays when a rider like Pog is involved.

Forget logic. It's about unlimited power Star Wars style.

1. That 'flat part' wasn't flat.
2. It's Lombardia, so you cite a 'flat' section after 4000m of climbing
3. It's Lombardia, so nobody is fresh anymore and just being in better form is gonna net you a big advantage. I don't understand how you can look the fall season last year and conclude Evenepoel was in top shape. He gave everything to just get good enough for that ITT title and was basically finished at that point.

 

[Rackham]

1. That 'flat part' wasn't flat.
2. It's Lombardia, so you cite a 'flat' section after 4000m of climbing
3. It's Lombardia, so nobody is fresh anymore and just being in better form is gonna net you a big advantage. I don't understand how you can look the fall season last year and conclude Evenepoel was in top shape. He gave everything to just get good enough for that ITT title and was basically finished at that point.

And when he rides around Roubaix with a finger in his nose smiling at the camera as he drops everyone who isn't VdP, then what? What 'Monday morning quarterback' logic will we collectively apply afterwards to explain what we watched?

I don't know but it just seems like Pog gets underrated in areas where in the right race in the right circumstances, he obliterates everyone. Even on flat sections.

 

[Peyroteo94]

People shouldn't apply cycling's logic to Pogi. He would be destroyed in 2022 RVV too. The same boring story. People are always underestimating all the time because he is a climber and a climber can't win gravel races, cobbled races, etc.

 

[Red Rick]

And when he rides around Roubaix with a finger in his nose smiling at the camera as he drops everyone who isn't VdP, then what? What 'Monday morning quarterback' logic will we collectively apply afterwards to explain what we watched?

I don't know but it just seems like Pog gets underrated in areas where in the right race in the right circumstances, he obliterates everyone. Even on flat sections.

When you see new data, you adapt your view to make it fit. That said, just because something happens does not mean it was always a smart thing to predict based on the previous data.

Based on what I have seen so far, Pogacar can not deal with Van der Poel in Roubaix.

 

[hayneplane]

Since UAE is Pogi, and he only cares about his own wins the team will ride solely for him.

I could count on one hand the number of times a big leader has sacrificed their own position in a major race while fully fit in the last 10 years.

WVA - Gifted GW to Laporte in a 2 up break
MVDP - Worked for Philipsen in the final of MSR 2024
Pogacar - stayed with McNulty in 2021 Itzulia final stage when McNulty cracked and the race sailed off up the road.

It is very hard to take your comment seriously when you limit that commentary to a single rider.

 

[Red Rick]

I could count on one hand the number of times a big leader has sacrificed their own position in a major race while fully fit in the last 10 years.

WVA - Gifted GW to Laporte in a 2 up break
MVDP - Worked for Philipsen in the final of MSR 2024
Pogacar - stayed with McNulty in 2021 Itzulia final stage when McNulty cracked and the race sailed off up the road.

It is very hard to take your comment seriously when you limit that commentary to a single rider.

Forgetting a rather infamous Vuelta here

 

[Netserk]

Pogacar - stayed with McNulty in 2021 Itzulia final stage when McNulty cracked and the race sailed off up the road.

It wasn't an active choice to end up behind the split on the descent.

 

[dazaau]

Forgetting a rather infamous Vuelta here

Please, no more