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Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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There is an abyss between Vinge and other guys so even 80% Pog can podium the Tour. The question is: can he beat Vinge?



Let me put it this way, Vingegaard seems way too strong right now to be dropped in his favorite field. I just don't see anyone including Pog able to take him time in long climbs.

So unless accident, a 100% Pog can only count on the smaller climbs to hurt Vingegaard. On the long climbs I think his best hope is to be able to follow Vingegaard.
 
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The direct quote, you can put it in Google Translate if you want:
– Nå er han veldig i rute. Han trener i høyden i Sierra Nevada. Han har valgt å gjøre det for å få et sammenhengende treningsopphold som ikke blir avbrutt av løp og tilhørende fare for velt. Nå ser det veldig lyst ut. Jeg hører han er i veldig god form i høyden og setter nye rekorder, så jeg tror han har valgt en trygg og fornuftig tilnærming til Touren, sier Stake Laengen.
 
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It's all just based on his Strava uploads isn't it?
Neither Bjerg, Majka or Stake Laengen have actually trained with him.
I assume the riders talk to each other and with the DS / coaches etc, so it should be more than just the two training sessions Pogacar have put on Strava.

If there was nothing to base the comment on it wouldn't make sense for Laengen to say it that way, just "he's training well" would be enough.
 
I assume the riders talk to each other and with the DS / coaches etc, so it should be more than just the two training sessions Pogacar have put on Strava.

If there was nothing to base the comment on it wouldn't make sense for Laengen to say it that way, just "he's training well" would be enough.
Or maybe it's just a PR strategy to have all the UAE riders tell the same story to their national media.
 
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Well you guys are obviously more clued up than I am but I always had the impression that the reason Pog could win classics was twofold:

1. Pog only had to be 90% to be good enough to win those.
2. Pog is still only 24 (two years younger than Vingegaard)., Unlikely Pog has physiologically peaked at just 24.

So he wasn't becoming a better classics rider at the expense of his ability to ride GTs.

I still believe in 2022 Pog blew himself up with overconfidence and responding to two very strong and almost equal riders [to quote Shadow]. What subsequently happened on Hautacam was a consequence as Pog had been attacking Vingegaard on virtually every mountain after the Granon implosion to claw back time. These attempts to attack and shake Vingo after Granon also showed Pog's self belief. But then JV planned the Hautacam counter punch knowing the bikkies Pog had burned and it was all too much.

Its too bad about Pogacar's LBL crash and injury, I think this might rob us of the showdown we were all looking forward to next month. May have to wait until 2024 for the triple showdown with Remco.
 
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I still believe in 2022 Pog blew himself up with overconfidence and responding to two very strong and almost equal riders [to quote Shadow]. What subsequently happened on Hautacam was a consequence as Pog had been attacking Vingegaard on virtually every mountain after the Granon implosion to claw back time. These attempts to attack and shake Vingo after Granon also showed Pog's self belief. But then JV planned the Hautacam counter punch knowing the bikkies Pog had burned and it was all too much.
It’s easy to say in hindsight, but Pogacar should’ve just let Roglic go on Galibier and focused on Vingegaard and trust his team. They had several riders just behind the group where Vingegaard and Roglic attacked him. If he’d let Roglic go and let Soler and Majka (was also McNulty there, I think so?) pace Vingegaard couldn’t take advantage of the attacking and without the action on Galibier Pogacar would’ve lost much less on Granon.

Even with Van Aert up front Roglic started the stage almost 3 minutes down. Majka was very strong that day and even with Van Aert in front and Roglic on normal form he wouldn’t take back 3 min and with the crashes Pogacar should’ve known Roglic wasn’t great after his time loss on La Planche.

But this year will be completely different. The numbers game won’t matter. It’s 1 v 1 and the strongest rider will win.
 
So did anyone’s take on Pog’s chances actually change after Vingegaard’s Dauphine? Nothing that’s happened so far has been remotely surprising but seems a lot of people needed to be reminded how good Vingegaard is.
Strange as it may seem I am actually more encouraged about Pogacars chances as Yates was best of the rest and there was nothing scary about the team support from Jumbo Visma in the bigger mountains
 
Even top shape Pogi will have to go for the bonus seconds and rely on covering Vinge in high mountains.

I suspect that he learnt a lot from last years Granon stage mistakes but Vinge also looks like different animal these days with his confidence found since 2022 TDF sucess.

I can't wait for 2023 edition of TDF to start and hope for action filled tour.
 
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