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Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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Agree on the route, but I really doubt a fit and on form WvA can compete with this Pogacar (or make a difference for Remco). Even the best WvA we have seen would be dropped like a stone on those worlds climbs.

Despite his April crash we know Vingegaard did his best ever watts per kilo in the Tour - for example, Vingo was also 2 minutes inside the PdB record. And pretty sure there were a few Giros in the last 26 years which had a soft parcours and weaker competition too. Then of course the Pogacar we saw in the Tour despite a Giro in his legs was still best we have ever seen. So I don't buy the luck meme.
I don't think even for a second that WVA can stay with Pog. However, in a very likely scenario where Remco is ahead with Pog he'd have the perfect excuse not to work with the Slovenian making the race much more tactical.

As for the luck I was obviously joking but all the factors that could work in Pog's favour simply fell into place this year. I mean, even Ayuso dropping out of the Tour just made UAE stronger IMO.
Of course you have to grab the chance and he did.
 
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To be honest, Triple crown (among all the other factors) is highly dependable of the Worlds route. Put the Glasgow one (or some of the easier routes) this year and Pog would have much harder time winning the Worlds.

So maybe Red Rick is indeed right and he is an ultimate luck merchant 😂. Gets a friendly route in a year with the easiest (and least competitive) Giro and his only opponent decides to check Spanish health system before the Tour making it a perfect storm for a Triple crown.
Oh, and Van Aert crashes himself out before the Worlds, making Belgium much easier to deal with.
Giro is only easy because Pogacar is probably the most talented rider ever. Giro-Tour will continue to be a very hard task despite being ridiculed by Pogacar.
 
Giro is only easy because Pogacar is probably the most talented rider ever. Giro-Tour will continue to be a very hard task despite being ridiculed by Pogacar.
In all fairness since Pantani only once the best GT rider tried it in his prime. That was Contador in 2011. And even then he had a very weak team and the hardest Giro in the recent memory. On top of that he crashed heavily in the Tour and his team was hardly better than the Giro.
In 2015 he was past his prime and the Giro was ridden very hard.
In 2018 Froome was past his prime and that Giro was also much harder.
Dumoulin got 2nd and 2nd with a weak teams and god awful tactics in that Giro.

I have no reason to believe that Vingegaard is incapable of doing it. Hell, with such an easy route 2008-2011 Contador and prime Froome could possibly do it as well.
 
In all fairness since Pantani only once the best GT rider tried it in his prime. That was Contador in 2011. And even then he had a very weak team and the hardest Giro in the recent memory. On top of that he crashed heavily in the Tour and his team was hardly better than the Giro.
In 2015 he was past his prime and the Giro was ridden very hard.
In 2018 Froome was past his prime and that Giro was also much harder.
Dumoulin got 2nd and 2nd with a weak teams and god awful tactics in that Giro.

I have no reason to believe that Vingegaard is incapable of doing it. Hell, with such an easy route 2008-2011 Contador and prime Froome could possibly do it as well.
GT's are not only about legs, there are too many variables that you have to excel to be successful. You can have a crash, a illness, fresher top riders in the Tour, etc. Vingegaard can try Giro-Tour but his coach is not too excited about that because he knows Vingegaard needs to be way better if he wants to beat Pogacar.
 
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GT's are not only about legs, there are too many variables that you have to excel to be successful. You can have a crash, a illness, fresher top riders in the Tour, etc. Vingegaard can try Giro-Tour but his coach is not too excited about that because he knows Vingegaard needs to be way better if he wants to beat Pogacar.
So why did Pogacar tried the double this year then? Didn't he need to be much better (after what happened in 2022 and 2023) in order to beat Vingegaard this year?
 
So why did Pogacar tried the double this year then? Didn't he need to be much better (after what happened in 2022 and 2023) in order to beat Vingegaard this year?
Mate, I think Vingegaard can do it after seeing Pogacar doing it but his coach is not too excited about Giro-Tour because he wants Vingegaard to win the Tour again. This means he thinks Vingegaard cannot possibly reach his best shape in the Tour after racing the Giro.
 
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Mate, I think Vingegaard can do it after seeing Pogacar doing it but his coach is not too excited about Giro-Tour because he wants Vingegaard to win the Tour again. This means he thinks Vingegaard cannot possibly reach his best shape in the Tour after racing the Giro.
I will be surprised if he tries the Double next year (despite it was rumoured). But I'm fairly sure that if everything's goes well he'll try it in 2026.
With a favourable route na field the Giro may as well be the perfect preparation.
 
I will be surprised if he tries the Double next year (despite it was rumoured). But I'm fairly sure that if everything's goes well he'll try it in 2026.
With a favourable route na field the Giro may as well be the perfect preparation.
He should try sooner than later. He is in his peak era, maybe he has 3-4 years to try but he can win the Giro with one leg and save energy for an epic battle in the Tour against Pogacar. Remco will never be good enough and these young generation looks inferior and not capable to reach Pogacar's level (or Vingegaard's level). I was very disappointed with Ayuso, Isaac Del Toro this year.
 
He should try sooner than later. He is in his peak era, maybe he has 3-4 years to try but he can win the Giro with one leg and save energy for an epic battle in the Tour against Pogacar. Remco will never be good enough and these young generation looks inferior and not capable to reach Pogacar's level (or Vingegaard's level). I was very disappointed with Ayuso, Isaac Del Toro this year.
I wouldn't say that Remco has no chance. If Pogacar can improve so massively for a year so does Evenepoel. He looks far now but with an uninterrupted preparation and a bit more tactical Tour he may be much closer.

As for Ayuso and Del Toro, I can agree, yes. The latter had a very goos season but he was slightly disappointing in the tougher climbs/high mountains.