Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[KZD]

What a failure.

He gained 14 seconds on the best GC rivals, how is that failure?

This is a Grand Tour not a one day race.

 

[Miha81]

Somebody is going nuclear tomorrow

 

[QueenStagiaire]

It‘s the same as the Tour last year where he couldn‘t drop Lafay, what a fatigue merchant.

 

[Netserk]

He gained 14 seconds on the best GC rivals, how is that failure?

This is a Grand Tour not a one day race.

Because a 3rd place on the stage and 14" in GC is much worse than expected.

 

[Peyroteo94]

He gained 14 seconds on the best GC rivals, how is that failure?

This is a Grand Tour not a one day race.

It is a failure. He lost the stage.

 

[Berniece]

They really f’ed that up, UAE was quite weak. Pogacar impressive though so nothing to worry about at the moment, but UAE showed some cracks which might be exploited by stronger teams

 

[Red Rick]

He gained 14 seconds on the best GC rivals, how is that failure?

This is a Grand Tour not a one day race.

He wanted to win. He forced his team to work so he could win. He didn't really pull after the final climb so he could win. Then he didn't win.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Tomorrow will be interesting. Oropa is perfect for Pogacar but UAE looks awful.

 

[Red Rick]

Tomorrow will be interesting. Oropa is perfect for Pogacar but UAE looks awful.

It's a longer climb. Should win that one easily.

 

[Peyroteo94]

It's a longer climb. Should win that one easily.

But will they control the stage again? Ineos won't do sh## to catch the break.

 

[KZD]

Because a 3rd place on the stage and 14" in GC is much worse than expected.

He gained more or less the time on the road that I was expecting him to, just 6 bonus seconds less.

@Red Rick it was a downhill finish and he still did the final kilometers in front, if he was so concerned about the stage he would have let Narvaez or Scachmann take the front.

 

[Froome]

But will they control the stage again? Ineos won't do sh## to catch the break.

With this weak field and currently if you think Pogacar the goat of this generation, certainly he can control alone the break and in the end win the stage.

 

[Peyroteo94]

With this weak field and currently if you think Pogacar the goat of this generation, certainly he can control alone the break and in the end win the stage.

Stop trolling and provoking other users.

 

[Berniece]

Stop trolling and provoking other users.

People were saying he was going to win easily and take a big gap on competitors because he is the goat. If the then fails to do that, you can expect people to come back to that.

 

[Froome]

Stop trolling and provoking other users.

No. I am talking serious. I expected more from him today. I thought he would win easily today like you said many times before this race.

 

[Brullnux]

Because a 3rd place on the stage and 14" in GC is much worse than expected.

Gap of 10" on the road is more or less what was expected. Probably lost 5 or 6s over the final 1km too so I think the gap between him and the others on the climb was in line what expectations (mine, at least). Narvaez was a very pleasant surprise though

 

[Bolder]

Gap of 10" on the road is more or less what was expected. Probably lost 5 or 6s over the final 1km too so I think the gap between him and the others on the climb was in line what expectations (mine, at least). Narvaez was a very pleasant surprise though

He showed in his first acceleration that he is way stronger than any serious GC contender here. I think that was the point today.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He doesn't seem to be great.

washed and should retire

 

[Miha81]

He showed in his first acceleration that he is way stronger than any serious GC contender here. I think that was the point today.

He showed that. But why wasting the team if you fail to win the stage at the end? Wouldn't be better to try and let getaway get handful minutes of lead and not ride into pink until end of first week or at least stage 6?

 

[Rackham]

He showed in his first acceleration that he is way stronger than any serious GC contender here. I think that was the point today.

He looked as expected tbh. We don't really see many gaps on these sorts of climbs nowadays so the fact he dropped everyone except one means he's got great form.

I enjoyed the stage for what it's worth (& yes, Pog is a very entertaining rider when he blows stuff apart like that) but I really don't know what to think about this first stage, i.e. if winning the Giro with minimum energy expenditure is the goal (like we've been hearing), then that's... not the way to do it.

This post will probably age badly when it doesn't matter at the end of July but I just don't think that was particularly 'smart' racing. This isn't a critique though per se, i.e. it was definitely an enjoyable watch.

 

[Miha81]

He looked as expected tbh. We don't really see many gaps on these sorts of climbs nowadays so the fact he dropped everyone except one means he's got great form.

I enjoyed the stage for what it's worth (& yes, Pog is a very entertaining rider when he blows stuff apart like that) but I really don't know what to think about this first stage, i.e. if winning the Giro with minimum energy expenditure is the goal (like we've been hearing), then that's... not the way to do it.

This post will probably age badly when it doesn't matter at the end of July but I just don't think that was particularly 'smart' racing. This isn't a critique though per se, i.e. it was definitely an enjoyable watch.

Exactly this. It was entertaining stage but from tactics stand point of view and if he is really serious about the double I was expecting smarter racing.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Exactly this. It was entertaining stage but from tactics stand point of view and if he is really serious about the double I was expecting smarter racing.

He didn't race agressively and didn't spend a lot of energy. However his team burn some matches today

 

[Berniece]

He didn't race agressively and didn't spend a lot of energy. However his team burn some matches today

His team showed there are weaknesses to exploit. That’s the biggest issue at the moment. Pogacar needs to get a decent lead as quick as possible such that other teams will focus on podium.

 

[Extinction]

Pog had a small défaillance in that he didn't drop everybody with his accellerations on the San Vito climb and then, imho, bothched the sprint. He opened it up too early when he sensed Schachmann charging from behind and, considering his previous efforts, basically played an astute and intrepid Narvaez's lead-out man. Tomorrow Pog has the chance to settle the score, but I agree that he expended his team and, in the end, himself, to only come up empty-handed.

 

[Tim Cahill]

He can win the Giro with this team, however it makes the double much harder due to the amount he's going to have to do in the mountains. Fisher-Black would've been good as the last man today I think, and other teams will take encouragement from their struggles here.