Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Fos]

The TT is only 30km - the other is a pure MTT - I would be surprised if he lost more than 30s to Jonas but who knows. I don't think he was sandbagging but losing 27s.in essentially the first 7km is a little inexplicable as it accounted most of his time loss.

The simple answer is he was trying materials, position, etc sticking to a fixed watts to extrapolate without giving info, comparing with rivals. Bad day? , not in the shape he has shown. Bad pace?, not while his time lose was constant with Remcos.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Why testing a TT bike in a race when they can do it on training? The surface wasn't great but his bike was shaking a lot, something I didn't see in other riders bikes

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations on winning Critérium du Dauphiné.

 

[jmdirt]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnMvlRX1Fzw

 

[Cookster15]

Impressive performance this Dauphine by Pogacar even by his standards. But together with his underwhelming TT and Vingegaard doing enough on the queen stage 7 tells me we can have contest next month. But as the bookie odds show Pogi remains a strong favorite.

Most who have followed the sport for the last two decades know the Dauphine isn't always a great gauge of what will happen in the Tour. Likely Pogacar is close to his peak level but Vingegaard is still reaching his peak level. We know Vingo should be better than 2024 simply because he didn't have to overcome any crashes or injuries this season.

Bottom line for me is last year we all hoped we would see a fair fight between both Pogacar and Vingegaard arriving at the Tour fresh and uninjured. I think we are about get our wish.

 

[Unchained]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnMvlRX1Fzw

Cool humility suggesting that he might not be in Rainbow jersey next year. And special perspective that he knew that last 3 stages would give him opportunity to get back TT deficit. Guy is coming off as relaxed and relatable.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Cool humility suggesting that he might not be in Rainbow jersey next year. And special perspective that he knew that last 3 stages would give him opportunity to get back TT deficit. Guy is coming off as relaxed and relatable.

Vuelta is on the menu. This is probably the reason why he isn't so confident for the WC.

 

[Peyroteo94]

How much can a rider improve in a 10 days altitude training camp?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Impressive performance this Dauphine by Pogacar even by his standards. But together with his underwhelming TT and Vingegaard doing enough on the queen stage 7 tells me we can have contest next month. But as the bookie odds show Pogi remains a strong favorite.

Most who have followed the sport for the last two decades know the Dauphine isn't always a great gauge of what will happen in the Tour. Likely Pogacar is close to his peak level but Vingegaard is still reaching his peak level. We know Vingo should be better than 2024 simply because he didn't have to overcome any crashes or injuries this season.

Bottom line for me is last year we all hoped we would see a fair fight between both Pogacar and Vingegaard arriving at the Tour fresh and uninjured. I think we are about get our wish.

I think both have some margin of improvement, their uber peaks are still ahead. If Pog is at his peak 5-6 weeks before crucial TdF stages it means UAE f**ked something up with preparation, maybe he's closer to the peak than Vingo or likely his level is simply higher. As for the TT I prefer the simplest explanation: Pog didn't have the best legs on that day (there's also a possibility of some problem/experiment with TT technicalities).

As for the Tour it seems top2 is reserved for the same pair of guys for the 5th year in a row (barring crashes and other bad luck ofc). Pogacar cemented his status as #1 favourite for sure but Vingegaard should be a threat. Obviously no realistic chance for any other guy to win the Tour.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I think both have some margin of improvement, their uber peaks are still ahead. If Pog is at his peak 5-6 weeks before crucial TdF stages it means UAE f**ked something up with preparation, maybe he's closer to the peak than Vingo or likely his level is simply higher. As for the TT I prefer the simplest explanation: Pog didn't have the best legs on that day (there's also a possibility of some problem/experiment with TT technicalities).

As for the Tour it seems top2 is reserved for the same pair of guys for the 5th year in a row (barring crashes and other bad luck ofc). Pogacar cemented his status as #1 favourite for sure but Vingegaard should be a threat. Obviously no realistic chance for any other guy to win the Tour.

The question is: Can Vingegaard reach this climbing level? He must improve significantly and I don't know if 10 days are time enough.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

The question is: Can Vingegaard reach this climbing level? He must improve significantly and I don't know if 10 days are time enough.

There are 20 days till the Tour and way more to decisive mountain stages. I think Vingegaard will improve noticeably but Pogacar will also improve. Their improvement will happen not only due to training but also (or mostly) due to other stuff (we can't discuss here). The level at the Tour will be very high OFC. Pogacar is #1 favourite but time will tell what happens at the Tour.

 

[KZD]

I would think he might want to ride Giro/Tour again - especially if he wins Vuelta 2025

I don't think so. After getting second in Roubaix this season I think he will just keep trying there and ride an extended classics program.

Winning all five monuments seems to be a bigger goal for Pogacar than getting the biggest number of Grand Tour wins.

 

[Shortcut]

I don't think so. After getting second in Roubaix this season I think he will just keep trying there and ride an extended classics program.

Winning all five monuments seems to be a bigger goal for Pogacar than getting the biggest number of Grand Tour wins.

After him saying yesterday, he is happy with this Dauphine win because it is another "check" in checklist i believe, he wants to win everything at least one time. He will go after Giro-Tour or Giro-Vuelta at least one more time so in that year he can "check" Basque Tour. If he really wins everything this year (TdF, Vuelta, WC, Lombardia) then everybody else will adjust schedule after him. I don't see Jonas going to Vuelta, if he losses against Pogi so much as he did at that Dauphine. 6x second places in one week and let say that also happens in Tour that would be depressing for him as hell.

 

[Cycling111]

At the beginning of the season, he said his main goal was to retain his world championship. But from those words, it's clear he's going to the Vuelta and sees it as complicated to become a world champion with that schedule.

He had a challenge in trying to become a four-time world champion and surpass Merkcx, who won three.

But I understand his position is more complicated because Eddy was riding with the best national team and Slovenia is a weak team.

As much as Pogacar is the strongest, in a world championship without an earpiece, it's going to be difficult to surprise again, and sheer strength makes it difficult to compete against all the teams.
He lost in Amstel, because of Roubaix, but also because he attacked too early. With a weak team like Slovenia, that's what he'll have to do, and I understand why he doesn't want to play that card and prefers to secure the Vuelta as soon as possible.

It's a shame; he had four world championships to win, but with Slovenia, he'll have to make very long attacks, and it will be difficult.

 

[fenns]

I don't think so. After getting second in Roubaix this season I think he will just keep trying there and ride an extended classics program.

Winning all five monuments seems to be a bigger goal for Pogacar than getting the biggest number of Grand Tour wins.

I find it hard to believe that Pogi will spend the rest of his career riding only 1 GT per season - Hinault and Merckx usually rode 2. Any Pogi is currently well short of their GT totals - he won't be considered GOAT if he finishes with only 7 or 8 GTs

 

[fenns]

At the beginning of the season, he said his main goal was to retain his world championship. But from those words, it's clear he's going to the Vuelta and sees it as complicated to become a world champion with that schedule.

He had a challenge in trying to become a four-time world champion and surpass Merkcx, who won three.

But I understand his position is more complicated because Eddy was riding with the best national team and Slovenia is a weak team.

As much as Pogacar is the strongest, in a world championship without an earpiece, it's going to be difficult to surprise again, and sheer strength makes it difficult to compete against all the teams.
He lost in Amstel, because of Roubaix, but also because he attacked too early. With a weak team like Slovenia, that's what he'll have to do, and I understand why he doesn't want to play that card and prefers to secure the Vuelta as soon as possible.

It's a shame; he had four world championships to win, but with Slovenia, he'll have to make very long attacks, and it will be difficult.

Also the WC courses might be unfavourable. Plus it's risky to base half your season just one day - anything could happen - a peloton split or something like that and the race is gone.

 

[Peyroteo94]

At the beginning of the season, he said his main goal was to retain his world championship. But from those words, it's clear he's going to the Vuelta and sees it as complicated to become a world champion with that schedule.

He had a challenge in trying to become a four-time world champion and surpass Merkcx, who won three.

But I understand his position is more complicated because Eddy was riding with the best national team and Slovenia is a weak team.

As much as Pogacar is the strongest, in a world championship without an earpiece, it's going to be difficult to surprise again, and sheer strength makes it difficult to compete against all the teams.
He lost in Amstel, because of Roubaix, but also because he attacked too early. With a weak team like Slovenia, that's what he'll have to do, and I understand why he doesn't want to play that card and prefers to secure the Vuelta as soon as possible.

It's a shame; he had four world championships to win, but with Slovenia, he'll have to make very long attacks, and it will be difficult.

But he must take this risk, specially when the Vuelta has an easy route.

 

[carolina]

Pogacar just needs to adjust his TT position. Worst case scenario, he can just use the same position he had last year. They'll solve this issue with no problem.

 

[Cycling111]

Pogacar just needs to adjust his TT position. Worst case scenario, he can just use the same position he had last year. They'll solve this issue with no problem.

I don't understand why he changed his position this year. Last year, he finished 12 seconds behind Remco in the first time trial.
Why change something that works?






Sugerencias

 

[snipeheem]

But he must take this risk, specially when the Vuelta has an easy route.

WC > Vuelta specially when there is dream route for him

 

[carolina]

I don't understand why he changed his position this year. Last year, he finished 12 seconds behind Remco in the first time trial.
Why change something that works?






Sugerencias

They are always looking for ways to improve performance, nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it just doesn't work.

 

[Peyroteo94]

They are always looking for ways to improve performance, nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it just doesn't work.

But how and why did they take so much time to notice this?

 

[scribers]

But he must take this risk, specially when the Vuelta has an easy route.

I’m ready for it. I’ve stopped being overly concerned as just want him to race all of the time

 

[Salvarani]

WC > Vuelta specially when there is dream route for him

Yeah.

 

[carolina]

But how and why did they take so much time to notice this?

Maybe they only did the change after the classics and are still making adjustments.

I'm also assuming that trainning on open roads, where there are cars and you can't ignore traffic rules, makes it hard to go all out, like he would do during the ITT. Maybe he felt it was a good enough setup during trainning.

Honestly, the strangest thing for me was seeing him drink in such a short effort.