Sagan lost a lot more than high end sprint speedSagan is 32. That's an age where one would expect a loss of high end sprint speed.
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Sagan lost a lot more than high end sprint speedSagan is 32. That's an age where one would expect a loss of high end sprint speed.
Still mad he didn't win.Just seen the results, lol. Naesen, stuyven, gva, Roelandts all there to try something.
I remember that a Dutch guy attacked towards the end
Tom Leezer could've been world championship without all that foolishnessYou have 6 guys in a group of ~20. Then you decide to ride for a sprint with old as *** Boonen against Cavendish and Sagan.
Yes, he lost something more important...motivation.Sagan lost a lot more than high end sprint speed
That’s why I said if he could maintain it. He could be done by 25. We will see. This year was definitely a great chance but without WVA being with them, he should have tried sprinting from further out or putting one or two more attacks in to tire MVDP out. He gave it all he could at times and MVDP held on by the skin of his teeth.I would offer a counter point that you never know how long anybody is gonna last. Especially people who are THIS good at young age.
Look at where Sagan is now, and he is still only 31.
There are no guarantees. You do not know if Pogacar has 15 years or 5 years to do it. He better make the best of it when he's at his peak. You might think there will come 10+ chances for Pogacar to win. But for all you know, this could've been his last chance to win RVV.
Sagan is incomparable to me cause while he was very alround he never was that much better than everyone else at what he did
If he was he would've won a lot more of De Ronde and Roubaix and Sanremo in a time when both Boonen and Cancellara were winding down.Yes he was.
"What he did" was something else than just being a monument rider. He was also a super puncheur (not Mur de Huy steep), a cross-wind rider, a sprinter, a point machine, a championship rider.If he was he would've won a lot more of De Ronde and Roubaix and Sanremo in a time when both Boonen and Cancellara were winding down.
Still mad he didn't win.
Forget Oliver Zaugg. Tom Leezer would be the ultimate meme champion.
The thing I like about Pogačar is he seems to have the spirit and enthusiasm of a kid, almost as if any of us suddenly were given cycling superpowers and had a chance to use them without caution. Sure we'd ride the Tour, but why not the RVV, possibly Paris-Roubaix, simply because we can!
7 Tours in a row.What does he need to achieve in order to be considered the GOAT?
As far as GC and GTs are concerned there is no doubt he can win more than any cyclist in history, given his age (not even Merckx had won the Tour twice at his age). As far as Monuments go, doubtless he can win each one, with still a question mark hanging over Paris-Roubaix however. But as we saw Sunday, he can be the strongest in the race and still not win. Consequently, getting all 5 Monuments is perhaps his biggest challenge. Courses suited to him at Worlds and Olympics are naturally his to lose, but again in one-day events there is always a level of uncertainty that something could go wrong. Same for the non-Monument classics, but not being a specialist how many can he afford to ride considereng his GT prep needs? If he can win most on that list, with a Giro-Tour double or 2 he will go down as peer to Merckx and Hinault.What does he need to achieve in order to be considered the GOAT? His achievements can never rival Eddy, but we are in a different, far more competitive era.
It is crazy the level he is going to have to maintain, year after year, in order to get his Palmares on a level that is in the discussion.
But there really is no limit to what this guy can win:
GC+stages in all three Grand Tours
All 5 Monuments
World Championship
Olympics
GC+stages in all the big seven stage races
Big non-Monument one-day races
I think some combination of most of these achievements and 100-150 career victories, in the current era, as a GC rider, would be enough to cement him as the greatest cyclist of all time.
Merckx has 11 GTs, 19 monuments and 3 Worlds. Pogacar has a looooooooooooong way to go yet. Most realistically I think he can be the greatest in modern times. That is post Hinault.It is crazy the level he is going to have to maintain, year after year, in order to get his Palmares on a level that is in the discussion.
But there really is no limit to what this guy can win:
GC+stages in all three Grand Tours
All 5 Monuments
World Championship
Olympics
GC+stages in all the big seven stage races
Big non-Monument one-day races
I think some combination of most of these achievements and 100-150 career victories, in the current era, as a GC rider, would be enough to cement him as the greatest cyclist of all time.
7GTs, 5 monuments, maybe a WC and weak era arguments can do the restWhat does he need to achieve in order to be considered the GOAT? His achievements can never rival Eddy, but we are in a different, far more competitive era.
It is crazy the level he is going to have to maintain, year after year, in order to get his Palmares on a level that is in the discussion.
But there really is no limit to what this guy can win:
GC+stages in all three Grand Tours
All 5 Monuments
World Championship
Olympics
GC+stages in all the big seven stage races
Big non-Monument one-day races
I think some combination of most of these achievements and 100-150 career victories, in the current era, as a GC rider, would be enough to cement him as the greatest cyclist of all time.
Merckx has 11 GTs, 19 monuments and 3 Worlds. Pogacar has a looooooooooooong way to go yet. Most realistically I think he can be the greatest in modern times. That is post Hinault.
Perhaps not, but something close to that. When Merckx won 30 in total, 33 if you include the Worlds, 12 or 15 doesn't cut it for Pogacar.So he needs to win 19 monuments and 11 Grand Tours before we can consider him the equal of Merckx? Isn't that a bit silly when we consider the depth of the field today versus back then and that riders specialise much more now than then?
7 Tours in a row.
Hot take but I think Merkcx wouldnt do that well in the present era. Rouleurs had massive advantages back then because of worse bikes and weak domestiques. I dont evem know what races he would be world class atSo he needs to win 19 monuments and 11 Grand Tours before we can consider him the equal of Merckx? Isn't that a bit silly when we consider the depth of the field today versus back then and that riders specialise much more now than then?
If we plopped Merckx down into today's peloton and gave him the training, equipment and nutrition of today, do you then think he would get the same wins as he did?
Hot take but I think Merkcx wouldnt do that well in the present era. Rouleurs had massive advantages back then because of worse bikes and weak domestiques. I dont evem know what races he would be world class at