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Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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With the season a wrap the speculating for next year can begin.

TDF will always be his main goal. It might make sense for Teddy to combine that with the Vuelta this time.

For sure he will keep trying Milano San Remo, I'm sure everything will fall into place sometime. Then I wonder if he will race Flanders again. He loves that race, without the Giro he might make it his goal again. I just hope he doesn't turn it into a boring affair the way mvdp did, this year.
 
He was destined for this.

Already seen as he was a young great talent coming up from racing in small cycling country. Racing for small clubs and going under the radar. Had very good results.

Developed great during his formative years and won the biggest U23 race against older riders at the time.

His first pro season you could already see he was something special.

Amazing what he has achieved already. The GOAT.
 
According to some die hard fans of Remco or Pogacar's haters, here are some hot takes I was reading here for the last year:
"Remco has the best engine in the world and can claw back some time on Pogacar if he gets dropped." Today, I was expecting Teddy to be caught by Remco or somewhat expected Remco to decrease the gap but he lost 1:20 minutes on flat terrain. I feel betrayed and fooled by those "cycling experts".

"Remco is very close to Pogacar in one day races and I have no doubts he will be better very soon"

"Remco is getting closer to Pogacar. I think he will catch him in 1 to 4 years"

The true is Remco is miles behind Pogacar and unless Pogacar has a serious crash in his career, Remco will never be able to perform like Pogacar. Remco is great but c'mon... Pogacar is an all time great and Remco's tears say all, he somehow felt so "small" when racing against Pogacar. For the first time, this kid felt like a junior and he is one of the best of the last decade.
Pogacar is unbeatable when he is racing for UAE. His team is very deep and strong, I found his attack in Zurich very stupid but now I think it was the best thing he could do because Slovenia was very weak and he would be caught in a tactical war against Belgium and Netherlands.
Let's not conflate Remco himself and the way he reflects on what's happening on one side AND qualities attributed to him by passionate fans (Pogacar anti-fans) on the other one. Yes, Remco is considerably inferior when it comes to both induvidual engine and sprinting. As of the 2024 season. What's next remains to be seen.
 
End of season update. Let's tick some more boxes next year, hopefully MSR after several near misses.

Tadej Pogacar "Whole Calendar" Slam Watchlist (also considering podiums)

1. Grand Tours:
Tour de France X3 (2020, 2021, 2024), 2nd (2022, 2023)
Giro de Italia: X (2024)
Vuelta a España: 3rd (2019)

2. Monuments:
Milano San Remo: 3rd (2024)
Ronde Van Vlaanderen: X (2023)
Paris Roubaix: TBA
Liege Bastogne Liege: X2 (2021, 2024), 3rd (2020)
Giro di Lombardia: X4 (2021,2022,2023, 2024)

3. World Championships and Olympic Races:
Olympic Road Race: 3rd (Tokyo 2020 -held in 2021-)
Olympic Time Trial: TBA
World Championship Road Race: X (2024), 3rd (2023)
World Championship Time Trial: -

4. One Week Races:
París Nice: X (2023)
Tirreno-Adriático: X2 (2021, 2022)
Volta a Catalunya: X (2024)
Itzulia: 3rd (2021)
Tour de Romandie: TBA
Criterium du Dauphine: -
Tour de Suisse: TBA

5. Other Significant Races:
Omloop Het Volk / Het Nieuwsblad: TBA
UAE Tour (sigh): X2 (2021, 2022)
Strade Bianche: X2 (2022, 2024)
E3 Harelbeke: 3rd (2023)
Gent Wevelgem: TBA
Brabantse Pijl: TBA
Amstel Gold Race: X (2023)
Fleche Wallone: X (2023)
San Sebastian: -
Giro dell Emilia: X (2024), 2nd (2022, 2023)
París - Tours: TBA

6. Stage Wins:
Giro de Italia Stage Wins: 6
Tour de France Stage Wins: 17
Vuelta a España Stage Wins: 3
Total GT Stage Wins: 26
Total Pro Wins: 88

7. "Minor" Accolades:
x2 GP Montréal (2022, 2024), x2 Tour of Slovenia (2021, 2022), Tre Valli Varesine (2022), Tour of California (2019), Volta ao Algarve (2019), x2 Slovenian ITT Championships (2019, 2023), Slovenian Road Race Championships (2023).

Notes:
(1) "Other Significant Races" is a non-comprehensive list of races outside the well established and common accepted three categories (GT, Monuments, Seven "Historically/Traditional" One Week Races)
(2) "Minor Accolades" include another non-comprehensive list of other races won that might be missed by some users.
The aim is not to argue about which are the most relevant races but to keep track of which I feel are the most prestigious events regardless of the current official category.
 
Amazing athlete. Perhaps the most gifted physically cyclist ever. What caught my eye as early as in 2019-2020 was that where almost everyone struggles, twists himself into knots, and pushes the pedals with the entire body, Pogacar just pedals smoothly, with almost no unnecessary upper body movements, even while dancing on the pedals. He has an incredibly strong shoulder girdle, core and back muscles as well as obviously exceptional cardiovascular system.



I have zero doubt that his victories are a bit assisted, but that doesn’t take away my humble estimation. His competitors made the right decision not to respond. Competing with him is impossible. Are we lucky to witness his victories? I think not. At least, I’d rather be lucky in a hundred other things. ))



His victory isn’t surprising… What really surprised me was the time trial to PdbF, where Pogacar took the jersey from Roglic, hammering on a bigger gear on a 9-10% gradient, or how he dropped everyone by 3 minutes on the first mountain stage of the 2021 TdF, or how he lost 3 or 4 minutes on the climb to Courchevel a year ago... But victories like yesterday's are just the norm in modern cycling.



And yet. He will never get popped. Ill-wishers, quit dreaming about it. The UCI won’t shoot themselves in the foot. After LA, punishing Pogacar would be like admitting that professsinal cycling doesn't mind losing half it legacy. Never gonna happen.
 
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Prolly, I'd also clearly rate the Canadian races higher than Paris-Tours and even Emilia despite its recents winners and history. Its still mainly part of the Italian autumn leading up to Lombardia and it isn't WT.
Not sure I'd hold it being before Lombardia against it, because it means it's close to riders' main target at the end of a season.

I don't really know what to think of races like Quebec which essentially bought WT status, have mostly been won by good riders but not really been compelling races most of the time. Montreal is better ofcourse but I'm still fairly ambivalent about it.

Still, Emilia 100% deserves WT status for me. It's better than Fleche Wallone for me in every way.
 
Not sure I'd hold it being before Lombardia against it, because it means it's close to riders' main target at the end of a season.

I don't really know what to think of races like Quebec which essentially bought WT status, have mostly been won by good riders but not really been compelling races most of the time. Montreal is better ofcourse but I'm still fairly ambivalent about it.

Still, Emilia 100% deserves WT status for me. It's better than Fleche Wallone for me in every way.
FW always had a better startlist than Emilia. It is a great WT race and one of the biggest feat in cycling is winning the Ardennes treble.