Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Froome]

Bill Russell GOAT 11 championships !!! Jordan who , Lebron who ?

I talked about individual wins.

Besides that, Merckx is the most complete rider ever. He won PR and was beating pure sprinters.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Why not? The Olympics in 2028 will be held during July so Pogačar should have several weeks to prepare himself for the Vuelta.

Also if Pogačar wins the WCRR in the next three seasons, he will become the first rider ever to win it 4 times, which would make him even more of a legend. Meanwhile he just needs a single Vuelta win.

He will not win 4 consecutive WC. He can do it bur he doesn't have a solid team like Big Nations (France, Belgium, Italy, etc) to control easily the race. This year he attacked with 100 km to the finish line because he felt his team wasn't capable of closing that gap.

 

[KZD]

He will not win 4 consecutive WC. He can do it bur he doesn't have a solid team like Big Nations (France, Belgium, Italy, etc) to control easily the race. This year he attacked with 100 km to the finish line because he felt his team wasn't capable of closing that gap.

Well Slovakia had a worse team than Slovenia and Sagan manage to win it 3 times so I wouldn't rule out Pogi winning it 4 times. Even if he wins it 'just' 3 times, he would already equal Merckx and he can also get something like a WCTT or the Olympic RR gold too.

 

[Panda Claws]

Sagan's team was so bad that it became okay. Nobody could expect Slovakia to do any work at a WC.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Sagan's team was so bad that it became okay. Nobody could expect Slovakia to do any work at a WC.

This. And Sagan was a better sprinter than Pogacar. Pogacar has to drop everybody, other teams will not work with him and will try to antecipate Pogacar's attack

 

[Poursuivant]

MSR will be his kryptonite until his retirement. In fact, I don't see him ever winning it. I hope to be wrong.
Paris Roubaix is a matter of time, 2 more kilos of pure muscle and no one will be able to follow him.

I think after reading Pogacar saying “I am already thinking about MSR and trying something different,” it doesn’t take much imagination to mean he will launch on the Cipressa. I think that will be his best chance to win too.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Winning 3 WC is far easier in a team like Spain (Freire) or Belgium (Merckx) than Slovakia. So Sagan's palmares in WC is more impressive for me.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I think after reading Pogacar saying “I am already thinking about MSR and trying something different,” it doesn’t take much imagination to mean he will launch on the Cipressa. I think that will be his best chance to win too.

But he can't drop a normal WVA or MVP there.

 

[Poursuivant]

But he can't drop a normal WVA or MVP there.

It will be hard but not impossible. But even if a small group of 4/5 go with him and reach the Poggio before the peloton, surely his chances are higher in that situation than if it’s a group of 30/40?

 

[Peyroteo94]

It will be hard but not impossible. But even if a small group of 4/5 go with him and reach the Poggio before the peloton, surely his chances are higher in that situation than if it’s a group of 30/40?

MVP is not going to be dropped by Pogacar unless they bring Manie back.

 

[KZD]

This. And Sagan was a better sprinter than Pogacar. Pogacar has to drop everybody, other teams will not work with him and will try to antecipate Pogacar's attack

Pogačar doesn't need to drop everyone, he just needs to drop riders that are faster than him like Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pedersen. At least in Rwanda with more than 5000 meters of elevation that shouldn't be an issue

 

[scribers]

No but rumours are that 2026 WC will be hilly like GP Montreal and 2027 WC will be in the French Alps. They will not make a flat course there. It's even possible that we will have the hardest WC ever.

Without a guarantee pogi has to focus on the known opportunity this year. No vuelta this year

 

[scribers]

Were there even sprinters in the 60’s and 70’s? Or is that just what they called good riders who couldn’t climb well?

 

[Peyroteo94]

Pogačar doesn't need to drop everyone, he just needs to drop riders that are faster than him like Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pedersen. At least in Rwanda with more than 5000 meters of elevation that shouldn't be an issue

But others will not work with him

 

[Peyroteo94]

Were there even sprinters in the 60’s and 70’s? Or is that just what they called good riders who couldn’t climb well?

Of course not. Specialization only started in the 90s

 

[hayneplane]

It will be hard but not impossible. But even if a small group of 4/5 go with him and reach the Poggio before the peloton, surely his chances are higher in that situation than if it’s a group of 30/40?

It would certainly be advantageous for him if riders like Van Gils and Healy could cling onto his back wheel as they are good enough to be their teams best card at a top result from that point in the race, have a current palmares where riding to secure a monument podium would be huge for them and heavily favoured to be dusted in any final sprint by Pogacar.

 

[Poursuivant]

It would certainly be advantageous for him if riders like Van Gils and Healy could cling onto his back wheel as they are good enough to be their teams best card at a top result from that point in the race, have a current palmares where riding to secure a monument podium would be huge for them and heavily favoured to be dusted in any final sprint by Pogacar.

If there was a small group, you would imagine WVA and MVDP would be in there, MVDP might sit on if Phillipsen is behind but it would be in WVA’s best interests to get to the Poggio without any top sprinters latching on.

 

[hayneplane]

If there was a small group, you would imagine WVA and MVDP would be in there, MVDP might sit on if Phillipsen is behind but it would be in WVA’s best interests to get to the Poggio without any top sprinters latching on.

Logically yes they could expect to still be there. My scenario imagined that they are either not able to follow immediately or opt to trust in their teammates to lead a chase. It would be far more in Wouts interests tactically to put Philipsen, Pedersen, Girmay etc fully out the back.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Logically yes they could expect to still be there. My scenario imagined that they are either not able to follow immediately or opt to trust in their teammates to lead a chase. It would be far more in Wouts interests tactically to put Philipsen, Pedersen, Girmay etc fully out the back.

Basically he needs luck however all eyes will be on him

 

[Salvarani]

Basically he needs luck however all eyes will be on him

Or just a moment of hesitation from the others.

Last year on Poggio... MVDP had to sacrifice himself in the end. Otherwise Pog would have been gone.

Small margins and the race is unpredictable that way.

What works one year, might not work the other. Depending on many different factors.

 

[Froome]

Or just a moment of hesitation from the others.

Last year on Poggio... MVDP had to sacrifice himself in the end. Otherwise Pog would have been gone.

Small margins and the race is unpredictable that way.

What works one year, might not work the other. Depending on many different factors.

MDVP sacrificed for Philipsen. He would have won MSR if he wanted in the sprint against pogacar.

 

[Cookster15]

MDVP sacrificed for Philipsen. He would have won MSR if he wanted in the sprint against pogacar.

Maybe. Depends what legs Phillipson still had after the Cipressa, Poggio and 300km @ 45km/h. In a normal sprint you’d be right. But not MSR.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Maybe. Depends what legs Phillipson still had after the Cipressa, Poggio and 300km @ 45km/h. In a normal sprint you’d be right. But not MSR.

Next year, Jasper will not be a factor. UAE will make the race harder.

 

[YavorD]

But others will not work with him

I can perfectly well see a situation where a rider or 2 of "lesser calibre" could work with Pogacar in order to guarantee a medal for themselves.
For plenty of riders Worlds silver could be career achievement.

G1 dynamic is different to G2 dynamic.

 

[2WpK]

Not enough.

Merckx won 19 monuments, 3 worlds, 11 Grand Tours.

525 victories.

If Pogi has a few more totally dominant seasons like 2024, he will likely be regarded as the GOAT. Numbers wise, no one will ever catch Merckx....that era was totally different and will not return.