Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[tp4493]

This gives me the feeling Sivakov might not be in great shape for the mountains.

During the Dauphine he was fine, dropped everyone expect Jonas on stage 7 I think. But let's see

 

[Rou]

Honestly Vingegaard is looking desperate to me. Doing some random meme attacks like in the Dauphine and today.
Where is the ''explosive muscular Vingegaard''?
The '' non-explosive Vingegaard'' from last year stayed glued to Pogacar on San Luca and beat him on Lioran.
The ''explosive'' Jonas of 2025 gets put on a 5 metre gap from the wheel of Pogacar.
Am I missing something?

 

[Rou]

Last year he lost againts Narvaez and Schachmann, this year against VDP. He's making progress

In which world can Pogacar beat MVDP in a sprint? Pog's sprint is the same.

 

[CyclistAbi]

At this point of the race i do have to wonder on why Pogi doesn't want Jonas in polka dots jersey.

 

[Cycling111]

I've been saying this for months.

Adam is performing poorly in the mountains all year. He didn't even finish in the top 10 at the Giro.

Sivakov has also performed poorly in the mountains all year. Very poorly in Paris-Nice. A bit better in the Dauphiné. But he was dropped on the longest climb and could've been out due to a regroup.

Soler was terrible in Dauphiné.

Wellens and Narvaez look very good, but they won't be in the high mountains.

If they continue to perform poorly in the mountains, the work will fall on Almeida. He did some work today, but because it didn't mean losing time. As I said, we'll see if he sacrifices himself when it means losing time. Because arriving before than Remco and Roglic means working just enough, thinking about his position. Sacrificing himself is what Jorgenson did in the PDB

 

[scribers]

At this point of the race i do have to wonder on why Pogi doesn't want Jonas in polka dots jersey.

He did his best to get the yellow too and put Vingo in his polkas.

Not all plans work out

 

[Peyroteo94]

During the Dauphine he was fine, dropped everyone expect Jonas on stage 7 I think. But let's see

Yeah, it is just strange to me seeing him working in this type of stages. He needs to be fresh for the mountains and working all day during flat stages doesn't seem to be the right strategy IMHO.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Pogacar has always preferred to rely on 1 or 2 guys to position him on stages like these.

We'll see full mountain trains by UAE and Visma when they finally reach the Pyrenees.

Also I doubt that full team support would even be helpful for Pogacar. He'd be glued to his train and thereby robbed of his own abilities in positioning. And you'll have trouble finding a lot of riders better at it than Pogacar anyway.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I've been saying this for months.

Adam is performing poorly in the mountains all year. He didn't even finish in the top 10 at the Giro.

Sivakov has also performed poorly in the mountains all year. Very poorly in Paris-Nice. A bit better in the Dauphiné. But he was dropped on the longest climb and could've been out due to a regroup.

Soler was terrible in Dauphiné.

Wellens and Narvaez look very good, but they won't be in the high mountains.

If they continue to perform poorly in the mountains, the work will fall on Almeida. He did some work today, but because it didn't mean losing time. As I said, we'll see if he sacrifices himself when it means losing time. Because arriving before than Remco and Roglic means working just enough, thinking about his position. Sacrificing himself is what Jorgenson did in the PDB

I'm not worried about Almeida and Yates and more important, Pogacar seems stronger than Vingegaard. He already showed multiple times in the Tour, he doesn't need a (good) team to win (2020, 2021)

 

[fenns]

Seemed a strange stage by UAE today. They tried everything to win the stage today after the 2 climbs which were the opportunity to get rid of MVDP. What made them think he would be vulnerable in a finish that was only a slight incline? I guess they didn't want to overreach so early in the Tour but if they had would it have made much difference?

 

[ppanther92]

Saw a video/podcast with Geraint Thomas and he said (outside of Philipsen) that Sivakov was really impressive holding the team in front all day.

Might be, tuned in relatively late today

 

[Monsi]

Seemed a strange stage by UAE today. They tried everything to win the stage today after the 2 climbs which were the opportunity to get rid of MVDP. What made them think he would be vulnerable in a finish that was only a slight incline? I guess they didn't want to overreach so early in the Tour but if they had would it have made much difference?

I think they're just biding their time. Just try to get through the first week unscathed and just keep Pogacar safe. Then drop the hammer in the mountains.

 

[tp4493]

Yeah, it is just strange to me seeing him working in this type of stages. He needs to be fresh for the mountains and working all day during flat stages doesn't seem to be the right strategy IMHO.

Me think they are still building up their Niveau and therefore have to go hard for some time, they will be great in the mountains (delusion) still i question the effect of politt

 

[OJRvE]

I guess the thing with Soler and Sivakov is they are both really good both as roulers and climbers which os what you really need if you are the dominant team in the Tour. So I imagine it’s was planned they were gonna do the work early in the stage and save Wellens, Navarez for positioning Pogi in the climbs which is there area of expertise. Politt maybe is just saving himself as he will do a lot of donkey work in the valleys later and is not as good as Soler and Sivakov for positioning anyway. So it may actually be better to saving Politt than Soler and Sivakov. But I mean is possible it was planned for Politt to do more work but is not feeling well.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I think they're just biding their time. Just try to get through the first week unscathed and just keep Pogacar safe. Then drop the hammer in the mountains.

Yup, they finally know how to race in this type of stages. The old Pog (and UAE) would go crazy in a stage like today. They are just keeping him safe because they know he will probably be the strongest in the mountains.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I guess the thing with Soler and Sivakov is they are both really good both as roulers and climbers which os what you really need if you are the dominant team in the Tour. So I imagine it’s was planned they were gonna do the work early in the stage and save Wellens, Navarez for positioning Pogi in the climbs which is there area of expertise. Politt maybe is just saving himself as he will do a lot of donkey work in the valleys later and is not as good as Soler and Sivakov for positioning anyway. So it may actually be better to saving Politt than Soler and Sivakov. But I mean is possible it was planned for Politt to do more work but is not feeling well.

Politt is perfect at positioning his team leader. He is a classics rider.

 

[red_flanders]

I think they're just biding their time. Just try to get through the first week unscathed and just keep Pogacar safe. Then drop the hammer in the mountains.

100%

While it's easier to ride the race perfectly when you're stronger than everyone, you still have to do it, and he and the team are doing it.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Me think they are still building up their Niveau and therefore have to go hard for some time, they will be great in the mountains (delusion) still i question the effect of politt

Maybe but I'm not too worried since Pogacar is probably in very good shape.
I think he is more mature and is trying to save energy for the second and third week.

 

[tp4493]

Maybe but I'm not too worried since Pogacar is probably in very good shape.
I think he is more mature and is trying to save energy for the second and third week.

Yeah Pogacar is very independent in comparison to other riders. Still hope to see him attack in one of the punchy stages. Maybe he will save his legs during stage 4 for the ITT even though it should suit him more than stage 2, probably depends on the decent aswell

 

[Peyroteo94]

Yeah Pogacar is very independent in comparison to other riders. Still hope to see him attack in one of the punchy stages. Maybe he will save his legs during stage 4 for the ITT even though it should suit him more than stage 2, probably depends on the decent aswell

UAE should go hard in stages 6 and 7. Pogacar should his bullets to perform a good TT and then gain some seconds on bonifications.

 

[OJRvE]

Politt is perfect at positioning his team leader. He is a classics rider.

I’m maybe wrong but feels he often out of position and gets his few result by just being strong.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I’m maybe wrong but feels he often out of position and gets his few result by just being strong.

I have a hard time believing a rider with multiple top10 in PR is a rider with mediocre positioning. I'm saying he is a MVP or Peter Sagan but I believe he is (at least) above average.

 

[Rackham]

Pog gave the impression of a rider who didn't really seem that bothered yesterday and he's keeping his powder dry for the real hammer drop later.

I mean there's not much else to extrapolate from his performance.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Pog gave the impression of a rider who didn't really seem that bothered yesterday and he's keeping his powder dry for the real hammer drop later.

I mean there's not much else to extrapolate from his performance.

I have the same impression. I don't know if he is also doing this with Vuelta in mind or just trying to save energy for the second and third weeks.

 

[Cycling111]

I have the same impression. I don't know if he is also doing this with Vuelta in mind or just trying to save energy for the second and third weeks.

I'm starting to think it's because of the Vuelta.
Last year he attacked in San Luca, and yesterday he didn't on the penultimate climb.

We're only two stages in, but the feeling is he's even more conservative than last year.
And in Dauphiné, he already let it slip that this year's World Championships are complicated due to the "schedule".