Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Lequack]

You know what they say, you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.

You know what they say, you either die a hero or live long enough to become the mountain sprinter.

 

[jmdirt]

I really don't know what to think of the way UAE is playing this. I mean, I can absolutely see what they are going for. They have a way to consistently gain time on Vingegaard without Pog ever being particularly exposed and without him ever having to leave too much energy on the road.

But then there is this little voice in my head telling me that in cycling you should always take time while you can. As much as I understand this kind of racing, it's what lost Roglic the Tour to Pogacar in 2020. I think they should try a truly full on attack on Vingegaard at least once this weekend, probably on Sunday. They just have to take advantage of Pogacar apparently being able to drop Vingegaard. Or maybe they don't actually think Pogacar can do that in a longer effort?

UAE rode like they were protecting the yellow jersey today.

 

[Unchained]

UAE rode like they were protecting the yellow jersey today.

For sure, and his front 2 were doing some kind of uphill time trial that had my whole body hurting while watching from the sofa. Couldn't believe the extra ordinary effort. When Pogacar got out of the saddle and attempted to break off the handlebars and stem, while trying to turn over a 150 rpm pedal cadence on his attack my heart was beating through my shirt.. Really exciting racing.. Mistakes have been made, but in my opinion the top 10 riders have acknowledged what was wrong and have not repeated it.. Kuss was crushing it today!!

 

[IndurainsTdF1994]

There was a part when Pog was talking to Adam and Majka went up to talk with Felix but who knows what they were talking about.

"No, it's pronounced 'pen o sho-co-lat', you strudel-loving plebs. And it's not 'macron', that's the president."

 

[Valv.Piti]

I was bored yesterday and was looking through the thread. Couple of interesting points:

1. People thought he should be able to thread his baby-fat. That was during and after the 2019 Vuelta in which he won 3 stages and finished on the podium.

2. In those three weeks, the hype got real. Some silly jokes about him needing to abandon since he was so young.

3. Lots of talk about especially Remco, but also Bernal. How did they stack up? No clear consensus, but Logic was very interested in the topic.

4. Some people thought he was a podium contender, some people didn't. Throughout that Tour the hype got even bigger, and some people thought that he could win the whole thing come the Alps. Didn't great greatly there, and nobody really expected what happened on Planche

 

[RedheadDane]

Found a rather interesting article about him.
The article mentions the national shock in Slovenia when he won the 2020 TdF, and thus - in some people's eyes - became the "wrong" Slovenian to win.
However, the article also mentions how/why he started cycling, and a bunch of other sports. Basically, he was a really annoying little brother, who just wanted to do everything his older brother, Tilen, did.

 

[Gigs_98]

Found a rather interesting article about him.
The article mentions the national shock in Slovenia when he won the 2020 TdF, and thus - in some people's eyes - became the "wrong" Slovenian to win.
However, the article also mentions how/why he started cycling, and a bunch of other sports. Basically, he was a really annoying little brother, who just wanted to do everything his older brother, Tilen, did.

I mean Pogacar himself has said that it didn't feel like his country was celebrating their first ever Tour winner the way one would expect. It's honestly a bit sad that neither Roglic nor Pogacar got the jubilant homecoming they really both deserved. But then I imagine one shouldn't feel too sad for Pogacar because he won a Tour.

 

[Peyroteo94]

You are the best mate! Keep going, tomorrow use this anger you have on you and rip Vingegaard apart on the last climb! Go on mate!

 

[RedheadDane]

I mean Pogacar himself has said that it didn't feel like his country was celebrating their first ever Tour winner the way one would expect. It's honestly a bit sad that neither Roglic nor Pogacar got the jubilant homecoming they really both deserved. But then I imagine one shouldn't feel too sad for Pogacar because he won a Tour.

You - as a country - have a bit of a luxury problem if you can think it was the "wrong" guy who won your first TdF.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Blew it tactically on a couple of occasions today, but extremely strong. He should have had 3 stages so far, yet only has 1. I think he's pretty frustrated about that one.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Blew it tactically on a couple of occasions today, but extremely strong. He should have had 3 stages so far, yet only has 1. I think he's pretty frustrated about that one.

He will win the TT. He is one of a kind and Vingegaard is just following his wheel now. In the TT, he will not be able to do that.

 

[Valv.Piti]

He will win the TT. He is one of a kind and Vingegaard is just following his wheel now. In the TT, he will not be able to do that.

I agree, but he lost another stage and 6 seconds on top of Joux Plane.

 

[Netserk]

He will win the TT. He is one of a kind and Vingegaard is just following his wheel now. In the TT, he will not be able to do that.

Even when he attacks, he wheelsucks the motos hard. Wouldn't know what a headwind feels like.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Even when he attacks, he wheelsucks the motos hard. Wouldn't know what a headwind feels like.

XD XD

You and Red Rick are just pure trolls, are you not? That's the problem of the motos, not Tadej, and every single rider will try the same..

 

[tobydawq]

Even when he attacks, he wheelsucks the motos hard. Wouldn't know what a headwind feels like.

What the actual ***.

 

[tobydawq]

Second time this season Jumbo have benefitted from a moto hindering Pogi - also happened when Wout was being dropped on the Oude Kwaremont in E3.

 

[Elos Anjos]

Even when he attacks, he wheelsucks the motos hard. Wouldn't know what a headwind feels like.

I already told you to go away, troll. You have no place here.

 

[theyoungest]

At some point on the climb today you saw him looking back, seeing Vingegaard was closing the gap, and he visibly said "f.ck". He really tried, I think in retrospect he probably went a bit too early. He can't hold the gap for so long. Lesson learned for the next stage.

 

[Miha81]

At some point on the climb today you saw him looking back, seeing Vingegaard was closing the gap, and he visibly said "f.ck". He really tried, I think in retrospect he probably went a bit too early. He can't hold the gap for so long. Lesson learned for the next stage.

It seems he realized that Vinge can match his climbing speed and settled for bonus seconds (which he lost this time).

I still think he has upper hand bar some mishap, tactical mistake or total blowout.

 

[tobydawq]

At some point on the climb today you saw him looking back, seeing Vingegaard was closing the gap, and he visibly said "f.ck". He really tried, I think in retrospect he probably went a bit too early. He can't hold the gap for so long. Lesson learned for the next stage.

It's a bizarrely even battle. But I think it's in Pog's hands now. He has some areas where he can take seconds on Vingegaard, and it doesn't seem like Vingegaard can drop Pogi anywhere.

The TT will be immensely important.

 

[nightowl]

It seems he realized that Vinge can match his climbing speed and settled for bonus seconds (which he lost this time).

I still think he has upper hand bar some mishap, tactical mistake or total blowout.

It reminded me of the Col de la Couillole stage from Paris-Nice. He got a gap, saw he couldn’t push it out after a bit so slowed down. Wonder if he will be able to go for the kill tomorrow like he did then

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So Teddy survived JV's brutal riding today and even attacked before Vinge would've probably done it.
Good news: he proved strong enough on a very difficult stage and Vinge's supposed superiority in such circumstances turned out to be false again (stage 6 as well).
Bad news: he lost the stage and didn't gain anything regarding bonus seconds (losing one).

 

[Netserk]

It reminded me of the Col de la Couillole stage from Paris-Nice. He got a gap, saw he couldn’t push it out after a bit so slowed down. Wonder if he will be able to go for the kill tomorrow like he did then

Yep, he sure loves mountain sprinting.

 

[Miha81]

It reminded me of the Col de la Couillole stage from Paris-Nice. He got a gap, saw he couldn’t push it out after a bit so slowed down. Wonder if he will be able to go for the kill tomorrow like he did then

We will see. If he crushes ITT he will have big task of defending on Wednesday stage.

For tommorow he will at least go for bonus (if available) but maybe he can crush the final climb and get some gap.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Yep, he sure loves mountain sprinting.

If Col d'Eze was mountain sprinting then so was Marie-Blanque. Get a grip.