There should be a limit up to where Pogacar and Vingegaard (and Evenepoel for that matter) improve. I find it hard to believe that Pogacar can improve any further (without visiting different part of the forum) and Vingegaard being 28 should be close to his limit as well.
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There are always outliers. Nobody knows when Pogacar will reach his physiological peak.
Another outlier was Valverde. AV’s career longevity was off the charts. Turned pro very young and was competitive well into his late 30s. But AV was only a 2nd tier Grand Tour contender.
Another example I can think of is Cadel Evans. Cadel won the Tour at 34 but apparently his best numbers were in 2007, aged 30.
No idea when Pogacar will begin to decline but my guess would be after he turns 30.
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Pogacar only has to improve if Vingo or Remco are in better shape next year than Pog was this year. Curious how realistic everyone thinks that is, because Pog was at an astronomic level in 2024.
Jonas isn't "fine" until he proves his form. It's also Visma's problem if he can't.
Vingo may match Pogacar as far as GTs are concerned. Other than that, I see no big threat for Pog except "versatile sprinters" races like MSR or Quebec.
They are all improving year after year. If they don't improve, they will have worse results and performances. What Vingo, and specially Remco have to do is improving significantly more than Pogacar.
I think, Pogacar wants to improve in those races. This year he won everything what he should except maybe WC. Strade, LBL, Giro, Catalunya and Montreal who was actually there to challenge him? Lombardia, Emilia where Remco and Roglic looked already tired after everything what happened this season and Tour where everybody came after big crashes except Pogi. He looked really disapointed after Quebec and MSR and he said it too. WC is other story and that is also why he looked so happy after finish line. Flanders 2023 and WC 2024 are also only races where i have see him being crazy happy and totally on the limit.
Pogacar's focus is on attritional races and climbs. This is the way to win GTs and monuments and to build his legacy. I actually think his explosivity on very short/shallow climbs may get worse (or already did this year). Not expecting him to get better in MSR like races, unless he improves his descending (which is ok but not at the level of some MSR contenders).
I agree with the general point. As for MSR, I think the only thing he needs is a team that works perferctly. Good for Pog that jokers like Ulissi and Hirschi are gone. They can now mount a fully committed big-boy train on the climbs. McNulty, Bjerg, Del Torro, Wellens, and Narvaez together with Novak and Politt should do the job. Narvaez is a fantastic signing in this regard.
Narvaez is great, I agree. Maybe Pog will get some separation on Poggio but with MVP in the race (most explosive short climbs rider and excellent descender) it's always tricky to pull off. Every year is different though and with enough number of tries Pog may get MSR one day. He still has a lot of time to get the monkey off his back and undoubtedly he will try every year.
I agree. Also, MVDP may not target MSR in the coming years. He seem to be more of a wildcard in his preparation for each season with CX. RVV and P-R seem to be way more important peaks for him.
Right, but had they taken him on they would have blown up. He that flies to close to the sun gets incinerated.
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WCRR was a great example of dithering and excuses. Several American riders killed themselves to be in the mix and Ben O'Conner surprised all of us. Are those guys better than MvP, Remco, Wout....?
Better to give it a shot than accept staying in the field for top 20 in my book. But I raced like an amateur against pros so no dignity was lost when it came to nothing. It also gave me some breathrough results which the current state of the peloton desperately needs to counter Pogacar.
But if it wasn't for Pogacar none of the riders you mentioned would win.
It would be probably someone from the big break.
Pogacar was clearly better than MvP (he couldn't even catch Healy and Skujins) and Remco. So the best rider won the race.
Could he be beaten? Of course if everyone rode together to beat him. But such situations rarely occur in cycling.
His move was way early in the event and the efforts I saw from Remco were half-assed and involved much jawing at other guys to pull through. On an uphill pursuit you don't just stop working because you don't have alot of help. Remco's credentials would have him locking down in an effort he could sustain to reduce the gap. He didn't seem to do much of that from the highlighted broadcast segments I saw. Very much like the situation he won his own Worlds' RR. That, and he might have been tired and satisfied from winning 2 Olympic Golds.
That Oly RR was won pretty much like Tadej won the World's so there's that to consider.
View: https://x.com/eurosport/status/1857045820253630898?t=HNo-2y4sSUtJDXddSVg19w&s=19
Cant wait for a cipressa master class🤩
Cant wait for a cipressa master class🤩
The key to winning SanRemo is to slow down the race as much as possible before the climbs, then drill it from the bottom. Coming into the climb at 60kmh there is so much momentum that sprinters can get up halfway and hardly spend a lot of energy.
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