Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Cookster15]

No, British but I take your point to an extent as here Wiggins winning the Tour was a big deal whereas had he won Paris-Roubaix it would have been equally revered by core cycling fans but the wider sporting audience would not see it in true context.

Uk list in General awareness and interest
Tour
Olympics
Worlds


Tour jerseys
Giro and Vuelta
Monuments


everything else

Thanks, I assumed you were Australian by your posting name

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I did not say it was a minor race I said it was relatively minor.

Sorry to offend but compared to the Tour de France Flanders is minor be it a monument or not. Ask any Australian if they remember that Stuart O’Grady won 2007 Paris Roubaix. For a rider like Pogacar, monuments are minor.

ps, I’ve been following the sport since the early 90s, am entitled to express my opinions and am not stupid.

While I agree that a Tour victory is more than a monument victory (because of it's the biggest race and because of a simple observation that there are 5 monuments vs 3 GTs per year) I believe that in case of an all-round phenom like Pogacar both GTs and Monuments will be similarly important in assessing his career. I will go further and say that winning a monument like Flandres (historically very difficult to win for a TdF champion) is a victory comparable or bigger than another GT victory (non-Tour).

 

[hayneplane]

Thanks, I assumed you were Australian by your posting name

Not going to take the thread off context but yeah I can definitely understand where you would have got that impression from

 

[Red Rick]

I know a lot of people are starting to find him boring but I still find myself rooting for him. The guy is so out of this world looking so much stronger than anyone I had ever seen before him, that I still enjoy the amazement watching him gets me. A big part of me wants Pogacar to win LBL and then the Tour after that, simply to experience what it must have felt like to watch the goats in the decades before I was born.

You've had 15 years to taste the excitement of Nadal winning Roland Garros cycling doesn't need that monotony

 

[Krzysztof_O]

You've had 15 years to taste the excitement of Nadal winning Roland Garros cycling doesn't need that monotony

Healthy and motivated Teddy without any external factors is still unbeaten!

 

[Scarponi]

Not going to take the thread off context but yeah I can definitely understand where you would have got that impression from

Should change the name to HayneJail

 

[CyclistAbi]

They are indeed all rather boring. Winning all over again. At least until they all meet each other. We can be grateful for being part of that.

 

[Lequack]

Amstel Gold behind the scenes

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTFni-Qm3Ns

 

[Netserk]

It’s been an outstanding year so far of filling in the gaps in his palmares. The most glaring gap is no pre Tour one week stage race in TDS or CDD.

The most glaring gap is the WCRR. Best result is 18th from Yorkshire in 2019.

 

[Red Rick]

The most glaring gap is the WCRR. Best result is 18th from Yorkshire in 2019.

Talking about WC

What's the 2024 route supposed to look like?

 

[Salvarani]

You've had 15 years to taste the excitement of Nadal winning Roland Garros cycling doesn't need that monotony

One of his losses was against the great Robin Söderling, who beat him in 2009, but he lost the final against Federer.

The year after Robin won against Federer, but lost to Nadal in the final instead.

Absolute heartache, because he then also got sick in 2011 and never got back to previous level. Glandular fever or maybe better known as mononucleosis.

 

[Unchained]

His ability to ride alone looks to be in a constant state of improvement. Excited to see his TT times.. Love the way he smashes the pedals, looked great at Amstel..and when he guzzled his podium beer..classic

 

[Gigs_98]

You've had 15 years to taste the excitement of Nadal winning Roland Garros cycling doesn't need that monotony

Yet I'm at awe at Nadal winning RG every single time. I know it's monotone, but there is always a bit of amazement when you are witnessing this kind of greatness.

 

[Netserk]

If Ben Healy is almost able to close a gap on you, the field isn't that strong.I also don't think Pog is close to his top form anymore, at least not as strong as he was in De Ronde.

Already on the first ascent of Cauberg did Pogi thin the group down. Rode on and pulled through with a puncture for several km. Closed a 11'' gap on Kruisberg after his bike change. Then already went on Eyserbosweg immediately afterwards and dropped everyone but Pidcock, with Healy bridging up after Pidcock took the front and lowered the pace on the top of the climb. From then on Healy didn't take a pull in the group (i.e. for ~7.2 km until Keutenberg started), and he was the first to drop on Keutenberg, losing 10'' to Pogi there with an effort 14 % slower. He could then ride with Pidcock for nearly 15 km, before he attacked on Geulhemmerberg and dropped Pidcock.

I think it's pretty fair to say they had spend different levels of energy before that moment. Healy, unlike Pidcock, had not gone too deep on any climb, and was by far the rider with least wind on his nose.

Yet he only took 12'' on Pogi on the 3.7 km following his attack. He lost 18'' to Pogi on Bemelerberg, counting from the uphill part of the bikepath through the forest.

So no, I would not call lowering the gap from 32'' to 20'' during your attack when you are the freshest only to lose more than that on the next climb as "almost able to close a gap".

 

[Netserk]

Talking about WC

What's the 2024 route supposed to look like?

Event EN - Zurich 2024

Zurich 2024: Outstanding premiere From Saturday, 21 September to Sunday, 29 September, the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will cast a spell over the city and canton of Zurich. For the first time, the road races of para-cyclists are an integral part of the cycling world...

zurich2024.com

Not a Pogi course. Yes, that exists.

 

[hayneplane]

His ability to ride alone looks to be in a constant state of improvement. Excited to see his TT times.. Love the way he smashes the pedals, looked great at Amstel..and when he guzzled his podium beer..classic

Will he even ride one in competition before the Tour this year?

 

[Red Rick]

Event EN - Zurich 2024

Zurich 2024: Outstanding premiere From Saturday, 21 September to Sunday, 29 September, the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will cast a spell over the city and canton of Zurich. For the first time, the road races of para-cyclists are an integral part of the cycling world...

zurich2024.com

Not a Pogi course. Yes, that exists.

Still have no idea cause they barely talk about the course and it's all para cycling.

But if you say not Pogacar I'm presuming very flat?

 

[Netserk]

If Van der Poel had won Amstel last year, would that also have been against a weak field? What about the year before, how strong was the field Van Aert beat?

Maybe Amstel just suits different riders compared to Liège, and those who do it is the best on the terrain who are in form and fresh enough to compete.

 

[Netserk]

Still have no idea cause they barely talk about the course and it's all para cycling.

But if you say not Pogacar I'm presuming very flat?

Apparently, the main climb is 1.2 km at 6 %. A short steeper hill before that.

This is what @raffilpt/@LasterketaBurua has as the route.

 

[Red Rick]

Apparently, the main climb is 1.2 km at 6 %. A short steeper hill before that.

This is what @raffilpt/@LasterketaBurua has as the route.

9 km from the finish too.

Damn that's disappointing.

 

[gunara]

Yet I'm at awe at Nadal winning RG every single time. I know it's monotone, but there is always a bit of amazement when you are witnessing this kind of greatness.

I think the parallel is not perfect anyway. Pogi is not winning the same things again and again and again, at this point he keeps breaking new ground, trying something we have long not seen, and out of his comfort zone (or at least seemingly so).


(in Nadal's defense, so did he, he's not just a 15-time RG winner, everyone knows that, he just has that one boring section in his impressive trophy cabinet)

 

[QueenStagiaire]

(in Nadal's defense, so did he, he's not just a 15-time RG winner,

Nadal is not even a 15-time RG winner so I guess it wasn‘t so monotonous.

 

[Salvarani]

Nadal is not even a 15-time RG winner so I guess it wasn‘t so monotonous.

Yeah, only 14-time winner. You showed him there.

 

[Poursuivant]

I know a lot of people are starting to find him boring but I still find myself rooting for him. The guy is so out of this world looking so much stronger than anyone I had ever seen before him, that I still enjoy the amazement watching him gets me. A big part of me wants Pogacar to win LBL and then the Tour after that, simply to experience what it must have felt like to watch the goats in the decades before I was born.

I think the fact that he showed he was human last July has made it a lot easier to like him too. Yes he animates every race of course and he seems like a decent human being so I find him really hard to dislike, but the fact that he showed he isn’t unbeatable in the TDF makes it easier to root for him.

You could even argue that he lost that TDF by animating a lot of the earlier stages and taking the fight to the opposition on stages where the GC boys usually just want to survive. He is a truly Great rider, I just hope he has no injuries/suspensions etc in his career because his palmares could look absolutely ridiculous in about ten years. He is still only 24 years young, it is beyond impressive.

 

[gunara]

Nadal is not even a 15-time RG winner so I guess it wasn‘t so monotonous.

Yeah, not even 15 Don't know where I got that other one, they started to feel the same after awhile.