Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[BlueRoads]

The only questionable is Costa IMO. Hirschi, Formolo and Bjerg I have no doubts they'll give their all to support Pogi.

I think this team is thin in the high mountains. In a group of 10-15 best climbers Tadej could be left alone with no support from his teammates. A lot depends on what will be Majka's form and how will Formolo do after having the Giro in his legs. To be honest I don't expect McNulty to be of much help in the mountains. He'll be more useful on the flat and on the hills I think. I might be wrong, though.

But does Pogacar really need so many domestiques in the mountains? He just needs to follow Roglic. When Jumbo start attacking with Kuss or Kruijswijk or even van Aert, come on, we all know they aren't serious. It's all about Roglic for them. If Pogacar can't follow Roglic, then he won't win the Tour, simple.
But personally I'm very surprised de la Cruz is not on the team. I would have expected him to be a key helper. Was this planned from the beginning?

 

[titan31]

Costa over De La Cruz or Polanc is the biggest surprise. Polanc as you know he'd bury himself for Pogacar, and De La Cruz would be more useful in the high mountains and he's used to being a domestique. Costa is in good form but you'd wonder how much effort he'll put it into helping

 

[CyclistAbi]

As a defending champion and the man to beat you don't get to stand in the corner.

Wherever you will stand that will be the centre and you by no means want to be cornered.

P.S. Last year tactics won't work.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

Formolo is gonna die trying for Pogi. I have no doubt about it. Bjerg as well.

Exactly, Formolo and Bjerg will def ride their asses off for Tadej. Formolo has been focusing on the Tour and I believe he will be better than people think. In the Tirreno he gave it all pulling for Tadej

 

[The pet snake of Froome]

Big favourite for me, hope he handles the pressure

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

I think the UAE mountain train will be hirschi, mcnulty, formolo, majka.

Bjerg and Laengen for the flat stages.

Rui costa is still a question mark.

Ok Ineos has a stronger team overall with all those GT winners, but teams with multiple leader-plans have not worked a lot in the past.

I don't think Roglic will have that many help either when the Ineos train will be going full speed. Kuss is good but has off days. Kruyswijk is def not what he used to be. Van Aert is likely not going to be that strong uphill this year with his operation and thinking about Olympics preparation he has indicated he wont go that deep this year.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

But does Pogacar really need so many domestiques in the mountains? He just needs to follow Roglic. When Jumbo start attacking with Kuss or Kruijswijk or even van Aert, come on, we all know they aren't serious. It's all about Roglic for them. If Pogacar can't follow Roglic, then he won't win the Tour, simple.
But personally I'm very surprised de la Cruz is not on the team. I would have expected him to be a key helper. Was this planned from the beginning?

The worst situation for Pogacar is Ineos/JV attacking collectively (one after another) from the distance forcing Tadej to chase every time. Strong domestiques would be super-helpful in this situation - burning them instead of burning himself could be crucial in the race.

 

[BlueRoads]

The worst situation for Pogacar is Ineos/JV attacking collectively (one after another) from the distance forcing Tadej to chase every time. Strong domestiques would be super-helpful in this situation - burning them instead of burning himself could be crucial in the race.

Yeah, those are the situations where, if I was Pogacar, I would just always stick to Roglic. Glued to his wheel.

 

[ppanther92]

I think the UAE mountain train will be hirschi, mcnulty, formolo, majka.

Bjerg and Laengen for the flat stages.

Rui costa is still a question mark.

Ok Ineos has a stronger team overall with all those GT winners, but teams with multiple leader-plans have not worked a lot in the past.

I don't think Roglic will have that many help either when the Ineos train will be going full speed. Kuss is good but has off days. Kruyswijk is def not what he used to be. Van Aert is likely not going to be that strong uphill this year with his operation and thinking about Olympics preparation he has indicated he wont go that deep this year.

I honestly think Polanc and even De la Cruz would have been big updates. Majka never convinced me as a particular good domestique, McNulty's climbing will be somwhere around top 40 maybe, and Formolo may (once again) disappoint (even more so after he has ridden the Giro).

Polanc would go all in and has almost equally good placings in GTs as Formolo does and he proved himself in last year's TdF as Pogacar's most reliant domestique. De la Cruz at least showed up in the last week, thats more than I expect from some of the guys above.

Anyway, expect Pogacar to be strong and he is used to weak teams. Bjerg, Laengen and Hirschi make for a good team at least if there is no long mountain climbing.

 

[bNator]

Yeah, those are the situations where, if I was Pogacar, I would just always stick to Roglic. Glued to his wheel.

There are a couple of possible complications with that approach:

1. It may not be possible to be glued to Roglic. He can put a couple of guys behind him. Sure it doesn’t seem much but being three bike lengths behind for each acceleration can accumulate.
2. Roglic may not be able to follow.
3. Roglic may decide he won’t follow and gamble on him being able to make difference in TT (against Tadej as well)

It would be a lot easier if Tadej had an excellent climbing team…

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

I think the main thing will be: he and Primoz have the same goal with both a “strong but no ineos” team. They both cannot put a big mountain train up front.
Ineos is by far superior but how will the 4 team leaders strategy work?

 

[triley36]

I think pogacar’s biggest vulnerability may be on the flats. If he gets caught behind with a flat or echelons, he has only Berg and Laengen to pull him back. That is not stellar horsepower. McNulty may be of some use, but I certainly have my doubts about power and positioning on the flats.

 

[Cookster15]

Pogacar should stick to Roglic's wheel and Roglic should stick to Carapaz's wheel. Then in the two TTs we see if Pogi can produce similar to 2020 LPdBF.

 

[ppanther92]

I think the main thing will be: he and Primoz have the same goal with both a “strong but no ineos” team. They both cannot put a big mountain train up front.
Ineos is by far superior but how will the 4 team leaders strategy work?

I think UAE will not even be in the same league as Lotto. I expect Roglic's team to be very strong again, even if a rider like Dumoulin is missing and WvA had some setbacks in the preperation.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I think pogacar’s biggest vulnerability may be on the flats. If he gets caught behind with a flat or echelons, he has only Berg and Laengen to pull him back. That is not stellar horsepower. McNulty may be of some use, but I certainly have my doubts about power and positioning on the flats.

Laengen is a good rider and a big engine, but I've never seen him as an echelons guy. If he was climbing as well as he was a few years ago he could be a Kiryienka type of rider for them who could pull all day long, but his climbing is clearly not what it used to be in 2017-2018.
Rui Oliveira has never ridden the Tour, otherwise he'd have been a good option as a strong guy for the flat stages who can keep Pogi out of trouble.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Pogacar should stick to Roglic's wheel and Roglic should stick to Carapaz's wheel. Then in the two TTs we see if Pogi can produce similar to 2020 LPdBF.

If Pogacar just sticks to Roglic's wheel he will likely lose the Tour. There's no mountain TT this time. Anyway, I don't think it will happen. Pog is not this kind of a rider and Roglic may gain some time in the first TT forcing Pog to attack.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

I think UAE will not even be in the same league as Lotto. I expect Roglic's team to be very strong again, even if a rider like Dumoulin is missing and WvA had some setbacks in the preperation.

Not even the same as lotto? Then you will be in for a suprise

Jumbo is a strong team overall but with a lot of riders like Kuss, kruyswijk that have weaker days.

UAE might not have the big names like Van Aert (who has said that he wont be pulling uphill like last year for sure), but they seem all very motivated to get this going and work for Tadej.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Yes, on this years edition, if something unexpected doesn't happen, then Pogačar can win overall if he is capable to drop (a minute or more) Roglič & Co. in some other stage than TT.

 

[bNator]

Not even the same as lotto? Then you will be in for a suprise

Jumbo is a strong team overall but with a lot of riders like Kuss, kruyswijk that have weaker days.

UAE might not have the big names like Van Aert (who has said that he wont be pulling uphill like last year for sure), but they seem all very motivated to get this going and work for Tadej.

He really said that? I don't believe it for a second. I think he progressed immensly from last year in terms of his climbing ability (as we could observe in Tirreno) and he will display that on this TDF...

Edit: To be clear - I believe he said it. I don't believe it will be true...

 

[Valanga]

He really said that? I don't believe it for a second. I think he progressed immensly from last year in terms of his climbing ability (as we could observe in Tirreno) and he will display that on this TDF...

See https://forum.cyclingnews.com/threa...-new-zdenek-stybar.33925/page-45#post-2581202 ;-)

Pogačar will be fine though, he doesn't need Van Aert pulling for him. Oh wait...

 

[ppanther92]

He really said that? I don't believe it for a second. I think he progressed immensly from last year in terms of his climbing ability (as we could observe in Tirreno) and he will display that on this TDF...

Edit: To be clear - I believe he said it. I don't believe it will be true...

Yes, he said it. And yes, there might be a case because of the health issues that he is not at 100% but I also believe that he might "surprise" (if you can even call it like that). He will be very strong as will be the rest of Lotto. I just think Kruijswijk is not going to be too good.

 

[ppanther92]

Not even the same as lotto? Then you will be in for a suprise

Jumbo is a strong team overall but with a lot of riders like Kuss, kruyswijk that have weaker days.

UAE might not have the big names like Van Aert (who has said that he wont be pulling uphill like last year for sure), but they seem all very motivated to get this going and work for Tadej.

Lets see. In my opinion, UAE does even look kind of strong on paper but I am not convinced at the climbing firepower of those riders having to work as domestiques.

 

[Pantani_lives]

His team looks rather strong on paper, but they're mostly climbers who are used to riding for themselves. It remains to be seen whether they will perform as one team and compete with the Ineos and Jumbo trains. They could have used Polanc on the flat sections for sure.

 

[solo80k]

His team looks rather strong on paper, but they're mostly climbers who are used to riding for themselves. It remains to be seen whether they will perform as one team and compete with the Ineos and Jumbo trains.

So true. Pog lacks a loyal and strong superdom. Majka/Formolo is not like Szmyd for Basso or Porte for Froome, Pog's helpers have their own agenda.

 

[topt]

Pogacar should stick to Roglic's wheel and Roglic should stick to Carapaz's wheel. Then in the two TTs we see if Pogi can produce similar to 2020 LPdBF.

this, evethough I know you probably dont agree but Carapaz is the only Ineos rider that can make a difference in the mountains, Wout can neutralize the rest