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Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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Very sensible if he doesnt take part in the Vuelta if he is not 100% physically or mentally.

I dont think a double (Giro-Tour) should be tried just yet. Not for a couple of years. Hope outside pressure doesnt get to him and them, to try it earlier. If they do give it a go, then the best of luck.

I see more an attempt at a 3-peat next year in the Tour and then perhaps give Vuelta a go, with not having the Olympics and so on coming in between. A bit more rest. Then he will have felt how he responds to riding two GTs in a row. That should be an "easier" double to ride then the Giro-Tour.

And if he only rides one GT for another year again, it could just be a good tactic from everyone involved to keep him fresh and not risk to burn him out too early in his career. There is already a lot of weight and pressure on his shoulders to perform every time he races. He will hopefully have many years left to achieve wins in a lot of other races as well. Because it is the wins that count. Whether it be in one-day races, monuments, stage-races or GTs.

So far he has been going in to win almost every race he lines up in and that is something I am sure he will/should continue to do. It might not be a bad idea to race fewer days and races to keep him fresh and focused. Than trying to do everything. As I said, he hopefully has many years left to win as much as he can. He doesnt have to do it all in a short span of time.
 
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The Tour should be a certainty for next year, as there is no way that the sponsors will allow Pogačar to skip it because the he is the winner of the last two Tours and they have no alternative in the team to fill his role.

The question is if he races the Giro or the Vuelta as I believe two Grand Tours are on the menu for the next season. I actually think that a part of him wants to ride the Giro already next year as its the only Grand Tour that he never rode and the weather should suit him. However there is a problem called Jumbo Visma. This year, they may have lost Roglić during the Tour but they found in Vingegård another posible Tour winner for the next years and with the two starting in Danmark, I have little doubt that he will be in the start line next to Roglić.

So this might be the deciding factor that will make Pogačar skip the Giro and go for the Tour-Vuelta double. In the Giro he would certainly be the number one favourite but cycling is always unpredictable and then in the Tour against a fresh Roglić, Vingegård, Bernal and possibily Carapaz it would be unlikely for him to win the race and like Contador he could even be out of the final podium.

The Tour-Vuelta double is not without its dangers, he wouldn't be as favourite for any of those for the Giro but at least he could have a good chance of winning the Tour and in the end that will likely be the deciding factor.

As for this season, I expect to him see finishing the season in the Italian classics with Lombardy as the final goal of the season, maybe with the Worlds in between.
 
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Thinking about this more in-depth. Giro-Tour double attempt will likely became a factor for Pogačar only after he looses the Tour title for the first time. The other two less likely scenarios as i see them are. First one being the Tour title number gets too high and he gets bored. Second one being he is bored already and feels brave or foolish enough believing he can win the double. To prove that to the world and himself.

Tour 2022 likely to be what 2021 promised to be. Hence likely without the two Slovenians in Giro 2022.
 
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If next years Jumbo and Ineos with their death line ups going all in for Roglic and Bernal can't put him in difficulty then he can win as much as he wants moving forward.
Someone will come in 5 years down the road and we will start b!tching about him!!!
Something that didn't happen on competition with the Texan. Things turned out really ugly in other ways for him though!
 
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Is Pogi riding the vuelta or not? I can't find info on it, but I noticed he you can't bet on him on unibet for the vuelta.
I think he won't be riding the Vuelta....
He clearly indicated in post-olympics interviews that he was tired and not thinking about doing the Vuelta.
I think several UAE guys are doing recons (de la cruz) and he is not with them.

Hope we get more clarity about his schedule soon, I hope he still goes for some smaller races and the italian races in October.
 
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Thinking about this more in-depth. Giro-Tour double attempt will likely became a factor for Pogačar only after he looses the Tour title for the first time…

Little known fact: once a multiple TDF winner loses, they very rarely ever win it again.

I can only think of Hinault off the top of my head. And he arguably only lost because of injury or coming back from injury, and then won again only because his teammate was held back…

I think we fans may give more importance to winning all three GTs more than riders or cycling history do. I believe winning the TDF matters (unfortunately?) so much more. Ask Froome now if he would trade his other GT wins for a fifth TDF? Or Zuelle if he’d give up his Vueltas for a TDF… Lemond’s career results do not reflect his generational talent and yet being a three-time TDF winner puts him on a level way above those with arguably more extensive victory lists.
 
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