Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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People on here acting like just because Vingegaard wasn't able to drop Pogacar today, means he won't be able to on Thursday..

Yes he didn't. But being able to stay WITH Pogacar today, and actually made him suffer, will give him a big positive boost and extra motivation to attack on Thursday. And if Pogacar isn't able to respond, for whatever reason, could get nasty.

Clearly thing Vingegaard is on a much better place today mentally then he was before this stage.
People here are actually acting like Jonas dropped pogi today and gain 30s
 
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I think Almeida will participate in the Giro-Tour. The second as a domestique. And I assume Del Toro will debut as a domestique.

Soler and Sivakov are in poor form, but I didn't expect them to be destroyed by Benoot and Campenaerts.

In any case, during the Giro I already said that the UAE was too ambitious for the Giro and was neglecting the Tour team, given the performance of Sivakov and Yates. So many aspirations with so many leaders. The same thing happened in Paris-Roubaix. Pogacar was completely alone while several riders grew tired leading smaller races.

They have a record of winning, but they should prioritize winning less and taking the best team to the most important races.
Most of the social media stuff says something slightly different, UAE training staff are shying away from Del Toro, 21yo, second year pro doing 2 grand tours in 1 year as he is starting out.. Could happen but it's not there preference.
Pogacar has the pick of the litter, Almeida, Ayuso, Jan Christen, few others will be ready come Vuelta time..
 
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Jul 20, 2025
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Given that everyone claimed in the last days that Pogacar marked this stage and will want to make a statement, I think being able to stay with Pogacar has similar psychological boost, as them 30 seconds.
Not only that Pog wants as many stage wins as he can get, yet 2 mountain top finishes have just gone by where it didn’t look like he was committed to winning. That is atypical for Pog. Whatever is up, it doesn’t matter. He has 4 minutes and there are only 2 hard days left. He can shed 30’s here or there or let Jonas’ confidence build, it is irrelevant.

My dream of Pog winning all 3 jerseys and matching Merckx’ 8 stage wins is over, but it doesn’t matter, yellow was secured last week.
 
People on here acting like just because Vingegaard wasn't able to drop Pogacar today, means he won't be able to on Thursday..

Yes he didn't. But being able to stay WITH Pogacar today, and actually made him suffer, will give him a big positive boost and extra motivation to attack on Thursday. And if Pogacar isn't able to respond, for whatever reason, could get nasty.

Clearly thing Vingegaard is on a much better place today mentally then he was before this stage.
It's not just today, it's been two years. And even Pogacar was able to follow some stages in 2023. It's a trend, and in the Tour, it's rare for someone who hasn't been stronger in two weeks to be stronger at the end.

Froome's performance in Finestre is unusual. GTs are trend-based races, especially among more experienced riders. The Giro is different because Del Toro isn't used to it. It's very rare for a Tour with two already veteran riders to change such an obvious trend: Vingegaard hasn't dropped Pogacar in two years, and in 2023 he didn't do so as much as he did in 2022, despite Pogacar's accident.

To assume that Pogacar will be destroyed for four minutes is to assume that Vingegaard will be much stronger than Pogacar at Hautacam. Pogacar would have to be sick or have an accident.
 
People on here acting like just because Vingegaard wasn't able to drop Pogacar today, means he won't be able to on Thursday..

Yes he didn't. But being able to stay WITH Pogacar today, and actually made him suffer, will give him a big positive boost and extra motivation to attack on Thursday. And if Pogacar isn't able to respond, for whatever reason, could get nasty.

Clearly thing Vingegaard is on a much better place today mentally then he was before this stage.
It isn't up for debate whether Vingegaard looked good today, he did. But was he better than Pogačar? That is a matter of opinion, I don't really see any proof of that. Even if they had exactly the same time until now, I dont really see the proof Vingegaard has more.
He will be more confident, but does Tadej have any reason not to be? Answered to all the questions Vingegaard had. Jonas spent quite a bit himself.

He will still attack, and hopefully he will manage to make this interesting, but nothing so far tells me he can actually distance Pogačar.
 
Pogacar always struggles on the first day after the rest day. He'll be better on the following days.

Visma was much stronger today than UAE. Benoot and Campenaerts were much stronger than Sivakov and Soler, who are climbers.
I think we should analyze this.

It's something that already happened to him in the 2019 Vuelta. He was better in Gredos, which was stage 20, than in the stage closest to the rest day.

It is a false myth that Pogacar has bad finishes in 3 weeks.
 
People on here acting like just because Vingegaard wasn't able to drop Pogacar today, means he won't be able to on Thursday..

Yes he didn't. But being able to stay WITH Pogacar today, and actually made him suffer, will give him a big positive boost and extra motivation to attack on Thursday. And if Pogacar isn't able to respond, for whatever reason, could get nasty.

Clearly thing Vingegaard is on a much better place today mentally then he was before this stage.
This is true but we don't know how good Pogacar is right now. Is he really suffering? Or he is just more mature and more cautious nowadays?
 
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This is true but we don't know how good Pogacar is right now. Is he really suffering? Or he is just more mature and more cautious nowadays?
I agree. I think he was suffering. If he was able to make successful attack (and win the stage), he would put a major statement, which I don't think he would miss just by being cautious.

But obviously Vingegaard wasn't able to drop him, so it's game on for Thursday.
 
Note that he said he was afraid because it was a stage after a rest day.

Vingegaard and Visma tend to be especially strong on the stage after a rest day.
GC stages after rest day since 2021:
2022 Stage 16: Pog attacks far out, Vingegaard just follows him around
2023 Stage 16: The stage this is based on, Vingegaards time trial
And then this Ventoux stage. This being strong after a rest day is based on an absolutely miniscule sample.
In the Vuelta 2023, Vingegaard actually had a bad time trial after the first rest day and then after the second rest day, he attacked on Bejes and everyone behind stopped, although he was strong that day.
 
Note that he said he was afraid because it was a stage after a rest day.

Vingegaard and Visma tend to be especially strong on the stage after a rest day.
I dont think thats"(after rest day)" a valid theory but if he is really suffering as he is saying i will have to start believing the y1rs is his downing at the moment b/c he is way worse than last year
 
I dont think thats"(after rest day)" a valid theory but if he is really suffering as he is saying i will have to start believing the y1rs is his downing at the moment b/c he is way worse than last year
He's had an accident. If it had been another rider, they'd be reminiscing about the accident every day :rolleyes: and the fact that he has a huge wound on his arm, which will make it difficult for him to sleep.

He also has congestion, which is why he breathes through his mouth so much in the later stages. When you have congestion, you have less energy. Breathing through your mouth is more tiring.
 
Aside from today's stage, which I won't comment on, I was already convinced of this yesterday: there's no need to attack from afar when you have a four-minute lead and two or three stages of mountain terrain to go. Unless you feel extremely superior or have exceptional legs on that particular day. The only risk is digging into the red... and when you get there, the possibility of paying dearly for it in subsequent stages is real. If you're aiming for stages, now it's enough to win them with the least possible effort.(Which was possible today, for example 😂)