Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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These articles... completely ignored Remco going behind cars in his fastest lap.
Other thing very important: Pogacar had his nose in the wind since Mount Kigali (104 km left). IIRC Remco just put his nose with 66 km to the finish.
After that, Pogacar was riding alone while Remco had 4 riders with him (then 3 and when Pidock dropped he had 2) until the last 20 km. He was losing time to Pogacar. Case closed about who was clearly the strongest. GdL will be another massacre just like last year. I will be shocked to see someone under 1' of Pogacar.
The EC depends a lot on Slovenia but in normal conditions, Pogacar will destroy his rivals too.

Today, the European Championship is the most irrelevant race for Pogacar.
 
The only question is whether VDP will be at the same level at Cipressa next year.
I never thought he'd climb like this.
keep in mind they go up cipressa at 40 km/h, it's hardly a climb with modern equipment, and draft is huge. But pogacar next year has a chance of going solo. He needs 2 things: a great team, much better than last year, and then he also needs a slightly higher level than 2025. This year we can't forget he had a bad crash in SB just 14 days before MSR and he said that for a week he had to take it easy, if everything goes smoothly in 2026 he can arrive to MSR in even better shape
 
keep in mind they go up cipressa at 40 km/h, it's hardly a climb with modern equipment, and draft is huge. But pogacar next year has a chance of going solo. He needs 2 things: a great team, much better than last year, and then he also needs a slightly higher level than 2025. This year we can't forget he had a bad crash in SB just 14 days before MSR and he said that for a week he had to take it easy, if everything goes smoothly in 2026 he can arrive to MSR in even better shape
Still, it's impressive that VDP climbed it much better than all the punchers.
 
keep in mind they go up cipressa at 40 km/h, it's hardly a climb with modern equipment, and draft is huge. But pogacar next year has a chance of going solo. He needs 2 things: a great team, much better than last year, and then he also needs a slightly higher level than 2025. This year we can't forget he had a bad crash in SB just 14 days before MSR and he said that for a week he had to take it easy, if everything goes smoothly in 2026 he can arrive to MSR in even better shape
He needs to be well positioned with Wellens and Narvaez. That's it.
 
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yes, only problem is that they never make it. They need to be well positioned but they also need a third rider, and that's del Toro
Del Toro has positioning problems. He had that problem again at Mont Kigali.
And he still raises doubts when the race is too long.

For me, the most important has to be Narvaez. Before him, anyone who positions well is more important than a climber who doesn't position well.
 
He might be better going at the earlier climb - the Cipressa just isn't steep enough
:tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy:
Which "earlier climb"???
Capo Berta?
Too short.

More reasonable, it would appear, to make a couple UAE guys start the hell on Capo Berta, and keep it up till Cipressa, but the question is if then he'd have 2-3 more left, in good spots, at the bottom of Cipressa.
Not easy, quite demanding: needs a bunch of guys giving it all, being in good condition, and not screwing it up.

Poggio = 3,7 km; 3,7% average, with some 8% parts
Cipressa = 5,6 km; 4,1% average
'Capo Berta = 1.9 km; 6.6% average
'Capo Cervo = 1.9km; 2,4% average
'Capo Mele = 1.7km; 4.2% average

'Passo del Turchino' - 9.5 km; 5.1% average - is a tad too far.
:laughing:

 
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:tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy:
Which "earlier climb"???
Capo Berta?
Too short.

More reasonable, it would appear, to make a couple UAE guys start the hell on Capo Berta, and keep it up till Cipressa, but the question is if then he'd have 2-3 more left, in good spots, at the bottom of Cipressa.
Not easy, quite demanding: needs a bunch of guys giving it all, being in good condition, and not screwing it up.

Poggio = 3,7 km; 3,7% average, with some 8% parts
Cipressa = 5,6 km; 4,1% average
'Capo Berta = 1.9 km; 6.6% average
'Capo Cervo = 1.9km; 2,4% average
'Capo Mele = 1.7km; 4.2% average

'Passo del Turchino' - 9.5 km; 5.1% average - is a tad too far.
:laughing:

Where did you get that horribly wrong data on the Turchino?
 
I hope he tries (or UAE) on Berta, it would be crazy move and move for history even if he loses. But i think it is also only way to bring Del Toro and Narvaez with him on Cipressa. Otherwise Del Toro will be lost again.
They might need to try something new. I think 2 years ago they wanted to set up Pog on the Cipressa but the team didn't position well. This year, they came closer but it wasn't a perfect lead-out for Pog. Maybe, they'll try again next year and hope they have a couple of guys left in a train to power up from the bottom.