Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Oldermanish]

Movistar on that stage didn't have their radios working. The rain killed their radios and the riders on that team had no idea how far away Pogacar had gotten. Valverde said on the final climb fans were yelling at him that he was in danger of loosing his 2nd place on the final podium and when they realized he didn't know he was getting time gaps yelled to him by fans on the final climb. That's why he went when he did. I don't think the teams expected Pogacar to do what he did. The only two riders who may have been able to do something were Roglic and Valverde who kept their spots by doing what they had to do.

Even without radios they would and probably did know. This is the Vuelta and all the motobikes and riders around them knew what was going on. Tadej had already done this to them on another stage....

 

[Koronin]

Even without radios they would and probably did know. This is the Vuelta and all the motobikes and riders around them knew what was going on. Tadej had already done this to them on another stage....

Valverde said he had no idea how far up the road Pogacar was when they got to the final climb and the fans started telling him. He said when some of the fans yelled to him the gap he said he said back to them what are you sure and when they said yes that's when he said he knew he had to go and save his podium spot. The fans all the way up the climb were yelling time gaps to him. I agree that it wasn't going to make any difference to Quintana and Lopez who weren't going to be able to do anything with the top 3 riders at that point anyway.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He's an incredibly strong young rider, but I think he was also helped by Roglic. Once Roglic starts seeing him as a threat he's not going be so supportive, I suppose.

Roglic gifted him a stage win, this was clear at the time. Jumbo Visma later basically confirmed this in their documentary. I think circumstances were definitely favoring Pogacar, even when he was dropped, they never actively started pushing to distance him, simply because they didn't see him as a rival (i can only assume). However, i do think he earned his podium spot, Quintana and Lopez really underachieved imho and Pogacar proved he was stronger in more instances than the other way around.

The thing is, as strong as he was in the Vuelta, for his age and experience, i'm not sure how far he could go in this TDF. I'm still convinced the field of competitors in the Vuelta was really weak, and i fear his Vuelta podium might not relate as favorably to a ranking in the TDF as many assume.

 

[Escarabajo]

Roglic gifted him a stage win, this was clear at the time. Jumbo Visma later basically confirmed this in their documentary. I think circumstances were definitely favoring Pogacar, even when he was dropped, they never actively started pushing to distance him, simply because they didn't see him as a rival (i can only assume). However, i do think he earned his podium spot, Quintana and Lopez really underachieved imho and Pogacar proved he was stronger in more instances than the other way around.

The thing is, as strong as he was in the Vuelta, for his age and experience, i'm not sure how far he could go in this TDF. I'm still convinced the field of competitors in the Vuelta was really weak, and i fear his Vuelta podium might not relate as favorably to a ranking in the TDF as many assume.

I agree with you on this. However this year is different and I believe it favors the youngsters more than the older riders. For this year riders need to get up to fitness very quickly because of lack of racing. And that fact will favor younger riders like Pogacar. In a normal year, you are right.

 

[Oldermanish]

I agree with you on this. However this year is different and I believe it favors the youngsters more than the older riders. For this year riders need to get up to fitness very quickly because of lack of racing. And that fact will favor younger riders like Pogacar. In a normal year, you are right.

While I agree with both of you this year's Tour could be more of a big-team barfight than ever. So much of the sponsor pressure is focused on the short season and TdF is the #1 prize. That said, UAE is not armed for this battle and, unless Tadej is his usual opportunistic and strong self and very lucky to use those talents at the right time he will be a good rider among many. The Vuelta could be his best option as it'll get last attention than the Tour. It'll be interesting to see who commits to what events.

 

[Koronin]

I agree with you on this. However this year is different and I believe it favors the youngsters more than the older riders. For this year riders need to get up to fitness very quickly because of lack of racing. And that fact will favor younger riders like Pogacar. In a normal year, you are right.

Interestingly, Valverde was talking about that today in an interview. He was talking about it being a very strange year and that those like himself who can get into race shape very quickly are the ones who will benefit both this season and early next season. He also was saying that he expects after the Tour many riders to end their seasons because the longer you race the shorter your off season is going to be and it will be interesting to see who tries to race longer this year and who is more worried about the off season and the 2021 season. I suspect for the most part it will be the younger riders like Pogacar and Evenpoel (as long as he doesn't burn himself out on training) will be some of the riders who will benefit greatly from this strange season.

 

[Lequack]

I think the black UAE kit looks great, as well as the red chaining for accent

 

[Jungle Cycle]

I think the black UAE kit looks great, as well as the red chaining for accent

which chainring is this??

 

[Oldermanish]

which chainring is this??

A $400 Campy signature edition? Sign me up.

 

[johnymax]

Tadej's schedule for the first part of the season:
Strade Bianche
Milano-Sanremo
Criterium du Dauphine
Tour de France

 

[Lequack]

Goofing around

https://twitter.com/x/status/1273901094306025472

View: https://twitter.com/TeamUAEAbuDhabi/status/1273901094306025472

 

[Mayomaniac]

Pogi dislikes extreme heat and performs really well if it's rainy and colder, so the later Tour could be beneficial for him.

 

[Bonimenier]

Pogi dislikes extreme heat and performs really well if it's rainy and colder, so the later Tour could be beneficial for him.

It's only slighter colder in September than in July in France, but on average it rains less in September.

 

[Mayomaniac]

It's only slighter colder in September than in July in France, but on average it rains less in September.

Overall yes, but usually September is cooler than July in the mountains, the difference is noticable.

 

[Sciatic]

Overall yes, but usually September is cooler than July in the mountains, the difference is noticable.

Good point, Especially if you compare the average temps in the mountains the 3rd week of July to the 3rd week of September.

 

[Oldermanish]

Congratulations to the Youngster for his second place to Roglic! He knew how to be where he had to be.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I'm gonna quote Lequack here for future reference:

Some watts from yesterday

Compared to his numbers posted previously in this thread, it doesn't look like he was quite at peak form.

 

[tobydawq]

So he was at peak form? Not to RhD you, but I am genuinely confused (especially as I don't recall the numbers previously posted in this thread).

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

So he was at peak form? Not to RhD you, but I am genuinely confused (especially as I don't recall the numbers previously posted in this thread).

Sorry, i had edited my sentence, but forgot it was a negative, so i made it a double negative by trying to improve it (i did the opposite and made it worse, lol).
No, a few pages back i thought he did close to 6.5W/kg, but i'll look it up.

EDIT: meh, never mind, i remember Lequack or someone else say it was a tactical ascent, meaning they didn't go full throttle most of the time, so it's possible he could have ridden faster. He also set a much faster training ride a few weeks back on the same climb. Nevertheless, it doesn't seem to be far off the power data (see pg 13) we have from the Vuelta last year.

 

[johnymax]

Pogačar made a tactical mistake in the Nationals on the last climb. In the middle of the climb there was a flat part, even downhill a bit, where Roglič accidentally got 20m of gap because Brajkovič and Novak didn't wany to take their turn on the front. Pogačar stopped to pedal there for a couple of seconds and Roglič quickly took advantage of it and attacked. 20m quickly became 50m and Pogačar was forced to chase.

This happened about 5km to go. Then a couple km later Pogi caught him but spent a lot of energy to get back.

In the end there was no story. Roglič was simply stronger and there was nothing Tadej could do about it. Rogla even overtook a motorbike ahead of him during his attack and Pogi was using the moto slipstream for a while, trying to chase down Roglič. But his attack was too strong.

 

[BlueRoads]

Pogačar made a tactical mistake in the Nationals on the last climb. In the middle of the climb there was a flat part, even downhill a bit, where Roglič accidentally got 20m of gap because Brajkovič and Novak didn't wany to take their turn on the front. Pogačar stopped to pedal there for a couple of seconds and Roglič quickly took advantage of it and attacked. 20m quickly became 50m and Pogačar was forced to chase.

This happened about 5km to go. Then a couple km later Pogi caught him but spent a lot of energy to get back.

In the end there was no story. Roglič was simply stronger and there was nothing Tadej could do about it. Rogla even overtook a motorbike ahead of him during his attack and Pogi was using the moto slipstream for a while, trying to chase down Roglič. But his attack was too strong.

Really, all that happened? How could I miss it?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Really, all that happened? How could I miss it?

Here is the video of it happening:

 

[johnymax]

Extended highlights

Climb starts at 12min. I don't know if it's geo blocked.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Extended highlights

Climb starts at 12min. I don't know if it's geo blocked.

I can watch it! I'm in Slovenia.
(i'm kidding, i'm in Belgium)

So, what was Pogacar thinking when he let Roglic ride away? Was he banking on Bahrein Merida doing it for him?

 

[BlueRoads]

Maybe he did not want to displease him, thinking "I'm young, let the man have his jersey this year and help me out a bit with stage wins..."