Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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What an amazing comeback by Pog. What morale!

He played it so well today. No crazy attacks on Tourmalet, just follow Vingegaard, let him spend energy and then a strong attack to get distance right before the less steep part where his higher absolute power comes to use.

Maybe Pog was just on a bad day yesterday. Otherwise it seems that Pog is only vunerable on double-digit gradients where drafting play a lesser roll and weight becomes a factor, and Vingegaards gets a strong lead-out. It will be interesting to see what will happen on Puy de Dome.

I don’t think he’s vulnerable on double digits. He had a less than ideal prep and is only coming into top form. A bad day is understandable given those circumstances. It wasn’t known what kind of Pogacar would show up because of his lack of race days.
 
I don’t think he’s vulnerable on double digits. He had a less than ideal prep and is only coming into top form. A bad day is understandable given those circumstances. It wasn’t known what kind of Pogacar would show up because of his lack of race days.
It could also be that he rode more calculated, yesterday. Taking his own tempo on those gradients, rather than trying to follow Vingegaard. It might have cost more for Jonas, in the end.
 
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Congrats on bouncing back.

JV tried to set up another TDF 22 stage 11 scenario but this time it suited Pogi perfectly.

First they tackled Hindley and Bora for free. Truth being Bora could never really support Hindley in leaders jersey at this Tour edition. Trying to stay close and resulting to some surprise deep into week three is a long shot. Still likely the best option Jai has. Or more realistically trying to defend the podium position and to focus on that from now on.

Second JV was short of Rogla sacrificing himself on Tourmalet. Jonas alone was not enough to crack Pogi. Furthermore Pogi rested while van Aert was pulling and giving his best. When it was time for van Aert to prepare Jonas for an attack he was already empty. That forced Jonas to initiate an attack alone. Pogi waited for the right moment and countered and got himself back in contention.

It's still a long way to go. It will be interesting to see if Pogi will obsess with leaders jersey or if he will wait until lets say ITT. We likely know the answer to that one.

All in all you got this and bring the trophy home!
 
But Vinge was also at the front the last two days riding at a high pace in the run up to the sprints for awhile and rode for the bonus seconds as well.
Great point as both showed moments that could have gone either way before the last climb got steep. Pogi was the better poker player today and managed to save some cash for the pot! Great day of racing all around.
 
Psychologically as much as anything that must have been a massive boost to Pog today. He never dropped JV on the road during the entire Tour last year so that was a big moment for him when Jonas lost his wheel. He’s in the ideal situation now, not riding in yellow yet close enough to pounce if JV shows weakness. It makes for an enthralling Tour if these 2 can slug it out like 2 heavyweight boxers for another 2 weeks.

It will be interesting to see if Jumbo continue with the tactic of using WVA as a satellite rider on the big mountain stages. He looked extremely strong today but wasn’t put to best use and it backfired on them. In the end it will still probably come down to who is the strongest rider and it’s now anybodys guess after today. I’d still make Vingegaard favourite but only just.
 
Congrats on bouncing back.

JV tried to set up another TDF 22 stage 11 scenario but this time it suited Pogi perfectly.

First they tackled Hindley and Bora for free. Truth being Bora could never really support Hindley in leaders jersey at this Tour edition. Trying to stay close and resulting to some surprise deep into week three is a long shot. Still likely the best option Jai has. Or more realistically trying to defend the podium position and to focus on that from now on.

Second JV was short of Rogla sacrificing himself on Tourmalet. Jonas alone was not enough to crack Pogi. Furthermore Pogi rested while van Aert was pulling and giving his best. When it was time for van Aert to prepare Jonas for an attack he was already empty. That forced Jonas to initiate an attack alone. Pogi waited for the right moment and countered and got himself back in contention.

It's still a long way to go. It will be interesting to see if Pogi will obsess with leaders jersey or if he will wait until lets say ITT. We likely know the answer to that one.

All in all you got this and bring the trophy home!
It is almost the flipside of yesterday's plan by UAE. Fun.
 
Psychologically as much as anything that must have been a massive boost to Pog today. He never dropped JV on the road during the entire Tour last year so that was a big moment for him when Jonas lost his wheel. He’s in the ideal situation now, not riding in yellow yet close enough to pounce if JV shows weakness. It makes for an enthralling Tour if these 2 can slug it out like 2 heavyweight boxers for another 2 weeks.

It will be interesting to see if Jumbo continue with the tactic of using WVA as a satellite rider on the big mountain stages. He looked extremely strong today but wasn’t put to best use and it backfired on them. In the end it will still probably come down to who is the strongest rider and it’s now anybodys guess after today. I’d still make Vingegaard favourite but only just.
If WVA leaves for his baby it would be a huge blow to both JV’s.
 
Now he has closed the gap it will be interesting to see if Pog tries to keep chipping away at Vingegaard’s lead by taking more time bonuses? But I think he needs to balance his natural urge against saving energy for the TT and Alpes - Joux Plane and Loze, plus the weather - hot?
Conservative Pog is best Pog... in relation to actually winning this Tour.

The tactic is clear: Stay with Jonas and beat him in the final K. Maybe boring, but that's how he wins this, as I see it.
 
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God damn T-1000 determined look in his eyes. Not going to be a lot of fun to deal with in this race.