Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Miha81]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...d-him-you-are-not-going-home-this-is-the-tour
"Urka Zigart suffered a crash at the Giro Donne, suffering a concussion, and on the same day Tadej Pogacar was dramatically dropped by Jonas Vingegaard on the Col de Marie Blanque, losing over a minute. On that day Tadej Pogacar was in a bad place mentally and his fiancée Urka Zigart talks of how she convinced him to stay in the race on that day.

“He called me after the stage to ask me how it went. I told him it wasn't over. Then he asked me why not, he knows I never quit a race," Zigart said in an interview with NOS. "So he got worried right away. He said: I want to go home. So I told him: you are not going home, this is the Tour." After Zigart was released from the hospital her situation was stable and she began her recovery."

Pogacar's mind has understandably been elsewhere. Today's stage 17 meltdown must be the result of an illness, fatigue or the crash, or maybe a bit of all three. If he's sick, I would not be surprised if he's a DNS later in the Tour. Shame for him, and the team, but there are more races later in the year.

According to his statements he will try to recover and UAE will try to get another stage win. I hope he finishes this TDF.

 

[CyclistAbi]

All in all the margin is in my opinion too big ATM. That is if the selection of top favorites comes down to around three or four names. Then two minutes is still somewhat reasonable in modern cycling. And a bit more for second tier of favorites. Seven minutes to Merckx and ten to the rest. Here i don't feel discussing all things involved makes that much sense. It is what it is. Lets see if it's sustainable.

For Pogi i guess defending second place it is then this year.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I was pretty harsh about Pog and the way he was reacting to Wout, early in the Tour (and prior to that). He has earned some respect from me this Tour, in spite of that, as every single day, he goes to shake hand of his rival. He has an enthusiasm for racing his bike and competing. Sometimes, I think he seems a bit childish, but then so do I. I hate that this ended this way for him, as he clearly is a generational talent, and this is not reflective of what he is capable of. Chapeau to him.

 

[Extinction]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...d-him-you-are-not-going-home-this-is-the-tour
"Urka Zigart suffered a crash at the Giro Donne, suffering a concussion, and on the same day Tadej Pogacar was dramatically dropped by Jonas Vingegaard on the Col de Marie Blanque, losing over a minute. On that day Tadej Pogacar was in a bad place mentally and his fiancée Urka Zigart talks of how she convinced him to stay in the race on that day.

“He called me after the stage to ask me how it went. I told him it wasn't over. Then he asked me why not, he knows I never quit a race," Zigart said in an interview with NOS. "So he got worried right away. He said: I want to go home. So I told him: you are not going home, this is the Tour." After Zigart was released from the hospital her situation was stable and she began her recovery."

Pogacar's mind has understandably been elsewhere. Today's stage 17 meltdown must be the result of an illness, fatigue or the crash, or maybe a bit of all three. If he's sick, I would not be surprised if he's a DNS later in the Tour. Shame for him, and the team, but there are more races later in the year.

What crash?

 

[Red Rick]

What crash?

Pog crashed quite hard early in the stage.

 

[Rob5091]

Pogacar's crash - 149 km from finish.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Just saw his post race interview..."I'm fu*ked"...he's pretty funny all of the time. Hopefully, Saturday will be a good stage for him.

 

[SHAD0W93]

This Tour beat down is definitely worse than last year considering he matched Vinge for two weeks then got his butt completely kicked. Last year had its issues and this year he was riding even better till Vinge kicked him to the curb. If stage 5’s performance did come from Urka’s crash that had to weight heavily along with losing so badly yesterday. Add in the crash and whatever else is going on and here we go.


It would be sad if he started focusing only on the Tour and abandoning his monument success but that could be the only way to match Vingegaard and that could even not be enough. UAE was stronger this year and Adam has performed better than a lot thought he would. Maybe with a closer co-leader it’d be better. We laughed at Adam being a co-leader since of course Pog would be number one but maybe UAE knew something we didn’t before the start and Pog was performing higher then expected. Even if next year Pog, Adam, Almeida, and Ayuso are all at the Tour and high placed, it’d be hard to pass Vingegaard by with the form he showed.


Hopefully Pog can have some autumn classic success again and worlds at best.

 

[Unchained]

I was pretty harsh about Pog and the way he was reacting to Wout, early in the Tour (and prior to that). He has earned some respect from me this Tour, in spite of that, as every single day, he goes to shake hand of his rival. He has an enthusiasm for racing his bike and competing. Sometimes, I think he seems a bit childish, but then so do I. I hate that this ended this way for him, as he clearly is a generational talent, and this is not reflective of what he is capable of. Chapeau to him.

Could not agree more about both these superstars. Both men quick to extend a handshake and congratulate each other and other riders who have a stellar performance. Wout tipping his hat to his teammate is different than coming up to your main rival and giving credit where credit is due. These guys have exemplified sportsmanship and class.

 

[danielovichdk2]

I would have liked to see Pog and Jonas hugging it out today. An epic scene where Jonas should have said "hope you are there again on Saturday, I can't wait to battle with you again".

The sport is filled with big individual egos but Pog is such a different character. I don't believe he suffers from the father complex lots of elite athletes suffer from. He is not afraid to show himself, he is calm and truly quiet cool. A gentleman perhaps.

Pogacar will gain fans from this. No doubt. Jonas on the other hand strike me as absolutely boring and his rhetoric is dull and repetitive. He reminds me of Froome, even though Froome has always been kind and friendly.

Pog is a martyr.

 

[Trofonios]

I would have liked to see Pog and Jonas hugging it out today. An epic scene where Jonas should have said "hope you are there again on Saturday, I can't wait to battle with you again".

The sport is filled with big individual egos but Pog is such a different character. I don't believe he suffers from the father complex lots of elite athletes suffer from. He is not afraid to show himself, he is calm and truly quiet cool. A gentleman perhaps.

Pogacar will gain fans from this. No doubt. Jonas on the other hand strike me as absolutely boring and his rhetoric is dull and repetitive. He reminds me of Froome, even though Froome has always been kind and friendly.

Pog is a martyr.

Do we need this stupid ***? So what if he isn't funny? Hate these kind of comments.

Martyr?!?

 

[danielovichdk2]

Do we need this stupid ***? So what if he isn't funny? Hate these kind of comments.

Martyr?!?

Why so whiny? Martyr. Look it up.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

I am a bit shocked that German Eurosport commentators apparently spoke to an Ineos doctor about a herpes - which they think Pogacar has.

I mean, this is something Pogacar has to care about, and maybe his closest ones.

How can Migels and fellow commentators dare to put up a diagnosis, and discuss it with a doctor from a rival team?…

This is almost funny… But, in fact, it‘s one of the most disrespectful stories I‘ve read about, at having watched 26 years of pro road races. I assume Migels et al didn‘t drink enough water, and so are badly suffering from the alpine French summer heat!…

So, what‘s next? Diagnosing an apparently too soft and small penis - maybe an indication for a lack of testosterone in the blood? If not sure, how about asking the rival team‘s doctor?…

 

[Aimar16]

I wouldn't be surprised if he was mentally switched off after ITT. That was a big beating, even if the plan before the stage today was to attack the will to fight was certainly not as high as before the previous stages.

 

[kingjr]

I am a bit shocked that German Eurosport commentators apparently spoke to an Ineos doctor about a herpes - which they think Pogacar has.

I mean, this is something Pogacar has to care about, and maybe his closest ones.

How can Migels and fellow commentators dare to put up a diagnosis, and discuss it with a doctor from a rival team?…

This is almost funny… But, in fact, it‘s one of the most disrespectful stories I‘ve read about, at having watched 26 years of pro road races. I assume Migels et al didn‘t drink enough water, and so are badly suffering from the alpine French summer heat!…

So, what‘s next? Diagnosing an apparently too soft and small penis - maybe an indication for a lack of testosterone in the blood? If not sure, how about asking the rival team‘s doctor?…

According to WHO, "Most adults are infected with HSV-1", so why is this a big deal?

 

[Lequack]

Why so whiny? Martyr. Look it up.

He died for our sins.

 

[hender-retour]

I am a bit shocked that German Eurosport commentators apparently spoke to an Ineos doctor about a herpes - which they think Pogacar has.

I mean, this is something Pogacar has to care about, and maybe his closest ones.

How can Migels and fellow commentators dare to put up a diagnosis, and discuss it with a doctor from a rival team?…

This is almost funny… But, in fact, it‘s one of the most disrespectful stories I‘ve read about, at having watched 26 years of pro road races. I assume Migels et al didn‘t drink enough water, and so are badly suffering from the alpine French summer heat!…

So, what‘s next? Diagnosing an apparently too soft and small penis - maybe an indication for a lack of testosterone in the blood? If not sure, how about asking the rival team‘s doctor?…

Yeah. We dont really need to get that close. Just goes to show the gymnastics necessary to explain everything. It's pretty embarrassing.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I am a bit shocked that German Eurosport commentators apparently spoke to an Ineos doctor about a herpes - which they think Pogacar has.

I mean, this is something Pogacar has to care about, and maybe his closest ones.

How can Migels and fellow commentators dare to put up a diagnosis, and discuss it with a doctor from a rival team?…

This is almost funny… But, in fact, it‘s one of the most disrespectful stories I‘ve read about, at having watched 26 years of pro road races. I assume Migels et al didn‘t drink enough water, and so are badly suffering from the alpine French summer heat!…

So, what‘s next? Diagnosing an apparently too soft and small penis - maybe an indication for a lack of testosterone in the blood? If not sure, how about asking the rival team‘s doctor?…

I mean, German Eurosport also mentioned that the Ineos doctor told them that there was a traditional English phone booth above the Lac de Roselend because a nearby refuge never had cellphone connection, so they jokingly told visitors they would need to go to the phone booth to make calls. Eventually, they decided to put up a real phone booth because of that. I actually also found this with a quick google search. I‘m not even sure if Dirk Tenner is a real doctor, after he supplied this vital information.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

According to WHO, "Most adults are infected with HSV-1", so why is this a big deal?

I wonder if it can cause more exhaustion, when your body is fighting an inflamation? Yeah, by 60, almost everyone has it. I have it. At Pog's level of sport, the margins are so thin, that not only could the exhaustion of the Tour cause an outbreak, but it might also drain his reserves, even if a small amount.

If German TV were being selatious about it, f**k them. I did not see the interview, so I do not know their tone. Is is possible they were trying to be clinical and not pejorative?

 

[kingjr]

I wonder if it can cause more exhaustion, when your body is fighting an inflamation? Yeah, by 60, almost everyone has it. I have it. At Pog's level of sport, the margins are so thin, that not only could the exhaustion of the Tour cause an outbreak, but it might also drain his reserves, even if a small amount.

If German TV were being selatious about it, f**k them. I did not see the interview, so I do not know their tone. Is is possible they were trying to be clinical and not pejorative?

Not in the least, certainly not in the segment I heard.

 

[HelloDolly]

Is something really missing or was the bar just set higher?

A bit of both

I backed Vingegaard for the win. I thought his TT was better. He also has the best team and he told us his is best in the 3rd week

If Pog was in top form he would be behind in my view but not by much.

But there are many ways to skin a cat . One factor that would help Pog in the future is if WVA was not at the Tour . If you try anything not on a high mountain you have to deal with WVA

GCN said today at Vinge has the highest VO2 max of any sportsman in the world ...not sure how they knew that

 

[Peyroteo94]

A bit of both

I backed Vingegaard for the win. I thought his TT was better. He also has the best team and he told us his is best in the 3rd week

If Pog was in top form he would be behind in my view but not by much.

But there are many ways to skin a cat . One factor that would help Pog in the future is if WVA was not at the Tour . If you try anything not on a high mountain you have to deal with WVA

GCN said today at Vinge has the highest VO2 max of any sportsman in the world ...not sure how they knew that

And that information just came yesterday... so convenient...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Why so whiny? Martyr. Look it up.

Jesus will rise again

 

[CyclistAbi]

A bit of both

I backed Vingegaard for the win. I thought his TT was better. He also has the best team and he told us his is best in the 3rd week

If Pog was in top form he would be behind in my view but not by much.

The way they have been racing, for the first two weeks, clearly a level above the rest. This was somehow expected. Starting with week three the bar just went up. You say that if Pogi was in top form then they would still be close. Both ten minutes ahead of the rest?

GCN said today at Vinge has the highest VO2 max of any sportsman in the world ...not sure how they knew that

Yeah, the bar is set extremely high ATM. So focusing on things like potential illness and potential subpar preparations. Such things indeed can have an affect. Still even if we acknowledge all that and based on all reasonable metrics. The bar still went up this year. So it's not about under performing and finding answers there. The difference this year is in performing. Starting with week three and an ITT the bar was set extremely high. Even for Pogi standards. He crushed the ITT. And Jonas still put a minute and a half into it. That is on why people familiar with this sport are saying things like best ITT ever. And are not saying things like Pogi was ill.

 

[CyclistAbi]

So i guess Rogla and Pogi doing Giro-Vuelta double next year and we can send Remco to fight Jonas at the Tour.

P.S. Nah.