Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Rob5091]

More mind games?
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gi...s-tour-de-france-co-leader-alongside-pogacar/
"UAE Team Emirates general manager Mauro Gianetti has told L’Equipe that the ongoing uncertainty regarding Tadej Pogačar’s current condition means that Adam Yates will be the team’s co-leader for the Tour de France."

 

[SHAD0W93]

Goku giving Cell a senzu bean moment

At least Goku had Gohan to be fair as a backup.

 

[Nick2413]

More mind games?
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gi...s-tour-de-france-co-leader-alongside-pogacar/
"UAE Team Emirates general manager Mauro Gianetti has told L’Equipe that the ongoing uncertainty regarding Tadej Pogačar’s current condition means that Adam Yates will be the team’s co-leader for the Tour de France."

Yates should be co-leader anyway, this is just a flashy way of saying it. I don’t see how that even plays to their strengths as it’s just asking for Jonas and JV to pace harder and attack more which should be the opposite of what Pog wants.

There probably should be a minor 10% concern the wrist will affect things in some way or later on, but they’re just laying it on thick.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Yates should be co-leader anyway, this is just a flashy way of saying it. I don’t see how that even plays to their strengths as it’s just asking for Jonas and JV to pace harder and attack more which should be the opposite of what Pog wants.

There probably should be a minor 10% concern the wrist will affect things in some way or later on, but they’re just laying it on thick.

If Adam is in good shape and well placed, Vinge and Jumbo would have to respond. A reverse of last year.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Sick of these mind games. I'm just hoping to see a real battle between two cyborgs during 3 weeks.
But I want to mention one thing, Pogacar is really the biggest star these days, Vingegaard doesn't receive half of attention from the media and he is the defending champion

 

[vwpe]

vingegaard isnt half the rider pogacar is either so its only fitting.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Gentle biographical article and a bit on how Roglic is preferred among Slovenians because he has done it the hard way from the Times. You migh get past the firewall on some kind of taster allowance. Pogacar's mother was apparently hoping Roglic would win in 2020...

Tadej Pogacar: The Tour de France champion yet to win over his nation

Like many young men, Tadej Pogacar likes rap music, playing Fifa and Manchester City; unlike anyone else, he has been ranked the world’s best cyclist for more than 90 weeks in a row. Scientifically, he clears lactate rapidly, exhausting himself and recovering better than his rivals. Personally...

www.thetimes.co.uk

 

[gregrowlerson]

vingegaard isnt half the rider pogacar is either so its only fitting.

You're right; definitely not since Pogacar lost those 7 kg's.

 

[Rob5091]

With the mind games going on, I'm half expecting Pogacar to turn up at the team presentation in a wheelchair.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

With the mind games going on, I'm half expecting Pogacar to turn up at the team presentation in a wheelchair.

And then after stage 1:
Pogacar: Today after waking up I suddenly felt great and just went for the stage win!
Gianetti: There are no miracles in cycling but...it's a miracle. Still, we don't know how Tadej reacts after today, hopefully he will be able to start tomorrow.

 

[theyoungest]

Sick of these mind games. I'm just hoping to see a real battle between two cyborgs during 3 weeks.
But I want to mention one thing, Pogacar is really the biggest star these days, Vingegaard doesn't receive half of attention from the media and he is the defending champion

I know one guy who couldn't give a rats a.ss about that, and that's Vingegaard. He's an introvert, media and fans always go for the extrovert. That's just how it is, and I think he probably prefers it that way.

As for the mind games, there's a lot of sandbagging going on from Pogi's side, and it's understandable because the role of the underdog is always more comfortable. He never gets to be the underdog, and now he does. Does anyone really believe UAE have higher expectations from Adam Yates? Of course not.

 

[Gigs_98]

Btw, are there pictures of his national champions jersey already? Can't stand the wait for being outraged about how bad it is.

 

[Offline]

Btw, are there pictures of his national champions jersey already? Can't stand the wait for being outraged about how bad it is.

Vine's TT NC jersey is actually quite nice. I hope they'll design nice jersey's now for Hirschi and Pogacar!

 

[Rackham]

Everyone's laughing at the Yates co-leader stuff & saying it's "mind games"... but imagine the scenes when it turns out Gianetti genuinely believes he signed the Vuelta 2018 winner (& rider who dominated the Giro for two weeks that year) for UAE this season.

They do look the same.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Everyone's laughing at the Yates co-leader stuff & saying it's "mind games"... but imagine the scenes when it turns out Gianetti genuinely believes he signed the Vuelta 2018 winner (& rider who dominated the Giro for two weeks that year) for UAE this season.

They do look the same.

Gianetti should've bought both (they have $$$) and let only one of them race at any time (doing "recovery" swaps if necessarily). This would be the most sophisticated doping program in history and it fits Mauro's reputation well.

 

[Rackham]

Gianetti should've bought both (they have $$$) and let only one of them race at any time (doing "recovery" swaps if necessarily). This would be the most sophisticated doping program in history and it fits Mauro's reputation well.

Adam Blythe once joked about something like that on Europsport. It just seems... like something which had to have happened, at least once. The use of twins to perform a rider swap during a stage race is a tactic which is just begging to be deployed.

Next step: cloning.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Adam Blythe once joked about something like that on Europsport. It just seems... like something which had to have happened, at least once. The use of twins to perform a rider swap during a stage race is a tactic which is just begging to be deployed.

Next step: cloning.

Honestly I could believe that Peter and Martin Velits swapped for Peter’s Vuelta podium and Martin was always available to cover the Tour besides 2012.

 

[gunara]

Honestly I could believe that Peter and Martin Velits swapped for Peter’s Vuelta podium and Martin was always available to cover the Tour besides 2012.

I always noticed the height difference between them. Not sure about Simon and Adam.

 

[DNP-Old]

Saw some pics from earlier today. He was doing wheelies and such, wrist no longer in a brace unlike last Sunday. Didn't seem too bothered.

 

[pelotonIQ]

The worst consequence of his injury is that Poga missed 1-2 weeks of training and that he couldn't prepare properly. The injury itself isn't that terrible, the pain is very minimal.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

The worst consequence of his injury is that Poga missed 1-2 weeks of training and that he couldn't prepare properly. The injury itself isn't that terrible, the pain is very minimal.

According to Pogacar himself it's the wrist that he doubts more and he stated that his preparations were very good actually ( his ITT in Slovenia seems to confirm it).

@Mlarsen​

Apparently doing wheelies has blessing effect on injured wrists and Pogi just does what doctors ordered.

 

[Andy schleck]

He lies that his wrist is still injured or not fully healed! That is not good sportsmanship . But I think it is typical Slovenian style

It was bulls***.

 

[Nick2413]

I mean, popping a wheelie is nowhere near as hard on the wrist as 4-5 hours of riding for 20+ days straight. Maybe that “7 kilos” will take just enough pressure off it to make it a non issue.

 

[Rackham]

According to Pogacar himself it's the wrist that he doubts more and he stated that his preparations were very good actually ( his ITT in Slovenia seems to confirm it).

Luke Rowe said Pog is going to win the TdF (on the recent Geraint Thomas podcast).

He said Pog has been training on the bike for a while now (emphasis on that part) & believes the break from the road bike for a few weeks will actually be beneficial for his form.

So we could be in for some fun here. I think everyone (neutrals especially) should want a very strong Pogačar to fight Vingegaard & Jumbo, just for the sake of entertainment value.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So we could be in for some fun here. I think everyone (neutrals especially) should want a very strong Pogačar to fight Vingegaard & Jumbo, just for the sake of entertainment value.

Sure, if Pog is weaker than normally the race could be basically over on Puy de Dome (or on Tourmalet if Wout helps).