Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[HashRouge]

Personally I'm not panicking.
I just feel scammed. I was told of a new Pogacar power level and instead we got this TEMU version.
Or maybe he had nightmares and couldn't sleep well after watching Itzulia?

I don't know why people thought he would suddenly be able to drop everyone on the Roubaix cobbles. You've only yourself to blame if that's what you thought, especially after that first puncture and having a long chase to get back on.

 

[Monsi]

I don't know why people thought he would suddenly be able to drop everyone on the Roubaix cobbles. You've only yourself to blame if that's what you thought, especially after that first puncture and having a long chase to get back on.

Exactly. In the end, those cobbles are on 0% (or maybe 1-2%) gradient. And no matter how much muscle Pogi puts on, he's trying to drop guys like Van Aert who just has more absolute power on the flat.

 

[Berniece]

The time to panic is if he doesn't cakewalk Liege. Not now.

In this form Roglic might beat him in Romandie

 

[jotafap]

I don't know why people thought he would suddenly be able to drop everyone on the Roubaix cobbles. You've only yourself to blame if that's what you thought, especially after that first puncture and having a long chase to get back on.

Deepdown they know it, but well, Pogacar rarely loses, so when he does some people will come out and enjoy the moment as much as possible, because it won't last..

 

[canina82]

People underestimate how deep he had to go to close a 1' gap (22" on his own for like 10km?)

 

[Didinho]

Only a 200m sprint away from other cycling history. He had worked hard today, only 1 guy beat him in Roubaix. We’ll see him next year again. Or he quits cycling after today.

 

[Red Rick]

In this form Roglic might beat him in Romandie

If it rains, Rogla goes to the pub again earlier than usual, and someone gives him a baseball bat then maybe

 

[HashRouge]

In this form Roglic might beat him in Romandie

Legend has it Roglic is still finishing that final Itzulia stage as we speak.

 

[BubbaChuck]

Obviulsy feeding issue,but seixas could be problem on redoute.

 

[Bombarolo]

I'm already expecting the "Oh Jonas is gonna dominate Pogi at the Tour" if he doesn't immediately drop Seixas on Redoute.

Seixas that is probably the third best cyclist in the world right now when the road goes up

 

[Red Rick]

Legend has it Roglic is still finishing that final Itzulia stage as we speak.

Hasn't left the hotel since the door says "pull to open"

 

[the asian]

You need abit of luck to win P-R and after 3 punctures and chasing solo for some time, he was always going to be too tired to drop WVA. Need a perfect race to win, as there are no hills to make a difference.

 

[Monsi]

Seixas that is probably the third best cyclist in the world right now when the road goes up

I still expect Pogi to drop Seixas on Redoute, with a harder attack than he did last year when he simply rode away from the peloton.

 

[AmRacer]

You need abit of luck to win P-R and after 3 punctures and chasing solo for some time, he was always going to be too tired to drop WVA. Need a perfect race to win, as there are no hills to make a difference.

Wout also had mechanicals

 

[AmRacer]

I still expect Pogi to drop Seixas on Redoute, with a harder attack than he did last year when he simply rode away from the peloton.

The Remco factor will be present

 

[Monsi]

The Remco factor will be present

Agree. Definitely gonna be a deadly chasing duo if it is Remco + Seixas.

 

[the asian]

Wout also had mechanicals

But WVA is a stronger rider on the flat, and has much more experience than Pog riding P-R.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

With all the lamentations and talk about how finished he is, nobody's mentioning that he said he probably won't be back at Paris-Roubaix next year.After Milano-San Lorenzo, he said the same thing, that he definitely wouldn't do classics in 2027 regardless of whether he won Paris-Roubaix or not.

Few days of racing and pressure from the team to win more Grand Tours. Next year he'll do the Tour-Vuelta and stage races in the spring, especially without Ayuso and seeing as Del Toro isn't a guarantee outside of routes like Tirreno-Adriatico.

Today, we probably saw Pogacar's last Classic outside of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia.

 

[HashRouge]

But WVA is a stronger rider on the flat, and has much more experience than Pog riding P-R.

He also didn't have as much bad luck as Pog. Which is fair, Wout has had his awful luck at Roubaix, so it was about time things went a bit more his way!

 

[CatchyH]

Pogacar is the lightest rider in the top 10. Only 6 riders in this peloton were lighter than him. He has the exact opposite of a build you'd want for this race. He'd need a perfect race to win here and that didn't happen today. It's okay to lose sometimes, even if you're potentially the best ever. I'm just happy he didn't crash and is healthy.

 

[Low is rhe new high]

Maybe the tactics of not doing so many races makes him lack competitive edge. He took a strange fall in MSR, he missed some positioning early at Flanders taking a lot of wind as well today he burnt a lot of energy not beeing patient when getting back to the front and didn’t seem very relaxed on the cobbles when racing in the group. He seems to have as much or more power but he seems worse at preserving it.

 

[HashRouge]

With all the lamentations and talk about how finished he is, nobody's mentioning that he said he probably won't be back at Paris-Roubaix next year.After Milano-San Lorenzo, he said the same thing, that he definitely wouldn't do classics in 2027 regardless of whether he won Paris-Roubaix or not.

Few days of racing and pressure from the team to win more Grand Tours. Next year he'll do the Tour-Vuelta and stage races in the spring, especially without Ayuso and seeing as Del Toro isn't a guarantee outside of routes like Tirreno-Adriatico.

Today, we probably saw Pogacar's last Classic outside of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia.

That's not what he said in the post race interview? They asked him if he'd be back next year and he said "I can't say no". I'd be surprised if he skips it, he has a decent chance to win if things go his way and it's a bit like MSR - the more he rides it, the more likely it is that things eventually go his way.

 

[AmRacer]

That's not what he said in the post race interview? They asked him if he'd be back next year and he said "I can't say no". I'd be surprised if he skips it, he has a decent chance to win if things go his way and it's a bit like MSR - the more he rides it, the more likely it is that things eventually go his way.

He has a few more tries in him.

 

[HashRouge]

Maybe the tactics of not doing so many races makes him lack competitive edge. He took a strange fall in MSR, he missed some positioning early at Flanders taking a lot of wind as well today he burnt a lot of energy not beeing patient when getting back to the front and didn’t seem very relaxed on the cobbles when racing in the group. He seems to have as much or more power but he seems worse at preserving it.

I don't think it's just that, I think it's also that he's really pushing the limits as to what he's actually capable of. MSR and Roubaix are really difficult races for him to win, and the more you push things to the limit, the more likely you are to make mistakes.

 

[Monsi]

That's not what he said in the post race interview? They asked him if he'd be back next year and he said "I can't say no". I'd be surprised if he skips it, he has a decent chance to win if things go his way and it's a bit like MSR - the more he rides it, the more likely it is that things eventually go his way.

After two 2nd places, especially after today when he was so close to the win after that much bad luck, he'll definitely want to be back racing Paris-Roubaix.