Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Peter von]

I would expect him to become obsessed with eddy’s classics resume.

One-day races and Classics
World Road Race Championships (1967, 1971, 1974)
National Road Race Championships
(1970)
Milan–San Remo (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976)
Paris–Roubaix (1968, 1970, 1973)
Tour of Flanders (1969, 1975)
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975)
Giro di Lombardia (1971, 1972)
La Flèche Wallonne (1967, 1970, 1972)
Gent–Wevelgem (1967, 1970, 1973)
Omloop Het Volk (1971, 1973)
Grand Prix du Midi Libre (1971)
Rund um den Henninger-Turm (1971)
Giro del Piemonte (1972)
Amstel Gold Race (1973, 1975)
Paris–Brussels (1973)
Giro dell'Emilia (1973)
Grand Prix de Fourmies (1973)
Trofeo Laigueglia (1973, 1974)

I mean, it's also a list of prestigious races that any bike rider would love to put on his palmares, I don't think Pogi will go out of his way to win Frankfurt or the Belgium championships and I don't think he'll stop doing Strade just because it doesn't help him against the Canibal.

Pogacar could try PR with his weight from last year's Flandres. Then he would still have time to prepare for the TdF. However, I realized that they want to prioritize the Tour and probably won't change it (esp. after realizing that Vingo is such a monster rival). So PR (which is more risky and requires non-optimal weight) could wait longer than I thought and it seems there's no option that he will ever skip the Tour in his schedule (and do full classics assault + Vuelta for example). I'm no longer an optimist regarding PR in 2025 or 2026.

Tough to say for sure. I think he is very aware that as dominant as he has looked in GTs this year, he can't take his foot off the gas in terms of being the best Pogi he can be at the Tour. Maybe if he runs circles around Vingo, Remco and the rest again in 2025 he'll start having some creative ideas again.

 

[hayneplane]

I would expect him to become obsessed with eddy’s classics resume.

One-day races and Classics
World Road Race Championships (1967, 1971, 1974)
National Road Race Championships
(1970)
Milan–San Remo (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976)
Paris–Roubaix (1968, 1970, 1973)
Tour of Flanders (1969, 1975)
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975)
Giro di Lombardia (1971, 1972)
La Flèche Wallonne (1967, 1970, 1972)
Gent–Wevelgem (1967, 1970, 1973)
Omloop Het Volk (1971, 1973)
Grand Prix du Midi Libre (1971)
Rund um den Henninger-Turm (1971)
Giro del Piemonte (1972)
Amstel Gold Race (1973, 1975)
Paris–Brussels (1973)
Giro dell'Emilia (1973)
Grand Prix de Fourmies (1973)
Trofeo Laigueglia (1973, 1974)

Pogacar already has 1 big point of difference where he beats Eddy as Merckx never won the same monument 3 years in a row as Tadej has done with Lombardia.

 

[Salvarani]

To have a real chance at PR, even the great Pog has to commit to a cobbles program. Lots of risk. Probably not worth taking it in the phase of his career when he can win a bunch more TDFs

Yeah, he shouldnt do a cobbles program right now. He can do it later.

He should continue on the level he has now when it comes to stage-racing + the hillier/mountainous monuments.

Trying to do full cobbles program and then shift focus to GTs in the middle of the season, no. Asking for trouble.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Yeah, he shouldnt do a cobbles program right now. He can do it later.

He should continue on the level has now when it comes to stage-racing + the hillier/mountainous monuments.

My thoughts as well. Flandres will probably also be skipped (as he's already won it). Except hilly classics, only the ciciban race (MSR) will remain in his schedule.

 

[Salvarani]

I want to see him go and win some of the big One week races.
Potential schedule
Strade-MSR-Itzulia--LBL-Dauphine-Tour-Vuelta-Worlds isn't too bad.

And Lombardia.

He should do the above or same as this year.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Narvaez will be his teammate next year. If he shows a similar level next year to the level he has been shown this year, he will be huge for Tadej in MSR and Liege.

 

[Valv.Piti]

"If you get beat by them, buy them"

 

[Salvarani]

"If you get beat by them, buy them"

Smart.

 

[scribers]

Honestly, I don't think he's the kind of guy who would do that. I think he just rides whatever races he wants to, because he thinks it could be fun.

He is said to be very interested in results history of the sport. I read or saw this somewhere. Sorry I couldn’t link to it if I wanted to.

 

[KZD]

Pogacar already has 1 big point of difference where he beats Eddy as Merckx never won the same monument 3 years in a row as Tadej has done with Lombardia.

I see that Merckx won LBL three years in a row from 1971 to 1973. But Pogačar has a good chance of winning Lombardia four years in a row this season.

I really think that after Tadej's succesful Giro-Tour double this year, he should ride two Grand Tours again in 2025.

Tour-Vuelta would allow for a bigger spring classics campaign (maybe with Flanders) and the possibility of winning the only Grand Tour that is missing from his palmares but would likely mean no Lombardia as I expect him to ride the Worlds instead.

Giro-Tour worked well this season and would allow for the usual late season peak for Worlds and Lombardia. The drawback is likely less spring classics just like this season and another year without the Vuelta.

I think the decision will come down to the difficulty of the GT routes and whether the Giro route goes through Slovenia for instance.

 

[RedheadDane]

He is said to be very interested in results history of the sport. I read or saw this somewhere. Sorry I couldn’t link to it if I wanted to.

Can't you be interested in the result history of the sport, and still not feel you need to go chase those results?

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Can't you be interested in the result history of the sport, and still not feel you need to go chase those results?

Sure, but what if you are one of the few that can actually do it? Would you just let it be, or would you like to join the ranks, see yourself as a true peer of the greats? Why be indifferent about it when you are already interested? It's not often one get's the chance to write oneself into history, even if it's just the one of a sport.

 

[RedheadDane]

Sure, but what if you are one of the few that can actually do it?

He could very well do it simply by riding the races he thinks could be fun.
It just seems like such a silly thing to concern yourself with; "OMG... I have to win these particular races because this other guy, who retired almost 50 years ago, won them."

Just in case it wasn't clear; my post was praise of Pogacar. He's above such silliness.

 

[tobydawq]

To have a real chance at PR, even the great Pog has to commit to a cobbles program. Lots of risk. Probably not worth taking it in the phase of his career when he can win a bunch more TDFs

Yes.

 

[tobydawq]

He could very well do it simply by riding the races he thinks could be fun.
It just seems like such a silly thing to concern yourself with; "OMG... I have to win these particular races because this other guy, who retired almost 50 years ago, won them."

Just in case it wasn't clear; my post was praise of Pogacar. He's above such silliness.

Could you please stop referring to history as silliness? It's really lame even if you have no interest in it.

 

[RedheadDane]

Could you please stop referring to history as silliness? It's really lame even if you have no interest in it.

I'm not calling history silly.
I'm calling the idea of basing your entire race programme around getting the same palmares as some other guy silly.
Pogacar should just race whatever races he wants, and if he equals Merckx; cool.
If he doesn't; cool.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

He could very well do it simply by riding the races he thinks could be fun.
It just seems like such a silly thing to concern yourself with; "OMG... I have to win these particular races because this other guy, who retired almost 50 years ago, won them."

Just in case it wasn't clear; my post was praise of Pogacar. He's above such silliness.

Well I am not sure if these things cannot be achieved at the same time. I don't think he's interested in a replica of anyones Palmares, but in one that reflects as much of the important races as possible. I think he said e.g. that he wanted to win all of the big one week races as well.
Maybe I was to inattentive of the preceding discussion, but I meant it more in this kind of way. That doesn't mean he has to chase anyone's results really, but to make his own great thing.
But it's still a competitive sport, so records have their own merit, and I can imagine he enjoys holding some of them.

 

[tobydawq]

I'm not calling history silly.
I'm calling the idea of basing your entire race programme around getting the same palmares as some other guy silly.
Pogacar should just race whatever races he wants, and if he equals Merckx; cool.
If he doesn't; cool.

He has said he wants to be the greatest rider of all time, so it seems obvious that he would want to beat Merckx in a lot of aspects. That probably includes winning many of the same races he did. And since that also means riding a varied calendar with a lot of big races, I really don't see what the fuss is about.

 

[Netserk]

Pogacar could try PR with his weight from last year's Flandres. Then he would still have time to prepare for the TdF. However, I realized that they want to prioritize the Tour and probably won't change it (esp. after realizing that Vingo is such a monster rival). So PR (which is more risky and requires non-optimal weight) could wait longer than I thought and it seems there's no option that he will ever skip the Tour in his schedule (and do full classics assault + Vuelta for example). I'm no longer an optimist regarding PR in 2025 or 2026.

I think it makes sense to ride PR the first time without any special prep for it. Train as he normally would for the spring classics, and then see how far that takes him in Roubaix. I can see him do a MvdP'ish spring schedule next year, just 6 race days: Strade, Sanremo, E3, Ronde, Roubaix, Liège. Then focus on the Tour.

 

[RedheadDane]

Well I am not sure if these things cannot be achieved at the same time. I don't think he's interested in a replica of anyones Palmares, but in one that reflects as much of the important races as possible. I think he said e.g. that he wanted to win all of the big one week races as well.

And it just always came across to me as him wanting to win all the big races was because he thought it could be, you know, fun!

 

[scribers]

I'm not calling history silly.
I'm calling the idea of basing your entire race programme around getting the same palmares as some other guy silly.
Pogacar should just race whatever races he wants, and if he equals Merckx; cool.
If he doesn't; cool.

No one would ever suspect you of cannibalism

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Roubaix or not, as long as he doesn't win the 6th monument Scheldeprijs it'll be hard to consider him the GOAT. I think he knows that (also because Merckx also has it on his palmares) and already started mixing it up with the sprinters at the Tour. Maybe Politt can forward him Kittels number in order to learn from the master.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I think it makes sense to ride PR the first time without any special prep for it. Train as he normally would for the spring classics, and then see how far that takes him in Roubaix. I can see him do a MvdP'ish spring schedule next year, just 6 race days: Strade, Sanremo, E3, Ronde, Roubaix, Liège. Then focus on the Tour.

Before this year I would agree with you, just race PR with similar condition/weight to Flandres. This should be enough to be in contention for top places IMO. But this year he had a different preparation, focused more on stage racing. My current thinking is that they won't let Pogi weight 67 kg in April (like it used to be in the previous two years) and will stick to this year's recipe, which brought them GT double won in a great fashion (and which is obviously more fitted to the Tour). So Strade, San Remo, Liege and some one-week race in the spring. Maybe another double attempt (Tour + Vuelta?). Obviously I'd love to see him in PR but my hopes for it in the next couple of years are much lower now than before.

 

[Netserk]

Why not race the cobbled classics with his stage race weight then? With the insane wattage he can push, he'd still stand a chance. Surely the form he had in Strade and Liège this year was good enough to at least podium Ronde.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Why not race the cobbled classics with his stage race weight then?

Well, he can actually. It's also a matter of how much difference those missing 2 kilos or so can make. I have no idea, esp. in PR.