Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Unchained]

The biggest ptsd will be seeing that tjhey won´t even close to Vingegaard in the Tour, even if he wins the Giro.

Perhaps they'll close the gap because of it, but they have forgotten very easily. that the difference to third place was still enormous.

If I had to pick one, I think Seixas will be the one to close the gap the most because the course is easy. With a difficult course, Vingegaard would still put a lot of distance between them. I think he'll put a considerable amount of time between Del Toro and Remco despite the course.

It's pretty clear that some have not read or listened to team and Del Toro himself. He is racing the Tour de France in support of Tadej Pogacar, no Trojan horse, no hidden agenda, no Juan Ayuso repeat.
If other teams are sending Riccitello, Onley, Ayuso, Remco to beat Pogacar it's a dream state. Vingegaard is still an unknown for multiple years. Tadej able to crack him almost at will. Visma's new climbing workhorse is Victor Campenarts? Sepp Kuss? Jorgenson?

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=et4O0WsfogQ

2026, better, faster, stronger, smarter.

 

[Cycling111]

It's pretty clear that some have not read or listened to team and Del Toro himself. He is racing the Tour de France in support of Tadej Pogacar, no Trojan horse, no hidden agenda, no Juan Ayuso repeat.
If other teams are sending Riccitello, Onley, Ayuso, Remco to beat Pogacar it's a dream state. Vingegaard is still an unknown for multiple years. Tadej able to crack him almost at will. Visma's new climbing workhorse is Victor Campenarts? Sepp Kuss? Jorgenson?

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=et4O0WsfogQ

2026, better, faster, stronger, smarter.

I'd think the same if Del Toro were leading.

Vignegaard's usual level at the Tour is being greatly underestimated. And I think Lipowitz's Tour is being underestimated too; it was very good, and even so, the gap to Vignegaard was huge.

In this case we are talking about Seixas and Del Toro, but a month ago they were saying that Remco could challenge Vingegaard in a Tour.

 

[rafa92]

Just saw Seixas' numbers from today.
Holy cow! The most shocking performance in February ever and the best performance by a teenager ever! I agree that in 2027 Pog will have a real challenger.
If it happens in 2026 already I'll be shocked.

I always look at these numbers with caution because they can be affected by many things, I prefer to look at relative gaps, he gained around 30 sec on lenny martinez and jan christen on a 17 minutes effort, he is clearly a huge talent but let's take it easy. Also he's only 20 years old but he's training like a madman, he is coming off a 2 months altitude training camp (at 2300 m in sierra) in the winter!! pogacar has never been at altitude in the winter in his entire career and has never been at altitude more than 19 days at a time

 

[Unchained]

I'd think the same if Del Toro were leading.

Vignegaard's usual level at the Tour is being greatly underestimated. And I think Lipowitz's Tour is being underestimated too; it was very good, and even so, the gap to Vignegaard was huge.

In this case we are talking about Seixas and Del Toro, but a month ago they were saying that Remco could challenge Vingegaard in a Tour.

Much respect, Del Toro is not leading, his team, his sense of logic and realism, relativity take over. If Lipowitz, Seixas, Onley, few others think they are on par with Pogacar, I guess that there is no harm to test themselves against him at TDF.
The old saying,
It's better not to show up, than to show up and disappoint.
Who lives by it MVP and Pogacar and now maybe Wout. Pogacar doesn't act surprised about cycling bucket list and retirement. It's sort of out there.
Many speculate that he will go out on top and leave guys like Rui Costa, Uran, Valverde, others who stayed at the party too long to use as examples. Pogacar is bringing a more stacked team and Juan Ayuso made everything at UAE better not more stressful. Del Toro and Almedia look to be getting along and team players.
Visma doesn't have much of a team, Boro has a lead guitar player who can't do solos but keeps insisting.
Del Toro has been months training with Tadej, he knows the pecking order. If some goon is filling Paul Seixas's head with " you are ready to slay Tadej" they are doing him a great disservice. Kid is great..

 

[Cycling111]

Much respect, Del Toro is not leading, his team, his sense of logic and realism, relativity take over. If Lipowitz, Seixas, Onley, few others think they are on par with Pogacar, I guess that there is no harm to test themselves against him at TDF.
The old saying,
It's better not to show up, than to show up and disappoint.
Who lives by it MVP and Pogacar and now maybe Wout. Pogacar doesn't act surprised about cycling bucket list and retirement. It's sort of out there.
Many speculate that he will go out on top and leave guys like Rui Costa, Uran, Valverde, others who stayed at the party too long to use as examples. Pogacar is bringing a more stacked team and Juan Ayuso made everything at UAE better not more stressful. Del Toro and Almedia look to be getting along and team players.
Visma doesn't have much of a team, Boro has a lead guitar player who can't do solos but keeps insisting.
Del Toro has been months training with Tadej, he knows the pecking order. If some goon is filling Paul Seixas's head with " you are ready to slay Tadej" they are doing him a great disservice. Kid is great..

I'm not criticizing this; I'm simply giving my opinion on some of the comments I've read that undervalue Vingegaard and the level they need to be at in the Tour to be close.
My only doubt is how he'll be after the Giro; without him, I'm convinced he would easily finish second again.

A month ago, some people were also annoyed that I said I didn't see Remco close to second place; a month later, everything is pessimism about him.

I'm not criticizing the riders' ambition at all; I'm talking about people's opinions. I disagree with them and I'm countering them with my own.

 

[rafa92]

with narvaez out and wellens out the chances for MSR are rapidly going to zero

 

[Cycling111]

with narvaez out and wellens out the chances for MSR are rapidly going to zero

Was Wellens' accident serious enough to rule him out for the next two weeks?

 

[rafa92]

Was Wellenes' accident serious enough to rule him out for the next two weeks?

from live images things don't look good, he probably broke his collarbone, for now it's just my speculation

 

[Cycling111]

from live images things don't look good, he probably broke his collarbone, for now it's just my speculation

I just saw the images, he looked bad.

Narvaez and Wellens seemed to me to be the two most important cyclists for San Remo, along with Rui Oliveira for his positioning. Two of three out.

 

[rafa92]

I just saw the images, he looked bad.

Narvaez and Wellens seemed to me to be the two most important cyclists for San Remo, along with Rui Oliveira for his positioning. Two of three out.

yep, honestly I don't see how uae can do what pogacar needs on cipressa, they struggled to do it with wellens and narvaez, imagine without both of them

 

[Purito91]

with narvaez out and wellens out the chances for MSR are rapidly going to zero

Del Toro has to show that he is the next superstar and lead him up the whole cipressa.

 

[Cycling111]

Del Toro has to show that he is the next superstar and lead him up the whole cipressa.

Yes. San Remo it's over.

 

[Cycling111]

Furthermore, given Philipsen's shape, it seems impossible to defeat Alpecin there.

 

[rafa92]

Furthermore, given Philipsen's shape, it seems impossible to defeat Alpecin there.

philipsen is not a problem if they can do cipressa in 8:40

 

[canina82]

MSR is over for sure. It's a pity.

 

[fenns]

yep, honestly I don't see how uae can do what pogacar needs on cipressa, they struggled to do it with wellens and narvaez, imagine without both of them

no amount of help is going to add 2% to the gradient - it's just not steep enough

 

[rafa92]

no amount of help is going to add 2% to the gradient - it's just not steep enough

exactly because the gradient is low you need domestiques, with wellens, narvaez and del toro at their best no one except vdp at 110% of his form would keep the wheels of pogacar

 

[fenns]

exactly because the gradient is low you need domestiques, with wellens, narvaez and del toro at their best no one except vdp at 110% of his form would keep the wheels of pogacar

even without domestique help Pog would gap everyone except MVDP. I just can't see how he drops the Dutchman on the Cipressa - there just aren't the gradients.

 

[Cycling111]

Without Narvaez, without Wellens. What a disaster.

 

[canina82]

MSR depends a lot on Pogacar to be exciting. These are not good news for the race.
With this crash, I expect Vermeersch, Cosnefroy and Del Toro to lead Pogacar in Cipressa.

 

[Cycling111]

MSR depends a lot on Pogacar to be exciting. These are not good news for the race.
With this crash, I expect Vermeersch, Cosnefroy and Del Toro to lead Pogacar in Cipressa.

And Christen? When he's been Pogacar's domestique, his performance and attitude has been excellent, like in FW.

 

[Offline]

Is RVV realistic for Wellens?

 

[canina82]

Is RVV realistic for Wellens?

No, not a single chance. At least to be in good shape.

 

[Keldergoat]

Ironically, this is also bad news for MvdP. A scenario like last year was, in a way, perfect for him.

 

[Berniece]

Don’t think Wellens being out matters much. Del Toro had to launch him anyway and might do the work of Narvaez and Wellens combined. If you already think MSR is over, don’t bother starting and join De Lie