Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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tobydawq said:
It's bigger than Flèche Wallonne.

And lots of riders ride lots of races. Just because you can win them doesn't mean you should ride less.
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Fleche Wallone fits so much better in a schedule it's not even funny. It's also much easier.

And Pogacar should most definitely limit the schedule to aim mainly for the biggest fish in a season.
 
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Dekker_Tifosi

Dekker_Tifosi

Mar 13, 2009
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I remember when Gilbert had a superb year in 2011 he kinda burned himself out a bit by doing everything.

Pogacar is a level above, or well i've never seen anything like him. But he shouldn't ride everything just because he can, most likely, win it or play for the win.
 
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Blanco

Blanco

Jun 6, 2017
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Extinction said:
Constructive criticism from Alessandro Ballan in today's la Gazzetta dello Sport:

GdS: "A great MVDP, but Pogacar off the podium after having made the race the whole day..."
AB: "An incredible finish: it's not acceptable allowing Van Baarle and Madouas to come back that way. The Slovenian made a mistake on how he managed the sprint, like the tactic on the Muurs."

GdS: "Would you explain?"
AB: "Well, Pogacar has a lot of confidence in his engine, he knows he is the strongest when the road goes uphill. It's certainly valid in stage races, in the Tour, when the climbs go up for 10 k and more. Nobody can keep up with him. It's different, however, in the monuments. He should have made MVDP take pulls on the Muurs and not just keep him on the wheel. And, having made the selection, he should have managed his resourses. In the last kilometer, moreover, why did he not give the Dutchman a change at the front to take him on in a 2 man sprint? If worse came to worst, he would have gotten second. Winding up fourth was a smack in the face, also for the team that had worked so well. We already saw this film at San Remo."

GdS: "There too Pogacar made mistakes?"
AB-"Certainly, his three attacks on the Poggio were futile and damaging. He should have attacked once at 500 meters from the top... Pogacar is young, he will learn from his mistakes."
Click to expand...
Grande Ballan!
 
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Extinction

Extinction

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Dekker_Tifosi said:
I would offer a counter point that you never know how long anybody is gonna last. Especially people who are THIS good at young age.
Look at where Sagan is now, and he is still only 31.

There are no guarantees. You do not know if Pogacar has 15 years or 5 years to do it. He better make the best of it when he's at his peak. You might think there will come 10+ chances for Pogacar to win. But for all you know, this could've been his last chance to win RVV.
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A better analogy, if you want to speculate, would be "Look at Fignon," even if the Frenchman came back to win the Giro and loose the Tour because of a technical innovation. I don't think Tadej will suffer Fignon's fate. I bet he will be exceptional into his 30s, which is gonna be mighty tough for the competition.
 
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yaco

Jun 20, 2015
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Amazinmets87 said:
Assuming triple crown is Giro, Tour and Worlds.

In any case, no one can do the Giro Tour double. It's impossible.

I could see Pog achieving the following:

Giro, Vuelta, Worlds

Tour, Vuelta, Monument

2 Monuments, GT, Worlds
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As good as Pogacar is he will not have that many opportunities to win a World RR - Reckon the Wollongong course this year plays to his strengths.
 
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A

Amazinmets87

May 12, 2015
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
I would offer a counter point that you never know how long anybody is gonna last. Especially people who are THIS good at young age.
Look at where Sagan is now, and he is still only 31.

There are no guarantees. You do not know if Pogacar has 15 years or 5 years to do it. He better make the best of it when he's at his peak. You might think there will come 10+ chances for Pogacar to win. But for all you know, this could've been his last chance to win RVV.
Click to expand...
Sagan is 32. That's an age where one would expect a loss of high end sprint speed.
 
Extinction

Extinction

Jan 8, 2020
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yaco said:
UAE does not need him to ride 2 GT's in a season if he continues his current level in GT's - The team gets enough value from his performances in GT's and the cherry on top is he can achieve top results in classics, monuments and one week stage races - We've got a bona-fide GT star who is versatile enough to win a range of top races - This ability will be diluted if we follow your version of 'Legacy' suicide.
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No, they don't need to, but they will, because his talent is the type that can't avoid such challenges to be with Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Pantani...and then outdo the latter two by also winning monuments and worlds. Finally, Tadej himself would never shrink from such challenges, which is his calling to history.
 
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Red Rick

Red Rick

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Super insane years don't last indefinitely. But Pog will be one of the best in the world well after his true peak. Question in what sort of way he would decline, and this depends on rider type as well.

Sagan is incomparable to me cause while he was very alround he never was that much better than everyone else at what he did
 
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Blanco

Blanco

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Extinction said:
I know, I would have mentioned Lemond, but, as he himself admitted, not winning a monument was the big miss of his career. He certainly had it in him though, but he either had bad luck, wasn't quite in shape when he should have been or after the hunting accident wasn't quite as good as before.
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Lemond won 2 Worlds, a one-day race that is surely in monument category...
 
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Extinction

Extinction

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Blanco said:
Lemond won 2 Worlds, a one-day race that is surely in monument category...
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Indeed, but he had the pedigree to win all the monuments, each and every one back then. Merckx was highly critical of him for this. Lemond struck back by saying, it wasn't the same as Merckx's era, that he was American and every once and a while needed his blueberry muffins or some ***...Excuses, he had the talent to win everything and even the Giro-Tour double, what a shame. But then again he gave us 86 and 89 Tours, 83 and above all 89 Worlds. Phenomenal. But he wasted some of his talent.
 
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Panda Claws

Panda Claws

Aug 29, 2011
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Valv.Piti said:
Its the biggest/most prestigious one day race after the monuments, isnt it? At least thats how I view it after the route change which made the race great again, although I guess Strade Bianche rivals it, and you can argue G-W. But its probably not worth it after going for Flanders/MSR. If hes in top shape, I doubt anyone can follow him in Liege
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It's named after a beer!!
 
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Ilmaestro99

Ilmaestro99

Apr 13, 2021
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Extinction said:
Constructive criticism from Alessandro Ballan in today's la Gazzetta dello Sport:

GdS: "A great MVDP, but Pogacar off the podium after having made the race the whole day..."
AB: "An incredible finish: it's not acceptable allowing Van Baarle and Madouas to come back that way. The Slovenian made a mistake on how he managed the sprint, like the tactic on the Muurs."

GdS: "Would you explain?"
AB: "Well, Pogacar has a lot of confidence in his engine, he knows he is the strongest when the road goes uphill. It's certainly valid in stage races, in the Tour, when the climbs go up for 10 k and more. Nobody can keep up with him. It's different, however, in the monuments. He should have made MVDP take pulls on the Muurs and not just keep him on the wheel. And, having made the selection, he should have managed his resourses. In the last kilometer, moreover, why did he not give the Dutchman a change at the front to take him on in a 2 man sprint? If worse came to worst, he would have gotten second. Winding up fourth was a smack in the face, also for the team that had worked so well. We already saw this film at San Remo."

GdS: "There too Pogacar made mistakes?"
AB-"Certainly, his three attacks on the Poggio were futile and damaging. He should have attacked once at 500 meters from the top... Pogacar is young, he will learn from his mistakes."
Click to expand...
Ballan knows how to race. It's why he won de Ronde and Worlds in a very short career. WVA need to listen to a racer like ballan so he understands tactics for these races.
 
Panda Claws

Panda Claws

Aug 29, 2011
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yaco said:
UAE does not need him to ride 2 GT's in a season if he continues his current level in GT's - The team gets enough value from his performances in GT's and the cherry on top is he can achieve top results in classics, monuments and one week stage races - We've got a bona-fide GT star who is versatile enough to win a range of top races - This ability will be diluted if we follow your version of 'Legacy' suicide.
Click to expand...
Are you suggesting that his team would force Tadej Pogacar of all people to ride a grand tour he didn't want to ride?
 
Ilmaestro99

Ilmaestro99

Apr 13, 2021
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Red Rick said:
You have 6 guys in a group of ~20. Then you decide to ride for a sprint with old as *** Boonen against Cavendish and Sagan.
Click to expand...
Just seen the results, lol. Naesen, stuyven, gva, Roelandts all there to try something.

I remember that a Dutch guy attacked towards the end
 
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