Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Rackham]

Here is a new article. Teddy confident in the form of his legs but admits his wrist won't be 100% and he may need a brace during the Tour:

Four weeks, two races, lots of wrist braces: Can Tadej Pogačar hit top form for Tour de France?

'Maybe the wrist won't be 100 percent, but the legs can be': Pogačar choses training over stage racing ahead of yellow jersey bout with Vingegaard.

velo.outsideonline.com

I really don't like this part:

Pogačar also implied he’d not been able to load his wrist with out-of-the-saddle sprint efforts, and said there’s every chance he’ll be wearing a protective brace when he lines out in Bilbao on July 1.

There was a lot of optimistic prognosis about the injury & Pog's TdF prospects initially after the crash but tbh what we see here is worse than many predicted.

 

[Lequack]

If he manages to win the Tour with a brace, I think Jumbo Visma will all wear braces next year.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

If he manages to win the Tour with a brace, I think Jumbo Visma will all wear braces next year.

In the pursuit of infinite w/kg the Skeletor will be so thin that his brace will be the only visible sign of his presence.

 

[tobydawq]

If he manages to win the Tour with a brace, I think Jumbo Visma will all wear braces next year.

On their wrists or teeth?

 

[Peyroteo94]

They are over exaggerating his injury including Pogacar. He probably can't sprint now but he still has 4 weeks to prepare the Tour. He knows if he isn't his best version in the Tour, he will not win. He is angry and starved to beat Vingegaard.

 

[hayneplane]

Pog will relish being the underdog disruptive force in the Tour with the pressure being on Jumbo Visma to control the race..

We should get a good idea in the next couple of weeks with Vingegaard in the mountains in the Dauphine and Pogi at the Nationals but we won’t really know if we can expect a big contest until Stage 6 of the Tour. Everything else is just enjoyable speculation based on snippets of information that may or may not be true.

 

[nightowl]

Either they’re exaggerating his injuries as a form of sandbagging or there’s a good chance he misses the tour. There’s no way he should be riding if he can’t even get out of the saddle. Plus another bang to his half-healed wrist could easily cause more long-term damage, which would be stupid to risk at his age and with his potential

 

[Nick2413]

I think I said that. And I don't think I was drunk at the time. Nor did I post from a pub.

But yeah, let's just pretend he wasn't the big favourite to win Liège and that he didn't have an air of complete invincibility around him after Amstel. Tour was and is 50/50 but if that happened, there was a potential, I wasn't awarding his 2023 season as the best of history at the time...

I indulged in those conversations as well, but even with his Flanders and AGR wins that was still more of a hypothetical fun what-if situation. But the whole point is his Tour never went to a definitely-will-win status. I don’t think the narrative has changed much in regards to Tour.

 

[Izzyeviel]

Just brace yourselves for the puns from Carlton.

 

[Lorzenz08]

It would definitely be a significant weakness if his wrist is hurting everytime he starts to sprint though.
Especially if sprinting makes the pain worsen over time leading to constant pain even when not sprinting...

 

[Cookster15]

It would definitely be a significant weakness if his wrist is hurting everytime he starts to sprint though.
Especially if sprinting makes the pain worsen over time leading to constant pain even when not sprinting...

This might seem a silly question but why does a GC rider really need to sprint hard out of the saddle hence put more pressure on his wrist? Staying in the saddle he should be able to hold the wheels to not lose any time no?

The main downside for a GC rider that I can see would be inability to contest for time bonuses?

I am also reminded of Tyler Hamilton who I recall finished 4th on GC at the TdF with a broken arm he suffered during the Tour?

 

[Andy schleck]

People are underrating Pogacar. Vingegaard will not beat him easily. Vingegaard was saying he had his best numbers ever before Paris Nice and he got smashed by Pogacar. Of course Vingegaard is a different beast in July but this will not be easy for Vingegaard.

Almost nobody is underrating Pogacar. It's the opposite. Almost everybody is underrating Vingegaard.

 

[FroomeWagon]

This might seem a silly question but why does a GC rider really need to sprint hard out of the saddle hence put more pressure on his wrist? Staying in the saddle he should be able to hold the wheels to not lose any time no?

The main downside for a GC rider that I can see would be inability to contest for time bonuses?

I am also reminded of Tyler Hamilton who I recall finished 4th on GC at the TdF with a broken arm he suffered during the Tour?

Hamilton broke his collarbone on the 1st stage in the 2003 TDF, won a stage a few weeks later, and as you mentioned, finished 4th overall.

 

[Rackham]

Either they’re exaggerating his injuries as a form of sandbagging or there’s a good chance he misses the tour. There’s no way he should be riding if he can’t even get out of the saddle. Plus another bang to his half-healed wrist could easily cause more long-term damage, which would be stupid to risk at his age and with his potential

I agree.

As much as it might be painful for some to admit this, I think riding the hardest race in the sport with any sort of injury like that is a really bad idea. Sprinting isn't just about sprinting at the end of a stage either, it's about constant jostling for position in the bunch as well.

And regarding the theory whereby UAE & Pog are sandbagging like Mercedes F1 team in their glory days, I got the opposite impression with their recent interviews & comments which were fill of positivity & bravado to an extent.

Their messaging right now is "sure I've got this wrist problem but the legs should be fine!". That isn't sandbagging.

 

[CyclistAbi]

AFAIK today the wrist will be examined by doctors and more will be known on how well the bone has healed. So fingers crossed for a positive outcome.

 

[Cookster15]

Almost nobody is underrating Pogacar. It's the opposite. Almost everybody is underrating Vingegaard.

That was true before Pog’s crash and injury not now. Vingegaard is the clear favourite now, at least amongst informed fans. Bookies will catch on.

 

[Salvarani]

If these new reports are to be believed, I could see Pog "try" and will be at the start of the race... but dropping out in the first week or start of second. He might be able to keep up there. Maybe even win a stage, but if he hasnt been able to prepare enough it will start to show the longer the race goes on. They will cite the wrist has started to hurt too much and cut their losses.

Maybe he goes Vuelta. Maybe only the Italian races.

I feel like it could be a lost second half of the season... but it is really no way of knowing right now. I think it might have been a lot of wishful thinking from a lot of people that his crash in LBL wouldnt affect much going in to the Tour.

Lets put in perspective... Pog is doing coffee rides with his girlfriend and has a doctors appointment for his wrist to be checked again. Vingegaard is in great form by the looks of things and doing lead-outs at Dauphiné like it is nothing.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

If these new reports are to be believed, I could see Pog "try" and will be at the start of the race... but dropping out in the first week or start of second. He might be able to keep up there. Maybe even win a stage, but if he hasnt been able to prepare enough it will start to show the longer the race goes on. They will cite the wrist has started to hurt too much and cut their losses.

Maybe he goes Vuelta. Maybe only the Italian races.

I feel like it could be a lost second half of the season... but it is really no way of knowing right now. I think it might have been a lot of wishful thinking from a lot of people that his crash in LBL wouldnt affect much going in to the Tour.

Lets put in perspective... Pog is doing coffee rides with his girlfriend and has a doctors appointment for his wrist to be checked again. Vingegaard is in great form by the looks of things and doing lead-outs at Dauphiné like it is nothing.

Yeah, it's possible that they want to have a shot at the Tour but if sth is wrong they are already preparing plan B (withdrawal and other goals)

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Problem is that the hilly stages with reduced bunch sprints are all in the first week unlike Tours of the old days were you would chill for 10 days. He needs to nuke it out there to take all the bonus seconds to have a buffer on Aqua Pantani to lose ~30-60s on Loze etc.
If he can't get out of the saddle now (and it doesn't sound like he'll be able to in the next 1-2 weeks) it doesn't bode well.

For his sake I'd have no issues with him skipping the Tour right away (will never happen because of UAE), problem is we're most likely getting an incredible dull GC fight otherwise with Jumbo strangling the race and Vingegaard killing everyone on Dome, Joux Plane and Loze.

 

[Red Rick]

If these new reports are to be believed, I could see Pog "try" and will be at the start of the race... but dropping out in the first week or start of second. He might be able to keep up there. Maybe even win a stage, but if he hasnt been able to prepare enough it will start to show the longer the race goes on. They will cite the wrist has started to hurt too much and cut their losses.

Maybe he goes Vuelta. Maybe only the Italian races.

I feel like it could be a lost second half of the season... but it is really no way of knowing right now. I think it might have been a lot of wishful thinking from a lot of people that his crash in LBL wouldnt affect much going in to the Tour.

Lets put in perspective... Pog is doing coffee rides with his girlfriend and has a doctors appointment for his wrist to be checked again. Vingegaard is in great form by the looks of things and doing lead-outs at Dauphiné like it is nothing.

He is not showing up to go home after a week.

 

[Monsi]

At this point, I'd honestly prefer if he skips the Tour and focuses on the Vuelta. It's just gonna be hard to beat Vingegaard without the ideal preparation and with him dealing with the wrist issue. Let the injury heal first then peak for the last part of the season (Worlds-Vuelta-Lombardia).

As for the team's Tour ambitions, maybe Yates could be the sole leader and try to go for the podium? Or maybe even have Ayuso go for his Tour debut (IIRC, he was also there during the team's altitude camp).

 

[bNator]

Almost nobody is underrating Pogacar. It's the opposite. Almost everybody is underrating Vingegaard.

Well according to betting odds, you will only get 25% yield for Vingegaard's TDF victory. That's hardly underrating...

And let's not forget Vingeaard only managed to establish himself as a dominating force once in his career. If anything, I would say he is a bit overrated compared to Pogacar. But time will tell I guess...

 

[Salvarani]

He is not showing up to go home after a week.

Nobody does.

 

[Salvarani]

Yeah, it's possible that they want to have a shot at the Tour but if sth is wrong they are already preparing plan B (withdrawal and other goals)

If he is still "hurt" or feeling the affects like they are saying now... he will only be starting for the show of it. They will go in knowing the win is unlikely but maybe he can win a couple of stages early on.

Nobody knows how severe it is but him and the closest to him. We will just have to wait and see if he 1) starts the race 2) what is his form/shape is like. I can very much see him winning a stage or two in the beginning, but as the race goes on he still start to look worse. Wrist will start hurting and he will have to withdraw. "I gave it a go guys, but the wrist started to hurt too much. Despite my crash in LBL and setbacks in preparation I really wanted to race and do my best, but this time I couldnt" or something like that.

Everyone involved in the race wants Pog to start the race... or it deads it completely before it even begins.

 

[Nick2413]

He still has another month and these injuries can often be like an illness where all the sudden you get over the hump and are feeling good again. I had a foot surgery once where I had to wait an extra few weeks to start walking due to pain but then it turned a corner and pretty much felt normal out of nowhere.

If he’s already largely training at full intensity and has 4 more weeks, bonus second sprints are the main concern at this point. Obviously it could not heal properly but the worry is a bit exaggerated.