• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

Page 805 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Why would this be the best season ever? The constant need for you guys to search for a reason that he’s close to Merckx is getting silly
Win worlds and Lombardia and then surely only active haters could deny that this is the greatest ever season as it would be:
Giro + 6 stages
Tour + 6 stages
Worlds
2 monuments

Catalunya + 4 stages

Only 2 Merckx seasons can even be in the conversation 72 and 74.

72:
Giro + 4 stages
Tour + 7 stages
3 monuments

74:
Giro + 2 stages
Tour + 8 stages (more stages raced than now)
Worlds

Tour de Suisse
 
Win worlds and Lombardia and then surely only active haters could deny that this is the greatest ever season as it would be:
Giro + 6 stages
Tour + 6 stages
Worlds
2 monuments

Catalunya + 4 stages

Only 2 Merckx seasons can even be in the conversation 72 and 74.

72:
Giro + 4 stages
Tour + 7 stages
3 monuments

74:
Giro + 2 stages
Tour + 8 stages (more stages raced than now)
Worlds

Tour de Suisse
Important is look to some rankings that give 6200 points for Merckx's best season. Some day, a random rider will get 2nd in every important race and will have 7000 PCS points. Best season ever!
 
Important is look to some rankings that give 6200 points for Merckx's best season. Some day, a random rider will get 2nd in every important race and will have 7000 PCS points. Best season ever!
As you rightly said a page or two back it’s big wins that are all important otherwise you end up with an assertion that Valverde is a top 5 all time rider.

The points will likely stack up higher for Merckx as everyone rode a lot more race days than current era.
 
As you rightly said a page or two back it’s big wins that are all important otherwise you end up with an assertion that Valverde is a top 5 all time rider.

The points will likely stack up higher for Merckx as everyone rode a lot more race days than current era.
Not just that. Points classification wasn't sprinter friendly (In Merckx's time, Pogacar would have 300 points more just from winning points classification in both Giro and Tour), peloton (as a whole) is way more professional and specialized now and like you said due to a higher level of riders, Pogacar races less because he needs to prepare better his targets. Merckx has 20 days of racing more per season than Pogacar.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
These rankings give us a good indicator of a rider performance but we still need to understand numbers are just numbers.
I bet no one here believes that it is more important to get a 2nd in LBL and 2nd in PR than winning a Tour de Flandres. However, a Tour de Flandres win give 275 PCS points and 2nd in both LBL and Paris Roubaix give 400 points.
It's about being able to perform all season long, multiple races at the highest level WHILE at the same time still winning Giro+Tour+3 monuments. Big difference with Pogacar
 
It's about being able to perform all season long, multiple races at the highest level WHILE at the same time still winning Giro+Tour+3 monuments. Big difference with Pogacar
But what highest level? All riders raced all season, they didn't prepare races like they do today. How can you not understand that? It's so obvious Merckx couldn't race today like he raced in his era but you fail to see it.
 
If he will be able to win the Worlds and Lombardia it will be a historical season, that's for sure. Doesn't matter for me if there was a more historic season or not. Todays cycling can't be compared with cycling some years ago.

A season with
1st Strade Bianche
3rd Milano - San Remo
1st and 4 stages Volta Catalunya
1st Liege-Bastogne-Liege
1st and 6 stages at the Giro
1st and 6 stages at Le Tour
7th Quebec
1st Montreal
1st Worlds
1st Lombardia

would be absolutely outstanding. Only thing to critisize would be that he probably could have raced more to win more. But if thats the point to critisize it says anything about his performances.

But most important for now: He is not even close to that kind of season. Worlds and Lombardia are not rode yet and anything can happen. It's not like he has already won those races.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SHAD0W93
But what highest level? All riders raced all season, they didn't prepare races like they do today. How can you not understand that? It's so obvious Merckx couldn't race today like he raced in his era but you fail to see it.
He raced all the time AND at the same time destroyed everyone. That on it's own is already an amazing feat. The way he won his 7 MSR's shows how much completer, and better he was than Pogacar.
 
Not gonne bother reading it all know whats the drill ive seen it before. The sooner someone just get to grasp with their watching the best cyclist of all time cause its so very obvious to everyone besides 5-7 ppl on this forum and Pogacar is the numer uno you have ever watched.

Pogacar has a FTP of 7W/KG no matter what you guys dicuss or hope for he will just ride away from everyone again noone is close to beeing at his level its very easy no matter what or wishfull thinking ppl wanne do.
 
Last edited:
He raced all the time AND at the same time destroyed everyone. That on it's own is already an amazing feat. The way he won his 7 MSR's shows how much completer, and better he was than Pogacar.
Are you 60 old? If you aren't, how can you know "the way" he won 7 MSR. And I fail to see how win 7 MSR is an indicator of how much better Merckx is than Pogacar. It is like saying Oscar Freire is a lot better than Pogacar because he won 3 WC and 3 MSR.
 
He raced all the time AND at the same time destroyed everyone. That on it's own is already an amazing feat. The way he won his 7 MSR's shows how much completer, and better he was than Pogacar.
Its amazing that ppl think this well a very few handful as Pogacar is in the real world already crowned so it doesnt really matter.

Merckx today and he wouldnt even top 20 get over it Pogacar is just better your comparing a era when cycling was a joke to the best state its ever been... its not comparable Merckx wouldnt even beat a guy like Mas. Enjoy the show its not harder than that you will never see a better cyclist than him ever in your life.
 
Are you 60 old? If you aren't, how can you know "the way" he won 7 MSR. And I fail to see how win 7 MSR is an indicator of how much better Merckx is than Pogacar. It is like saying Oscar Freire is a lot better than Pogacar because he won 3 WC and 3 MSR.
I've also seen Casablanca, does that make me 82 years old?

It's HOW he won MSR, Freire won most MSR and WC the same way. Merckx won MSR in sprint, short attack, long attack. Basically every possible way.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: AmRacer
The unprecedented season and fashion Pogacar did it in, first to do the double in modern time, to become the best climber of all time along with everything else and numbers he did after the double, in Liege etc its just next level everyone knows that, it really put certain few out of their mind didnt it:tearsofjoy:

Its not hard to grasp he is just the best really easy stuff, data and numbers never lie and he is so much better than anyone else its laughable honestly to even talk about it imo - Merckx included.
 
The unprecedented season and fashion Pogacar did it in, first to do the double in modern time, to become the best climber of all time along with everything else and numbers he did after the double, in Liege etc its just next level everyone knows that, it really put certain few out of their mind didnt it:tearsofjoy:

Its not hard to grasp he is just the best really easy stuff, data and numbers never lie and he is so much better than anyone else its laughable honestly to even talk about it imo - Merckx included.
This
 
I've also seen Casablanca, does that make me 82 years old?

It's HOW he won MSR, Freire won most MSR and WC the same way. Merckx won MSR in sprint, short attack, long attack. Basically every possible way.
I quit, just live in your own bubble and continue to see Pogacar winning and cement his legacy. Unfortunately for you, you didn't watch Merckx but you are watching Pogacar.
 
I quit, just live in your own bubble and continue to see Pogacar winning and cement his legacy. Unfortunately for you, you didn't watch Merckx but you are watching Pogacar.
I did watch Merckx, my point of Casablanca was that you can still watch old footage.

I do think Pogacar can become the GOAT though. I just don't think he can ever have a better season than Merckx had. Pogacar can become the GOAT if he has more seasons like this one where he completely destroys his opposition. But you don't become the GOAT if you only did it once.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cookster15
He raced all the time AND at the same time destroyed everyone. That on it's own is already an amazing feat. The way he won his 7 MSR's shows how much completer, and better he was than Pogacar.
This is a little premature. And I really doubt the competition was as fierce in the 60s and 70s as today. Agree with your later comment that Pog can become the GOAT if he has more seasons like this one where he completely destroys his opposition. Who says he can't?
 
I did watch Merckx, my point of Casablanca was that you can still watch old footage.

I do think Pogacar can become the GOAT though. I just don't think he can ever have a better season than Merckx had. Pogacar can become the GOAT if he has more seasons like this one where he completely destroys his opposition. But you don't become the GOAT if you only did it once.
Taking you at face value what would you consider to be a better season than any that has gone before that isn’t just absurdly ludicrous like winning every race you enter.