Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Salvarani]

Pretty mad to read competitors talking like this:




"We have to be realistic, there's nothing we can do. Pogačar can race without calculating his effort. Van der Poel can too, but us humans have got to think carefully about every effort we make in a race," Bettiol said.

"I hope Pogačar attacks early on Saturday, after UAE hurt everyone on the San Martino in Grania sector with 100km to race. He can clear off, do his thing, and things fall into place.

"That's safer for him, he can avoid any crashes and pace his effort. If he gains a minute, he can have the team car with him in case he punctures. For the rest of us it'll then be fast and furious behind as we race for second place. I like our chances for a place on the podium alongside Pogačar.

"That's still a result anyone and everyone should be proud of. Being beaten by Pogačar is not a dishonour, it's a 'success' to remember and cherish when we are old and retired and talk to our kids about our career and we understand just how good Pogačar was during his career."

This is receiving the GOAT status from his peers. The respect and admiration that is there. Beautifully put here.

 

[Lequack]

With his GF Urska Zigart, who is also racing, now part of the new team AG Insurance - Soudal

 

[Peyroteo94]

The champ is here. He's coming to practice his already elite social distancing.

First and second tomorrow!

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Half a dozen posts about Ayuso that had no apparent reason to be in this thread moved to the Ayuso thread.

 

[Cookster15]

Magical thinking that Pantani was as good as Pogacar and Vingegaard are now.

Like I like to complain about Pogacar moto drafting but Pantani was got a CO rebreather treatment from the 16 motors 2 picometers in front of him every single climb.

I've tried looking for video evidence to confirm your oft repeated claim here about how much draft from motos Pantani got and if this explains his climbing records. Based upon what I could see the evidence to support your view is inconclusive.

Not sure about "every single climb" but the below video is of Pantani's AdH record setting climb in the '95 Tour (36'50').

Pantani trionfa sull'Alpe d'Huez nel 1995

Pantani attacks at 12" into the video. Of course there are motos and cars but they are almost always out of drafting range. At two points he was even held up by the car due to the crowd and the car quickly sped out of way. That day he even lost time overshooting the final corner into the finishing straight - and still set the record! And all that on a non aero aluminium bike.

Not saying you are wrong about motos but why is it so difficult to validate?

The other thing obvious watching is the speed difference between Pantani and all the other climbers including Virenque and Indurain. Quite phenomenal.

 

[Miss Violet Smith]

Looks like a good time!

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[Peyroteo94]

Looks like a good time!

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Peaky Blinders from Middle East.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Tomorrow the world will never be the same. Can't wait for the first real test for Pogacar. Tomorrow, we will know his classics shape.

 

[search]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1897297045662335027

View: https://x.com/cirogazzetta/status/1897297045662335027


Well looks like Pogi at Roubaix this year is almost set.

Asked whether his result in Strade will have any influence on his Roubaix participation, Pogacar today said that "only bad luck can result in deciding what to do next. [...] No matter the result I should follow the program". So unless he misunderstood the question, I guess this confirms that he will do it.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIAx1n5zsWg

 

[Peyroteo94]

Asked whether his result in Strade will have any influence on his Roubaix participation, Pogacar today said that "only bad luck can result in deciding what to do next. [...] No matter the result I should follow the program". So unless he misunderstood the question, I guess this confirms that he will do it.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIAx1n5zsWg

But PR isn't in his schedule.

 

[search]

But PR isn't in his schedule.

mmh, but "bad luck" would surely not get him on the start list for Roubaix, to me it only makes sense the other way around.

But well, yeah, maybe he was speaking more generally.

 

[Monsi]

Asked whether his result in Strade will have any influence on his Roubaix participation, Pogacar today said that "only bad luck can result in deciding what to do next. [...] No matter the result I should follow the program". So unless he misunderstood the question, I guess this confirms that he will do it.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIAx1n5zsWg

Well, let's see. As Peyroteo said, PR isn't in his original program so I guess let's just wait for official confirmation on whether he's riding it or not. Or maybe he's referring to a secret revised program (which includes PR) which hasn't been released yet.

What Pogacar is just saying in that interview is that only bad luck (resulting to injury) will change what races he will ride and that he will stick to his current program no matter if he wins certain races or not. The question is whether PR is included in that program.

 

[yaf2]

Well, let's see. As Peyroteo said, PR isn't in his original program so I guess let's just wait for official confirmation on whether he's riding it or not. Or maybe he's referring to a secret revised program (which includes PR) which hasn't been released yet.

What Pogacar is just saying in that interview is that only bad luck (resulting to injury) will change what races he will ride and that he will stick to his current program no matter if he wins certain races or not. The question is whether PR is included in that program.

His Roubaix participation will depend upon san remos outcome. If he wins san remo he will do roubaix if not he will stick to the original plan thats why he wanted to keep it quite

 

[Peyroteo94]

mmh, but "bad luck" would surely not get him on the start list for Roubaix, to me it only makes sense the other way around.

But well, yeah, maybe he was speaking more generally.

I'm not saying he will not ride PR but that interview doesn't say anything IMHO.

 

[Monsi]

His Roubaix participation will depend upon san remos outcome. If he wins san remo he will do roubaix if not he will stick to the original plan thats why he wanted to keep it quite

I know this is a pretty common theory but we don't fully know if that's the case. Maybe he just really wants to try PR this year no matter what result he got at MSR. At some point, he will want to try his luck in Roubaix.

 

[Red Rick]

I know this is a pretty common theory but we don't fully know if that's the case. Maybe he just really wants to try PR this year no matter what result he got at MSR. At some point, he will want to try his luck in Roubaix.

It doesn't pass the sniff test of any top rider taking seasonal planning seriously.

 

[Salvarani]

It doesn't pass the sniff test of any top rider taking seasonal planning seriously.

Smell a fart

 

[Peyroteo94]

I know this is a pretty common theory but we don't fully know if that's the case. Maybe he just really wants to try PR this year no matter what result he got at MSR. At some point, he will want to try his luck in Roubaix.

Let's pray for rain in MSR. It is the only way I see him winning that race.

 

[Savant12]

Let's pray for rain in MSR. It is the only way I see him winning that race.

I think he should set the team up for a Cipressa attack. He will win on "luck" and he needs the luck of other race contenders just looking at each other on the flat section before the Poggio.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Wait is over! Go go Tadej! Bring them hell!

 

[Peyroteo94]

I think he should set the team up for a Cipressa attack. He will win on "luck" and he needs the luck of other race contenders just looking at each other on the flat section before the Poggio.

He can easily gain 30 seconds in Cipressa if he is able to drop everybody

 

[Savant12]

He can easily gain 30 seconds in Cipressa if he is able to drop everybody

He can also descend well but it's what happens on the flat section that will decide his victory or not.

 

[rokovski]

His Roubaix participation will depend upon san remos outcome. If he wins san remo he will do roubaix if not he will stick to the original plan thats why he wanted to keep it quite

MVDP reading forum and thinking he should race MSR to defeat Pog, so he can save a win in PR. 😅

 

[yaf2]

MVDP reading forum and thinking he should race MSR to defeat Pog, so he can save a win in PR. 😅

Well, if pog drops vdp and goes solo in msr i don't see why he wont do the same in roubaix. Winning msr is more difficult than roubaix b/c everything has to fall in place for him especially for the battle of position on start of cipressa

 

[kn0s]

Well, if pog drops vdp and goes solo in msr i don't see why he wont do the same in roubaix. Winning msr is more difficult than roubaix b/c everything has to fall in place for him especially for the battle of position on start of cipressa

You can definitely have more control of the race in PR than MSR, but for Pogi specifically MSR still have gradients and here he will very often have an advantage over his closet competition. I'm fairly sure PR has never been won by a rider under 70kg if what I have been told is correct. So dropping MvdP in MSR is definitely not the same as in PR. The advantage will in some respects go the other way.