Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Gigs_98 said:
I mean Mercx won MSR, Ronde and LBL in one season twice, so I'd feel pretty confident putting those above Pogacar's 2023 no matter what happens on Sunday. But other than that, I'm not sure anyone has ever had a better spring.

Concerning Gilbert, I think you could easily make the argument this spring by Pogacar is already better than Gilbert's in 2011. There is absolutely no question about whose season is better if Pogacar wins LBL.
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Don't ask me to rate the early 70's as highly as this year.
 
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S

Skijumper Roglic fan

Aug 28, 2021
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I remember the days when Cancellara, after great rides in MSR, RVV and Roubaix, announced he would go for all five Monuments soon.

He never even started once. Not at LBL, not at Lombardia. He had fear of a OTL, maybe?…

Pogacar is different, he likes to explore.

But I hope Pogacar really will ride Roubaix soon.

Nibali announced, he‘d ride Roubaix, but he feared for his life in this race, so he didn‘t dare to start.
 
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S

Sciatic

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Gigs_98 said:
I mean Mercx won MSR, Ronde and LBL in one season twice, so I'd feel pretty confident putting those above Pogacar's 2023 no matter what happens on Sunday. But other than that, I'm not sure anyone has ever had a better spring.

Concerning Gilbert, I think you could easily make the argument this spring by Pogacar is already better than Gilbert's in 2011. There is absolutely no question about whose season is better if Pogacar wins LBL.
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Re: Gilbert I agree, Pog’s is better. When I say something is “up there” in a conversation that starts with “is there anything even close?”, I’m not saying it’s necessarily better.

Because of the importance of the races, I also have Cancellara’s 2010 combo of E3 & Ronde & Roubaix high than Gilbert’s 2011 classics season. And that would go for Boone’s best spring as well.
 
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tobydawq

tobydawq

Nov 16, 2013
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Red Rick said:
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It's so weird how this race had 11 editions in a row with a breakaway win, and then 20 with a peloton win without any breakaway in between.
 
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Cookster15

Cookster15

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May 14, 2011
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Gigs_98 said:
Suppose he wins on sunday, that would argubly make this the greatest spring a rider has had since when?
There have been a few riders with two monuments in one spring somewhat recently. But I'd argue that plus AGR, FW and PN is worth more than anything guys like Cancellara or Boonen (or Degenkolb lol) have achieved in their respective best springs. And I think the fact that Pogacar won on completely different terrain also adds to the greatness of his season so far.

With LBL how far back would you have to go to find something similar? Maybe Kelly? It's honestly insane that he actually managed to make a clear jump in performance compared to his last two springs.
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Gilbert 2011 is the best I remember. But Gilbert didn't win Flanders that year (he won in 2017). And the strengths required to win Flanders are very different from the hilly Ardennes classics which is what makes Pog's season so far so remarkable.

As for his jump in performance, I think he is more confident and physically maturing at 24 years old.
 
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tobydawq

tobydawq

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Cookster15 said:
What was Merckx's best season?
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Take a pick (I only list wins here, he obviously also had a lot of podiums):

1969:
Wins TdF, MSR, Ronde, LBL. Kicked out of the Giro. Wins Paris-Nice as only second tier race, I would say.

1970:
Wins TdF, Giro, Roubaix. Second tier-wins: FW, GW, Paris-Nice.

1971:
Wins TdF, MSR, Liège, Lombardia and WCRR. Paris-Nice, Omloop, Tour of Belgium (which was bigger back then) and Dauphiné (which was probably not that big).

1972:
Wins TdF, Giro, MSR, Liège, Lombardia. Also won FW, Emilia, Brabantse Pijl and Scheldeprijs (lol).

1973:
Won Giro, Vuelta (which was less significant back then), Roubaix and Liège (a quadruple I don't see many riders do today). Below those races you have Omloop, GW, Amstel, Paris-Bruxelles.

1974:
Won TdF, Giro, WCRR but no monuments. He did win the Tour de Suisse between the two Grand Tours, though, but not much else.



But yeah. If Pogacar wins the Tour, LBL and Lombardia, this season would definitely be up there. If he also wins in Glasgow, it's probably the best ever season. Unless you weigh a Grand Tour double higher.
 
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Krzysztof_O

Krzysztof_O

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tobydawq said:
But yeah. If Pogacar wins the Tour, LBL and Lombardia, this season would definitely be up there. If he also wins in Glasgow, it's probably the best ever season. Unless you weigh a Grand Tour double higher.
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This is a big if though. At the Tour he will face a guy who may end up as the best climber of the decade. Lombardia is most likely and as for Liege we will know very soon.
 
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Sciatic

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tobydawq said:
Take a pick (I only list wins here, he obviously also had a lot of podiums):

1969:
Wins TdF, MSR, Ronde, LBL. Kicked out of the Giro. Wins Paris-Nice as only second tier race, I would say.

1970:
Wins TdF, Giro, Roubaix. Second tier-wins: FW, GW, Paris-Nice.

1971:
Wins TdF, MSR, Liège, Lombardia and WCRR. Paris-Nice, Omloop, Tour of Belgium (which was bigger back then) and Dauphiné (which was probably not that big).

1972:
Wins TdF, Giro, MSR, Liège, Lombardia. Also won FW, Emilia, Brabantse Pijl and Scheldeprijs (lol).

1973:
Won Giro, Vuelta (which was less significant back then), Roubaix and Liège (a quadruple I don't see many riders do today). Below those races you have Omloop, GW, Amstel, Paris-Bruxelles.

1974:
Won TdF, Giro, WCRR but no monuments. He did win the Tour de Suisse between the two Grand Tours, though, but not much else.



But yeah. If Pogacar wins the Tour, LBL and Lombardia, this season would definitely be up there. If he also wins in Glasgow, it's probably the best ever season. Unless you weigh a Grand Tour double higher.
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T
His results never fail to amaze; three different years he won 3 monuments & at least 1 GT in a single season.
 
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Krzysztof_O

Krzysztof_O

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Cookster15 said:
Soon (after LBL) the debate can turn to this. Can Pog be better at the TdF in 2023 than in 2022? I think he will be plus the course and better choices on the road he can make. But are these factors enough to overcome Vingegaard - I'm not so sure.
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We've definitely seen Pog's significant progress in one-day races over the last 2-3 years. OTOH his level in stage races has plateaued since the Tour in 2020. He can improve on 2022 regarding some road choices (as he knows how superb Vinge has become) and maybe can also improve physically a bit - this would maybe require an even lower weight than usual and I don't know if it's possible (especially considering his very busy classics campaign instead of Tour focus).
 
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