Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Scarponi]

Is the Giro Tour double now more difficult than the Ardennes Triple? Can’t see anyone doing the Giro Tour double ever again

 

[Red Rick]

Anquetil, Van Looy, Poulidor, Gimondi, Godefroot, Van Springel, Ocana, De Vlaeminck, Fuente, Zoetemelk, Maertens, Thevenet, Moser...
Who the hell is much better opposition than them?!

Few dinosaurs remembered from the same era because of cyclings obsession with the past tbh

 

[Berniece]

Exactly, people really have no idea what they are talking about when they say "weak" competition.

Merckx faced a bunch of great riders, as Pog is doing also. They won/have been winning anyway, which more speaks to how great they are and not how "weak" everyone else presumably is. It is not the reality. Any other comment could be said somewhere else in the forum.

Looking back at his spring season, there were Pog is actually facing tough competition he doesn't necessarily win. P-N and De Ronde, that's it. Sunday is another proper test though.

 

[Pirazziattacks]

Finally my desire for a high stake homo-erotic cycling story gets answered.

They can do a Rocky training montage at the beach on Tenerife, just with 100% less upper body muscle. Add in some shots of them in the gym struggling to do a push up or open a jar, it'll be great.

 

[Didier_Bel]

Feeling a little anxious , Pogi fans ? I would if I were you

Joking aside I do hope for an epic L-B-L between two of the biggest talents of cycling .

I very much hope for a Remco victory but will be able to live with Pogi as well. He is just too like-able to hate .

Bring us cycling from the heavens , O 'Old Lady' , Thou !

 

[Panda Claws]

You can't say because you can't compare. Back in those days you could be a worldbeater by 1/ not smoking 2/ not drinking 3/ not eating like a pig.

Such shade thrown at the domestiques and lesser gods of the day.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Such shade thrown at the domestiques and lesser gods of the day.

Not at all, they were just fat smoking drunks.

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

Looking back at his spring season, there were Pog is actually facing tough competition he doesn't necessarily win. P-N and De Ronde, that's it. Sunday is another proper test though.

LOL@that's it. The only 2 races he entered and didn't win are MSR and E3, which are the ones that fit him the least. Hard to drop everybody on the Poggio, and Van der Poel was just stronger, no shame in that, and E3 with the easy end where it's hard to drop others and 30 or 40 km from the last real difficulty, the Oude Kwaremont.
But ok, if that's what you got from Pogacar's spring...

 

[Red Rick]

Few dinosaurs remembered from the same era because of cyclings obsession with the past tbh

I especially like Merckx competing with Anquetil cause it's literally less accurate than saying Pogacar competed with Froome.

 

[Berniece]

LOL@that's it. The only 2 races he entered and didn't win are MSR and E3, which are the ones that fit him the least. Hard to drop everybody on the Poggio, and Van der Poel was just stronger, no shame in that, and E3 with the easy end where it's hard to drop others and 30 or 40 km from the last real difficulty, the Oude Kwaremont.
But ok, if that's what you got from Pogacar's spring...

I get that from Pogacar in general. If WVA or MVDP are the only riders of the big 4, chances are high they win too. When they all compete against each other they don’t win as easily as Pogacar in Amstel, Strade, or Fleche, or Wout in Omloop, Wevelgem, E3 (last year), or Evenepoel in second tier stage races

 

[Valv.Piti]

Frankly, it’s quite insane that you aren’t maddeningly passionate about routes in general.

Probably an overstatement, but yeah, routes are obviously very important...

Maddedingly though? Hmm, I think not many people quite are just that apart from a few on this forum. Looking at the route for Tour of the Alps, you'd think we would watch good cycling each day, but as far as I can tell, it has been an atrocious race.

 

[Netserk]

Probably, yes.

 

[Netserk]

Tadej Pogacar "Whole Calendar" Slam Watchlist (also considering podiums)

1. Grand Tours:
Tour de France X2 (2020, 2021), 2nd (2022)
Giro de Italia: TBA
Vuelta a España: 3rd (2019)

2. Monuments:
Milano San Remo: 3rd (2023)
Ronde Van Vlaanderen: X (2023)
Paris Roubaix: TBA
Liege Bastogne Liege: X (2021), 3rd (2020)
Giro di Lombardia: X2 (2021,2022)

3. One Week Races:
París Nice: X (2023)
Tirreno-Adriático: X2 (2021, 2022)
Volta a Catalunya: TBA
Itzulia: 3rd (2021)
Tour de Romandie: TBA
Criterium du Dauphine: -
Tour de Suisse: TBA

4. Other Significant Races:
Omloop Het Volk / Het Nieuwsblad: TBA
UAE Tour (sigh): X2 (2021, 2022)
Strade Bianche: X (2022)
E3 Harelbeke: 3rd (2023)
Gent Wevelgem: TBA
Brabantse Pijl: TBA
Amstel Gold Race: X (2023)
Fleche Wallone: X (2023)
GP Plouay: -
San Sebastian: -
Giro dell Emilia: 2nd (2022)
París - Tours: TBA
Olympic Road Race: 3rd (Tokyo 2020 -held in 2021-)
Olympic Time Trial: TBA
World Championship Road Race: -
World Championship Time Trial: -

5. Stage Wins:
Giro de Italia Stage Wins: 0
Tour de France Stage Wins: 9
Vuelta a España Stage Wins: 3
Total GT Stage Wins: 12
Total Pro Wins: 58

Note: "Other Significant Races" is a non-comprehensive list of races outside the well established and common accepted three categories (GT, Monuments, Seven "Historically/Traditional" One Week Races), the aim is not to argue about which are the most relevant races but to keep track of which I would personally consider the most prestigious events regardless of the current official category.

Pogi-Monster: Gotta catch 'em all!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Thats a real nice list - I'd prefer a category only for Championship races below monuments (and yeah, we can ignore Slovenia Nationals). So Worlds and Olympics which I think matters a lot more than just being "other significant races".

 

[Panda Claws]

Yeah you should really just count those as monuments imo.

Edit: But then you have the TT races so Valv.Piti's proposal is probably best.

 

[KZD]

Is the Giro Tour double now more difficult than the Ardennes Triple? Can’t see anyone doing the Giro Tour double ever again

Regardless of what happened in the past, Giro-Tour double is certainly more difficult, I would say. The fact that Pogačar has a good chance of winning the Ardennes triple without being his biggest spring target, its quite telling.

The Giro-Tour is more difficult because its not easy to think of a rider being good enough to beat his presumably toughest opponents in the Tour after the huge effort needed to win the Giro. Pogačar could possibly do it, as the Giro usual bad weather could play into his hands but then he would still need to win the Tour and avoid any major bad luck during 42 days which in modern cycling its not easy.

However with Pogačar's focus in the classics, I don't see him trying it soon, neither do I see Vingegård as he seems very focused in the Tour (I see him possibly winning the Tour-Vuelta double though), Remco doesn't strike me as a two GT per year kind of guy and Roglič could try it this season but I can't see him winning the Tour against fresher rivals.

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649347262743560193

View: https://twitter.com/procycletrumps/status/1649347262743560193

 

[Oldermanish]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1649347262743560193

View: https://twitter.com/procycletrumps/status/1649347262743560193

Great graphic! Hope it can be updated after Sunday. It should include a wrestling session before KO as it won't be an easy win for either challenger.

 

[Blanco]

I especially like Merckx competing with Anquetil cause it's literally less accurate than saying Pogacar competed with Froome.

Hmm.., let's see:
Manx Trophy 1965
1.Anquetil
2.Merckx

Paris-Nice 1966
1,Anquetil
4.Merckx

Liege-Bastogne-Liege 1966
1.Anquetil
8.Merckx

WC Road Race 1966
2.Anquetil
12.Merckx

GP des Nations 1966
1.Anquetil
3.Merckx

GP Lugano 1966
3.Anquetil
4.Merckx

Lombardia 1966
2.Merckx
4.Anquetil

Fleche Wallonne 1967
1.Merckx
29.Anquetil

Giro d'Italia 1967
3.Anquetil
9.Merckx

Criterium des As 1967
1.Merckx
2.Anquetil

A Travers Lausanne 1967
2.Merckx
7.Anquetil

Trofeo Baracchi 1967
1.Merckx
2.Anquetil

WC Road Race 1968
8.Merckx
11.Anquetil

Paris-Nice 1969
1.Merckx
3.Anquetil

So give me that Pogacar/Froome h2h now...

 

[Red Rick]

Hmm.., let's see:
Manx Trophy 1965
1.Anquetil
2.Merckx

Paris-Nice 1966
1,Anquetil
4.Merckx

Liege-Bastogne-Liege 1966
1.Anquetil
8.Merckx

WC Road Race 1966
2.Anquetil
12.Merckx

GP des Nations 1966
1.Anquetil
3.Merckx

GP Lugano 1966
3.Anquetil
4.Merckx

Lombardia 1966
2.Merckx
4.Anquetil

Fleche Wallonne 1967
1.Merckx
29.Anquetil

Giro d'Italia 1967
3.Anquetil
9.Merckx

Criterium des As 1967
1.Merckx
2.Anquetil

A Travers Lausanne 1967
2.Merckx
7.Anquetil

Trofeo Baracchi 1967
1.Merckx
2.Anquetil

WC Road Race 1968
8.Merckx
11.Anquetil

Paris-Nice 1969
1.Merckx
3.Anquetil

So give me that Pogacar/Froome h2h now...

Oh look, so many 1-2s in big races people care about.

So much work to prove my point.

They faced each other once in a GT, and once in a monument.

 

[Blanco]

Oh look, so many 1-2s in big races people care about.

So much work to prove my point.

They faced each other once in a GT, and once in a monument.

They faced each other enough times to say they were competing each other.
I'm still waiting to see that Froome and Pogacar duels...

 

[Netserk]

Oh look, so many 1-2s in big races people care about.

So much work to prove my point.

They faced each other once in a GT, and once in a monument.

By that line of reasoning, you may just as well say that Pogi and Rogla haven't been competing against each other. Not truly so.

 

[Red Rick]

By that line of reasoning, you may just as well say that Pogi and Rogla haven't been competing against each other. Not truly so.

Always count on Netserk taking things literally when it suits him.

 

[Netserk]

When you are in a hole, make it personal.

 

[Salvarani]

When you are in a hole, make it personal.

You can only laugh at that.