Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[jotafap]

don't think so, he was actually pushing a lot

For what reason should he be pushing a lot when the race is totally decided? It's pretty obvious the gap could be twice as big, like it was at some point.

 

[canina82]

He loves to create these 1' gaps and then cruise. He does this all the time.

 

[jmdirt]

TP!

 

[Shortcut]

Ok, first win, looked pretty relaxed 50km till finish. He "joked" after descent where he fall last year. I think he really wanted to win but he knows how to build his peak. He looked much stronger at Rwanda last year than in Quebec+Montreal. He needs to be in perfect form at MSR+RVV and P-R so i would be suprise if that is his final form. He looks better than last year and without UAE Tour in his legs and without crash in SB he should be ready. He looked also a little bit heavier but if he wants to win next three races that is reasonable.

 

[rafa92]

just looked at the watts of pogacar in the last 80km, according to velon he did 380 watts, that's 40 more than in the last 2 years, it's a huge difference. He also destroyed the KOM on sante marie. In part the higher watts might be due to an higher weight but still his performance was huge, and still his gaps were not huge (to pidcock, vermersch...), they were lower than last years. Imo something weird happened in that group 2, I mean with those watts from pogacar they should have lost 3-4 minutes. Also the gap to seixas is 1 minute but in reality the difference in watts is still big (330 for seixas in the last 80 KM)

 

[yaf2]

i'm a bit disappointed by the gaps, I mean seixas is crazy strong, but to me it seems strange pog only gained 2:14 on pidcock , last year he gained 1:24 just in 18 km after a bad crash and having to gain back 30 seconds. Today it was pidcock who had a mechanical (actually 2) and the gap was not much higher. Also his haps to vermersch, christen and gregoire are all pretty low

I think pog is on a different level this year especially climbing wise. I don’t think the final gap tells the whole story. Let’s put it into perspective, on the middle/climbing part of santa maria he attacked for 3 minutes where seixas tried to follow and he put 10-15 sec on seixas, 25-30 secs on Deltoro and 35- 40 secs on jorgenson on a 3 minute climb which if you copy it to liege on la redoute which is a 4 minute climb he never had such a gap at the top & that was against Healy and pidcock. I think he rode within himself the whole time after Santa maria & once he knew he had 1:30 gap he doesn’t need to extend it more especially considering he has to do some block of training in the next week for San Remo. Regarding seixas I just have no words👏 the boy is special!

 

[yaf2]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030283458812035201

View: https://x.com/farolillo_rouge/status/2030283458812035201?s=46

The 3 min attack and the gap was enormous

 

[rafa92]

I think pog is on a different level this year especially climbing wise. I don’t think the final gap tells the whole story. Let’s put it into perspective, on the middle/climbing part of santa maria he attacked for 3 minutes where seixas tried to follow and he put 10-15 sec on seixas, 25-30 secs on Deltoro and 35- 40 secs on jorgenson on a 3 minute climb which if you copy it to liege on la redoute which is a 4 minute climb he never had such a gap at the top & that was against Healy and pidcock. I think he rode within himself the whole time after Santa maria & once he knew he had 1:30 gap he doesn’t need to extend it more especially considering he has to do some block of training in the next week for San Remo. Regarding seixas I just have no words👏 the boy is special!

just written another post looking at the watts, his performance was much better, on sante marie he was much better, in the last 80 km he was also much better, but still the gaps are pretty low. Imo something happened in that group 2, I really can't see vermersch, gregoire and christen loosing only 2 minutes after looking at the watts produced by pogacar.

 

[Rasto]

just written another post looking at the watts, his performance was much better, on sante marie he was much better, in the last 80 km he was also much better, but still the gaps are pretty low. Imo something happened in that group 2, I really can't see vermersch, gregoire and christen loosing only 2 minutes after looking at the watts produced by pogacar.

like i said motopacing was so bad i G2 thats why go watch it

 

[yaf2]

just written another post looking at the watts, his performance was much better, on sante marie he was much better, in the last 80 km he was also much better, but still the gaps are pretty low. Imo something happened in that group 2, I really can't see vermersch, gregoire and christen loosing only 2 minutes after looking at the watts produced by pogacar.

Well, everyone improves this days it’s not only pog so they could also be pushing 300 watts. It’s not like how we see it on tv. This guys like pog & vdp have so much experience in solo efforts and they know how to handle the effort and how to manage a gap. Vdp last week at omloop is a good example with how he managed the gap to vermeersh & vandijk to 20 -30 secs which you would think he would put 3 mins into them if he wants to.

 

[yaf2]

Another year, another long solo win by Pogi in Strade. It seems status quo in cycling will continue this year but it can't be denied that there's an incoming force from France.

Agreed. I think the france force is already overtaking vingegaard & it’s scary to think what he could do against pog in a couple of years time

 

[Extinction]

"We've got two weeks to prepare for Milan-San Remo in the hope of seeing Tadej win yet again."

 

[Poursuivant]

Impressive as ever today.

For MSR, I think they should try and make it hard already on the Capo’s, but I think they will just repeat the attempt from last year on the Cipressa which worked on everyone bar a couple of riders.

 

[dazaau]

just looked at the watts of pogacar in the last 80km, according to velon he did 380 watts, that's 40 more than in the last 2 years, it's a huge difference. He also destroyed the KOM on sante marie. In part the higher watts might be due to an higher weight but still his performance was huge, and still his gaps were not huge (to pidcock, vermersch...), they were lower than last years. Imo something weird happened in that group 2, I mean with those watts from pogacar they should have lost 3-4 minutes. Also the gap to seixas is 1 minute but in reality the difference in watts is still big (330 for seixas in the last 80 KM)

Are these estimated watts? Cause if the question is whether the gaps seen with our own eyes make sense or if the watt estimates on gravel up and down hills are off I think I know which I'm relying on.

 

[rafa92]

Are these estimated watts? Cause if the question is whether the gaps seen with our own eyes make sense or if the watt estimates on gravel up and down hills are off I think I know which I'm relying on.

not estimated, velon records the actual watts produced by the top riders, they have a device on the bikes , you can see the data on their socials. This is the article explaining how they get the data: https://www.velon.cc/velon-rider-data-system
it's accurate because they get the data directly from the power meter of the riders

 

[dazaau]

not estimated, velon records the actual watts produced by the top riders, they have a device on the bikes , you can see the data on their socials. This is the article explaining how they get the data: https://www.velon.cc/velon-rider-data-system
it's accurate because they get the data directly from the power meter of the riders

Fascinating, so maybe he is just much heavier this year in preparation for the only races that really matter before TDF - MSR and Roubaix?

You would think with 40 extra watts the gap would have been bigger.

 

[Oldman]

He loves to create these 1' gaps and then cruise. He does this all the time.

It works and absolutely enrages fans of other riders who can't.....quite..........close.................that.......................gap. Not bad for TP's first race.
Also not bad for our boy Matteo. Maybe JV will let him do some more races for himself.

 

[Oldman]

Fascinating, so maybe he is just much heavier this year in preparation for the only races that really matter before TDF - MSR and Roubaix?

You would think with 40 extra watts the gap would have been bigger.

The gravel conundrum. If you're heavier and throw down just a little more power than the surface will tolerate it's wasted effort. Frustrating on hills when you're hitting a limit.

 

[Oldman]

like i said motopacing was so bad i G2 thats why go watch it

You can see the motos are 20 meters ahead and Pog is going 17km on loose gravel. Not much aero advantage and Tadej would not appreciate the loose rocks and dust in his face either.
If it looks closer from the camera perspective they do have a zoom focus. You see the consistent gap when they flip back to the follow camera.
But you shouldn't watch it if the lead rider gets more camera time. I mean, how could that be fair to the others?

 

[Extinction]

Fascinating, so maybe he is just much heavier this year in preparation for the only races that really matter before TDF - MSR and Roubaix?

You would think with 40 extra watts the gap would have been bigger.

Funny how Horner sees Pog as the leanest he's ever been at this point in the year.🤷

View: https://youtu.be/E8d9UMIROig?is=gdhrg94RjylOjNIG

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Funny how Horner sees Pog as the leanest he's ever been at this point in the year.🤷

View: https://youtu.be/E8d9UMIROig?is=gdhrg94RjylOjNIG

Not even close. He looks bigger, especially compared to 2024.

 

[Oldman]

Not even close. He looks bigger, especially compared to 2024.

The rear shot of Pogacar climbing the last straight km would suggest he could play hockey this time of year. Perhaps that is the leanest Horner has seen him in early March, years ago. He looks like he's packing some power as his upper body is not overbuilt.

 

[yaf2]

not estimated, velon records the actual watts produced by the top riders, they have a device on the bikes , you can see the data on their socials. This is the article explaining how they get the data: https://www.velon.cc/velon-rider-data-system
it's accurate because they get the data directly from the power meter of the riders

I think the velon records are un reliable especially after remco exposed them after 2024 lombardy that they weren’t true. They said pog averaged 340 watts for 48kms but remco said he averaged exact same watts and was put 3 minutes in arrears

 

[Salvarani]

I think the velon records are un reliable especially after remco exposed them after 2024 lombardy that they weren’t true. They said pog averaged 340 watts for 48kms but remco said he averaged exact same watts and was put 3 minutes in arrears

It must be true, if Remco said it. He is very trustworthy.

 

[HashRouge]

Strade 2024 is the leanest I've ever seen Pog. He definitely looks bigger this year.
I don't think there is much point reading anything into the time gaps. He doesn't always get huge gaps when he does long solo attacks - WC 2024 is a good example. The way the time gap went down quite quickly and then back up again also suggested to me that he'd eased off for a section before picking up the pace again. Certainly never looked like he was struggling. He's also possibly not optimum Strade shape - he's aiming much more at MSR, Flanders and Roubaix this year. Last year Roubaix was a fairly last minute addition to his schedule.