Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[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.

 

[Froome]

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.

Pogacar will win the race easily but today i had the sensation again that he is not stronger than in the previous years.

 

[Slavique Nuke]

Anyone knows why he's wearing a black armband?

One of the kid of his cycling team Pogi Team died in a kayak accident

 

[snipeheem]

Pogacar will win the race easily but today i had the sensation again that he is not stronger than in the previous years.

We will see tomorrow

 

[Nick2413]

With a weaker team they should not go for pink any time soon. Keep the team fresh for 3rd week. Tomorrow he can gain time on GC without getting into pink if they play it right.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

With a weaker team they should not go for pink any time soon. Keep the team fresh for 3rd week. Tomorrow he can gain time on GC without getting into pink if they play it right.

Ineos have the pink jersey and they might chase out of habit, but it makes no sense for them to work so they could let the break go.

 

[yaf]

The right question would be could narvez follow pog on la roudute if he was there? Which i really doubt. Starting grand tours is a bit different...Today was about opening the legs. pogs form should be judged from tomorrow on

 

[Low is rhe new high]

How much has it affected his style of racing that he has changed the length of his cranks from 172 to 165? Wouldn’t it change his sprint? He has also raced differently this year with the long range attacks in all his wins.

 

[Berniece]

The right question would be could narvez follow pog on la roudute if he was there? Which i really doubt. Starting grand tours is a bit different...Today was about opening the legs. pogs form should be judged from tomorrow on

Maybe not, but after today I know someone who could've

 

[Salvarani]

This climb had a lot of corners and twists. It was very narrow as well.

Had the road been more straight I think he would have dropped Narvaez and gone solo.

He also went from the bottom of the climb and then trying find a gap between the front group.

Just have to give it up to Narvaez, who had a great performance.

 

[yesdanielbryan]

The right question would be could narvez follow pog on la roudute if he was there? Which i really doubt. Starting grand tours is a bit different...Today was about opening the legs. pogs form should be judged from tomorrow on

You should consider that LBG was 250 km, today's race 140 km

 

[Blanco]

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.

And how he would've let them if they don't want to pass?