Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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Ayuso's case is simpler than that theory and is something that has always happened in sports. Threatening to leave a team to get a salary increase in football, for example, and in this case, a calendar increase.

There's no mystery here. This type of blackmail is very common in professional sports. And the way it's done is always through the same journalist (AS).
 
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Ayuso's case is simpler than that theory and is something that has always happened in sports. Threatening to leave a team to get a salary increase in soccer, for example, and in this case, a calendar increase.

There's no mystery here. This type of blackmail is very common in professional sports. And the way it's done is always through the same journalist (AS).
Yes but Ayuso is nobody , he can leave right now and this doesnt change anything. He is not the guy in UAE
 
Sep 8, 2021
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I agree with you now. I'm just disappointed to not see him in Angliru.
But my post was a half joke. I really think he likes too much to go on vacations in the Summer.
I agree, don’t think there’s any big problem or conspiracy here. He had two long blocks this season already (March/April, SB to LBL; June/July), both pretty much two month long. He had a choice now. A short break and return to do the Vuelta, which compromise the fall/canada/worlds block. Or a longer summer break in the beach and returning fresher to the later block.

Contrary to what he said a few months, I don’t see Pogacar doing double GTs every year as he seems to enjoy much more one day races. I could see him targeting the 3 GTs in 27 and from then on doing whatever he wants to do only, including taking random sabbaticals.
 
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We shouldn't be surprised going by previous years. But to be honest it's pretty disappointing for someone of Pogacar's standing to have done 2 GTs just once since he started winning them. Then there's skipping the Olympics in his peak years. (Upset his GF wasn't selected? Come on...)

To be honest his schedule is sometimes very odd - why race Wallone and Amstel - races he's won before. Especially after PR. Doesn't seem to make much sense. Now he's excited about Canada?

Whether it's what he wants, or what UAE want, or both, I think the goal is clear : 6 Tours - which will set him apart - it's the only cycling event as far as non-anoraks are concerned. And add to the monuments as he goes along because they are only one day and more interesting than training.
 

Rou

Mar 20, 2024
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Source? He dropped his performance in the last week a little bit.
During one of the press conferences he mentioned it.
'I was a bit tired in the last week, to be honest but for now, I DON' T WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT WHAT WENT WRONG. '
Something happened.
 
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We shouldn't be surprised going by previous years. But to be honest it's pretty disappointing for someone of Pogacar's standing to have done 2 GTs just once since he started winning them. Then there's skipping the Olympics in his peak years. (Upset his GF wasn't selected? Come on...)

To be honest his schedule is sometimes very odd - why race Wallone and Amstel - races he's won before. Especially after PR. Doesn't seem to make much sense. Now he's excited about Canada?

Whether it's what he wants, or what UAE want, or both, I think the goal is clear : 6 Tours - which will set him apart - it's the only cycling event as far as non-anoraks are concerned. And add to the monuments as he goes along because they are only one day and more interesting than training.
Ardennes treble.
 
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During one of the press conferences he mentioned it.
'I was a bit tired in the last week, to be honest but for now, I DON' T WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT WHAT WENT WRONG. '
Something happened.
What are you suggesting? Clinic reasons?
 
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Rou

Mar 20, 2024
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What are you suggesting? Clinic reasons?
In short yes.
I said it days ago that I'm not buying the fatigue element.
He was following Vingegaard ALL the time. Vingegaard pushing 6.5 W/kg on Ventoux? No problem for Pogi.
Casually dropping Vingo on Loze.
Pulling Jonas for 10 kms on La Plagne while pushing watts similar to Monte Grappa.
I'm pretty sure after Hautacam and Peyragude some calls were made to tone it down a little.
 
Feb 20, 2012
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In short yes.
I said it days ago that I'm not buying the fatigue element.
He was following Vingegaard ALL the time. Vingegaard pushing 6.5 W/kg on Ventoux? No problem for Pogi.
Casually dropping Vingo on Loze.
Pulling Jonas for 10 kms on La Plagne while pushing watts similar to Monte Grappa.
I'm pretty sure after Hautacam and Peyragude some calls were made to tone it down a little.
You get fatigued before performance goes down. In fact, top athletes initially supercompensate a little bit despite building up fatigue. But that can't keep going forever and at some point they just crash in form.
 

Rou

Mar 20, 2024
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Some people jokingly said:
'It's good to win the Tour.
But Pogacar doesn't need to be on the first page of L'Equippe with a picture of a needle next to him.'
And the exhibitions stopped after Peyragude when the Tour was won.
 
Apr 13, 2025
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Yes but Ayuso is nobody , he can leave right now and this doesnt change anything. He is not the guy in UAE
For Matxin, he's very important, just look at his interviews.

UAE signed Ayuso as the best U23 rider of his generation, the best by far, and they've invested years in developing him. They'll see him as a failure if he leaves for another team.

UAE has many Spaniards in its structure; the feeling is they want a Spaniard to be the next Contador. Ayuso, Torres, Pericas. Matxin is particularly fixated on Spanish talent.

Furthermore, ever since Jumbo won the three GTs in the same year, Matxin has been obsessed with this. During the preseason, he reiterated that this year's goal was that. They've already failed at the Giro.
To achieve this in the future, he will believe Ayuso is necessary. Almeida is also unreliable; he frequently gets sick or has accidents.

I see clear blackmail. Leaking a journalist friend that you are leaving the team is something that's all too common in professional sports to achieve a goal.

By the way, and to clarify what I said before, I didn't say that this is why the UAE told Pogacar not to go to the Vuelta for Ayuso. But I think that as soon as Pogacar raised his doubts, the UAE did nothing to advise him or convince him to go to the Vuelta, and they saw an opportunity to resolve the Ayuso issue. Perhaps without Ayuso's threat, they would have asked Pogacar to reflect this week because it's very common for many cyclists to be burned out by the third week of the Tour, but then think differently a week later. Without that problem, I think UAE wouldn't have announced the Vuelta team so early with Ayuso. This is a perception based on what we see in sports, and how these kinds of blackmailing of athletes through the journalist.
The timing of rumours of Ayuso's team change, followed by the same journalist launching the Vuelta rumor two days later, was too obvious LOL.
 
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bah

Jul 16, 2025
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Some people jokingly said:
'It's good to win the Tour.
But Pogacar doesn't need to be on the first page of L'Equippe with a picture of a needle next to him.'
And the exhibitions stopped after Peyragude when the Tour was won.
So, not breaking any "Clinic Rules" what exactly are you claiming?
 
Apr 13, 2025
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By the way, we have overlooked it but Isn't suprising that UAE announced the Vuelta team so early? They announced the Tour the France team three weeks before? Even that's strange.

Who do they want to calm down by saying that it's safe and they won't change their mind?
We'll see if there's more news of a team change in the coming days, or the rumours stop.
 
Jul 15, 2021
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I'm pretty sure after Hautacam and Peyragude some calls were made to tone it down a little.
Well if that's true, that call came about a year too late imo.
I mean, this year he won very comfortably, but I hardly ever saw those omgwtf thermonuclear attacks from last year.
 
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Rou

Mar 20, 2024
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The problem with the Tour is that everything is watched under a microscope.
A month from now Jonas might go crazy and do a sub 39 mins Angliru and nobody will say a word about it.
Except us cycling nerds here.
 
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Rou

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Well if that's true, that call came about a year too late imo.
I mean, this year he won very comfortably, but I hardly ever saw those omgwtf thermonuclear attacks from last year.
The only one close was the 2000 VAM on Peyragude.
The Tour ended and everything became nice and normal.
 
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The problem with the Tour is that everything is watched under a microscope.
A month from now Jonas might go crazy and do a sub 39 mins Angliru and nobody will say a word about it.
Except us cycling nerds here.
No, he won't. TdF is where numbers are higher. All mythical climbing times are in the Tour. Vingegaard and Roglic were 30 seconds slower than Heras on Angliru and they could be faster.
 
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Rou

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No, he won't. TdF is where numbers are higher. All mythical climbing times are in the Tour. Vingegaard and Roglic were 30 seconds slower than Heras on Angliru and they could be faster.
Vingegaard was babysitting Kuss and they were following Bahrain wheels.
If Almeida is a real challenger to Jonas this year expect some insanity on Angliru.
 
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You get fatigued before performance goes down. In fact, top athletes initially supercompensate a little bit despite building up fatigue. But that can't keep going forever and at some point they just crash in form.
And he's forgetting that he had an accident and the pain from the blows is worse as the days go by.
 
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Some people jokingly said:
'It's good to win the Tour.
But Pogacar doesn't need to be on the first page of L'Equippe with a picture of a needle next to him.'
And the exhibitions stopped after Peyragude when the Tour was won.
And the fact that the next day Wellens gets into a breakaway and UAE did 1-2-3 in Ordizia :tearsofjoy:
Pogacar has to pretend he's not good, but the rest of the team doesn't. That theory doesn't hold up at all.

Accidents hurt more as the days go by, but for whatever reason, you don't consider something you know to be real. It's better to think about something that isn't real.
It's a strange way to be a fan of someone, to use the same arguments as those who hate him LOL.

By the way, Pogacar didn't let up the day after Peyragudes. He looked very good that day. The problem is that Sivakov and Yates' pace was a disaster, as it has been all year, and they lost time to Arensman, so Pogacar should have attacked 8 km from the finish. And it's not the same to do so with a 4-minute lead and risk having a 2.0 Lioran. He also faked it in Lioran, and in Amstel?
Furthermore, it's not the same to do so in Hautacam, the first mountain day, as it is to do so on the third day. Obviously, aside from the risk of being the leader, there's more fatigue on the third day. It would have been absurd to attack 8 km from the finish just for the stage.
That day, they finished 1:45 behind Arensman. Pogacar didn't fight for the stage that day because the team's work was terrible for it.

But that day he didn't look bad or pretend, say that is simply a lie.

If he wins, clinic; if he doesn't win, clinc. If he goes to the Vuelta, clinic because it was too hard season; if he doesn't, fake clinic :tearsofjoy:
 
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Rou

Mar 20, 2024
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And the fact that the next day Wellens gets into a breakaway and UAE did 1-2-3 in Ordizia :tearsofjoy:
Pogacar has to pretend he's not good, but the rest of the team doesn't. That theory doesn't hold up at all.

Accidents hurt more as the days go by, but for whatever reason, you don't consider something you know to be real. It's better to think about something that isn't real.
It's a strange way to be a fan of someone, to use the same arguments as those who hate him LOL.
Man, I know what I'm saying and I'm not a 10 year old who believes in miracles.
You claimed that Pog will suck in the flat TT while I claimed he will smoke Vingegaard.
No need to discuss these things.
Let's not muddy the waters.
 
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