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He does mountainbike as well so it's not that surprising.i think it's fantastic that Pogacar is expanding his horizons - Usually you can say for certain that a rider's characteristics don't suit a race, but of course you can never be sure unless you try.
Yeah, nobody will really believe that, it's just about not putting too much pressure on Pogi.Haha. Fabu as a leader in the TdF? Lets see. Probably just not putting too much pressure on the young man, Im pretty sure Pogacar will emerge as the best rider in that team and take the leadership.
Even Aru in his prime isn't the better of what can be expected from Pogacar at this point. It would still be a two leader deal, in that (unlikely) scenario. I'm sure they're hoping to get some of that Vuelta mojo going again, where nobody believed Pogacar was an actual contender until it was too late, but i'm pretty sure they've all learned their lesson. If they see him dangling, they won't spare him, if they see him attacking, they won't let him. The same goes for Evenepoel in the Giro (who hasn't even done a GT yet), but they're not going to sit by and watch idly. Even Evenepoel is saying he's going for GC and will try to win if the opportunity arises, and if not, one day in pink would already be great. But saying the nr3 of last years Vuelta, who's been kicking ass in early season stageraces for the past two years now, is only going to "learn" (while turning 22 a month later, lest we forget, these guys get older too) seems a bit disingenuous.AFAIK Polanc will work for Pogačar on the Tour. Beyond that it's totally up to Aru, i guess. He can claim the captain role on TDF 2020, if he will be able to deliver. It's not like Aru isn't capable of doing it, it's just that in the past couple of seasons, he struggled a bit. If Aru would be able to do "Quintana", he will end up being the captain, if not, then Pogačar will claim that role.
Why would he have a bigger chance of failing? If he finishes 12th or 17th even with this years top TDF line-up, nobody will say he "failed". He's young, it's his first TDF, it would even still be better than 99% of all TDF winner debuts. That's just it, he can do no wrong really, even if he steps out of the race. But i think it's more realistic to expect him inside the top 10, than outside the top 15. I personally don't expect him to compete for the win, unlike some, but i do think he should aim for a nice top 10 spot, between 5th and 8th or about.I feel that some of you are a bit unrealistic, when it comes to Pogačar and the expectations. I don't feel that is a particularly good thing for Pogačar. As due to such high expectations, he now has much bigger chance of failing. At this point of his career, he shouldn't be in such position, it's forced.
I would have to go back and dig up like a year and a half of Lefevre interviews and I'm not eager to do it.Why would he have a bigger chance of failing? If he finishes 12th or 17th even with this years top TDF line-up, nobody will say he "failed". He's young, it's his first TDF, it would even still be better than 99% of all TDF winner debuts. That's just it, he can do no wrong really, even if he steps out of the race. But i think it's more realistic to expect him inside the top 10, than outside the top 15. I personally don't expect him to compete for the win, unlike some, but i do think he should aim for a nice top 10 spot, between 5th and 8th or about.
Imho there is a difference in saying you want to do as well as possible in GC, but will take it day by day and have no set goal. Than claiming a guy who's been crawling uphill backwards for the past few years and has no idea where he's at after his surgery, will be the leader, and you will only go to "learn".
Will people say Evenepoel "failed" if he doesn't win the Giro, even after he stated he'll go for GC and do the best he can? Well, maybe a few haters, but real cycling fans wouldn't see it as failing.
I wouldn't go that far. Aru finished 1st and 2nd in GTs in one year. I don't know if I see Pogacar ever doing that.Even Aru in his prime isn't the better of what can be expected from Pogacar at this point.
Not sure what you mean by those Lefevere interviews.I would have to go back and dig up like a year and a half of Lefevre interviews and I'm not eager to do it.
Pog and Evenepoel not winning wouldn't exactly be failing. Still I'm not the biggest fan of setting the highest expectations of riders this age especially in their first Tour or even first GT overall.
As for Aru being called the leader, they have to be trolling.
I wouldn't go that far. Aru finished 1st and 2nd in GTs in one year. I don't know if I see Pogacar ever doing that.
And as great as Pogacar was in the Vuelta, the Tour field will be on a completely different level. In the Vuelta, the competition was Roglic, Valverde, Lopez, Majka, and Nairo, all racing their 2nd GT of the year. That's a far cry from what we'll see at the Tour this year.
I agree that we'll likely see him finish in that 5-15 range somewhere but he's got plenty of time to protect a top 10 place. This year, I'd probably rather see him 10th-25th and going for stages in the mountains.
As for Aru, I'd like to see him get back to where he was but like you, I have no expectations of that. Maybe they announced him as leader for his confidence or ego or maybe they've seen signs in training, who knows?
"Favourite for a nice gc classification", that s what he said. Favourite to win a tour de france now i don t think so, but in the future yes.Peiper: Pogacar is among the favourites for the Tour de France
UAE Team Emirates DS looks ahead to Slovenian's Grande Boucle debutwww.cyclingnews.com
Again, what the hell? No it won't. Roglic, Bernal, Dumoulin, Froome, Pinot, Buchmann, Thomas, Kruijswijk, Yates, Lopez, Landa... Nobody in his right mind would call missing the podium a failure.The UAE team strategy sounds sensible and realistic, but somehow the pressure has build up, unless Pogačar finishes on podium, that will be considered a failure.