Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Red Rick]

My guess on his 22 program

UAE Tour
Strade Bianche
Tirreno - Adriatico
Milano - Torino
Itzulia Basque
La Flèche Wallonne
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Critérium du Dauphiné
Tour de France
La Vuelta a España
Giro Dell'Emilia
Tre Valli Varesine
Il Lombardia

(if not La Vuelta a España - I add below instead)
San Sebastian Klasikoa
Bretagne Classic
Cycliste de Québec
Cycliste de Montréal

What you think?

I think that's a very strange moment to ride from Milano to Turino.

I foresee mostly a copy paste of 2021 with Vuelta being more likely than not.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Think he'll want to have a crack on Milan-San Remo. I think he's really interested in collecting Monuments, and MSR is easy to fit in every year, unlike other races its not too straining/dangerous for GC riders to attempt and you just wreck it at the Poggio, hope that a small enough group is created from whom you win, rinse&repeat every year.

 

[roundabout]

should he win Sanremo the media will pester him regarding riding Ronde and Roubaix for the rest of the career

 

[Axel Hangleck]

If he's as good as the 'experts' say he is, then why not Flanders/PR? He is meant to be this complete rider, so bring it on.

 

[Red Rick]

If he he wins Sanremo and say breaks the GT record instead of complaining about RVV or PR not being there I'm much more inclined to say Merckx competition was composed of amateurs and pub cyclist.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I think that's a very strange moment to ride from Milano to Turino.

Why is that very strange if he's already in Italy at that point? (M-T will take place in March again next year)

 

[Red Rick]

Why is that very strange if he's already in Italy at that point? (M-T will take place in March again next year)

See that I missed. I just thought he mixed up Sanremo and Turino

 

[Offline]

See that I missed. I just thought he mixed up Sanremo and Turino

Strade Bianche 05.03
Tirreno-Adriatico 07.03 - 13.03
Milano - Torino 16.03
Milano-Sanremo 19.03

He could even do it all

 

[Offline]

I foresee mostly a copy paste of 2021 with Vuelta being more likely than not.

My questions is more what he do after UAE and Tirreno-Adriatico and before TdF.

Volta a Catalunya, Itzulia Basque or Tour de Romandie?

Critérium du Dauphiné , Tour de Suisse or Tour of Slovenia?

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

If he's as good as the 'experts' say he is, then why not Flanders/PR? He is meant to be this complete rider, so bring it on.

GC riders avoid PR like the plague because of the high risk to get injured at this important point of the season. I think Wiggings was the only TdF winner since LeMond to ride it (Nibali will become the next one this year) and he was already at a point in his career where he didn't even attempt the GTs anymore. Even injuries aside, if you really want to contest the cobbled classics, you kind of have to sacrifice the late March/April stage races like Catalunya or Basque country and most GT contenders want to use them to test their form.
I think he'll do it at some point as I reckon he's someone who wants to try everything but I'd be surprised if he does it soon, don't think it'll happen in 2022 and if he goes to the Giro in 2023 it's probably even less likely.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

GC riders avoid PR like the plague because of the high risk to get injured at this important point of the season. I think Wiggings was the only TdF winner since LeMond to ride it (Nibali will become the next one this year) and he was already at a point in his career where he didn't even attempt the GTs anymore. Even injuries aside, if you really want to contest the cobbled classics, you kind of have to sacrifice the late March/April stage races like Catalunya or Basque country and most GT contenders want to use them to test their form.
I think he'll do it at some point as I reckon he's someone who wants to try everything but I'd be surprised if he does it soon, don't think it'll happen in 2022 and if he goes to the Giro in 2023 it's probably even less likely.

LeMond is still the latest reigning TdF champion to ride it, but Geraint Thomas crashed out of it in 2018 before he won the Tour.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

LeMond is still the latest reigning TdF champion to ride it, but Geraint Thomas crashed out of it in 2018 before he won the Tour.

Well yeah, before . He wasn't a tour winner at that point, same for e.g. Riis, who rode it in 1991. Either way, pointless semantics, in short I can't think of a single GT winner since the 80s that was competing in Flanders and PR while being in his prime for GTs (apart from Thomas I guess haha).

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Well yeah, before . He wasn't a tour winner at that point, same for e.g. Riis, who rode it in 1991. Either way, pointless semantics, in short I can't think of a single GT winner since the 80s that was competing in Flanders and PR while being in his prime for GTs.

I still think there's a difference between riding it five year before or after a Tour win and doing it in the same season. Neither Riis, Wiggins and next year Nibali were capable of winning the TdF in the years they rode it, but that obviously wasn't the case for Thomas. Though of course it's not completely comparable, because just like Riis in 1991, Thomas was probably not really thinking he was ever going to win the TdF, and the situation is obviously also different once you actually win it. But he still proved that it could be done, though he obviously had "enjoyed" the P-R experience beforehand.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

I still think there's a difference between riding it five year before or after a Tour win and doing it in the same season. Neither Riis, Wiggins and next year Nibali were capable of winning the TdF in the years they rode it, but that obviously wasn't the case for Thomas. Though of course it's not completely comparable, because just like Riis in 1991, Thomas was probably not really thinking he was ever going to win the TdF, and the situation is obviously also different once you actually win it. But he still proved that it could be done, though he obviously had "enjoyed" the P-R experience beforehand.

Oh yeah, absolutely. And I agree it can be done in the same season just that it's unlikely , especially if targeted right from the start of the season. At the point of 2018 Paris Roubaix, Thomas best ever Grant Tour finish was 15th and he had won a single bigger one week stage race with PN in 2016. Meanwhile he had 3 top 10 finishes in Flanders and Roubaix in earlier seasons and he had won E3 while being on the podium of Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen. So competing in PR was more the plan than potentially winning the Tour at the beginning of the season.

 

[roundabout]

Armstrong rode Flanders circa 2002ish?

 

[tobydawq]

Armstrong rode Flanders circa 2002ish?

2005.

 

[KZD]

I think that MSR is likely next year for Pogačar but there is no way that he will ride the Italian fall classics if he rides the Vuelta. However my guess is that he will only ride the Vuelta if he loses the Tour. He could also skip the National Championships this time to be a bit fresher for the Tour.

 

[Lequack]

Tadej says he's like an egg

Tadej Pogacar: I can crack really fast, actually

Two-time Tour champion tells Geraint Thomas where his weaknesses lie

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[SafeBet]

Tadej says he's like an egg

Tadej Pogacar: I can crack really fast, actually

Two-time Tour champion tells Geraint Thomas where his weaknesses lie

www.cyclingnews.com

Yeah sure, he's like a chocolate Easter egg. You crack him open and there's a surprise inside... another Tadej Pogacar who can go full gas for the rest of the race.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah sure, he's like a chocolate Easter egg. You crack him open and there's a surprise inside... another Tadej Pogacar who can go full gas for the rest of the race.

Basically kindersurprise

 

[Ilmaestro99]

His program next season will probably be very similar to this year, maybe with Sanremo and Vuelta included.

He have sponsors who want him at UAE tour, he enjoy Strade and Tirreno is the natural follow, then Sanremo, and Basque Tour is nice prep for Flech and Liege.

He won't go to giro because he is scared of Masnada ( this may or may not be true)

 

[tobydawq]

His program next season will probably be very similar to this year, maybe with Sanremo and Vuelta included.

He have sponsors who want him at UAE tour, he enjoy Strade and Tirreno is the natural follow, then Sanremo, and Basque Tour is nice prep for Flech and Liege.

He won't go to giro because he is scared of Masnada ( this may or may not be true)

He should add Amstel.

 

[BlueRoads]

His program next season will probably be very similar to this year, maybe with Sanremo and Vuelta included.

He have sponsors who want him at UAE tour, he enjoy Strade and Tirreno is the natural follow, then Sanremo, and Basque Tour is nice prep for Flech and Liege.

He won't go to giro because he is scared of Masnada ( this may or may not be true)

Well, we now know that it's easy to crack him, especially when a few longer high mountains are involved, so it shouldn't be too hard for Masnada.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

He should add Amstel.

It collides with Basque Country because of flipped date with Roubax

 

[BlueRoads]

If I was him / the team, I would probably go for a schedule similar to this year, because it seemed to work pretty well and there are a lot of races he can excel in and a few good preparation races as well. Next year, to avoid boredom, I would then try something new, or better, I would place two new minor races this year in his calendar already, but next year I would go for an actually different schedule. Maybe start later, don't do the UAE Tour, but put in Flanders...