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Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

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If Merckx was actually the GOAT, he could do it like Binda who in 1927 won 12 stages out of 15 at the Giro.
Merckx at least won the Giro itself as many times as Binda. Maybe if Binda also had the palmares of Merckx there was a case to be made, but that's not really the situation now is it? It's not like Pogacar has a similar palmares as Merckx and the only thing missing is his MSR wins.
 
Jun 24, 2024
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Merckx at least won the Giro itself as many times as Binda. Maybe if Binda also had the palmares of Merckx there was a case to be made, but that's not really the situation now is it?
It's not like Pogacar has a similar palmares as Merckx and the only thing missing is his MSR wins.
Nah... the point is that you cannot compare athletes from different eras.
People seem to never accept said reality because it's not fun, but to do the aforementioned thing is silly nonetheless.

55 years ago? Forget about it.
I wasn't even born and you could hardly follow the races, btw.
You cannot weigh 'palmares' 1 to 1, across half centuries.

Talent dept, specialization, and other aspects, change too much.
Binda winning 12 out of 15 stages of a GT holds no relevance in modern cycling.
The guy was obviously great, but it would simply not be feasible today.

I'm not even arguing whether Pog is better than Eddy or not, but I'm pretty convinced that nowadays it's way harder to win multiple MSRs than in Merckx's day, unless, perhaps, you win them in Zabel's fashion.

Binda-> half a century-> Merckx-> half a century-> Pogacar
I'd only compare Pog to people who competed in modern cycling,
Even better (would be) after January 2008, but ok.
 
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Nah... the point is that you cannot compare athletes from different eras.
People seem to never accept said reality because it's not fun, but to do the aforementioned thing is silly nonetheless.

55 years ago? Forget about it.
I wasn't even born and you could hardly follow the races, btw.
You cannot weigh 'palmares' 1 to 1, across half centuries.

Talent dept, specialization, and other aspects, change too much.
Binda winning 12 out of 15 stages of a GT holds no relevance in modern cycling.
The guy was obviously great, but it would simply not be feasible today.

I'm not even arguing whether Pog is better than Eddy or not, but I'm pretty convinced that nowadays it's way harder to win multiple MSRs than in Merckx's day, unless, perhaps, you win them in Zabel's fashion.

Binda-> half a century-> Merckx-> half a century-> Pogacar
I'd only compare Pog to people who competed in modern cycling,
Even better (would be) after January 2008, but ok.
Great post. I fully agree.
 
Feb 12, 2025
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You need look no further than the complete lack of support from Ulissi, Hirschi and the other jokers.
I think the joker is matxin. He puts a roster almost laughable for a race like sanremo. Last year he signed polit who has been doing this race every year and left him out for the ulissis and covis who cant position themselves 🤨 The key in my opinion is the calibre of riders selected for this specific race. If pog was at visma the brain of the Ned would win him this race unfortunately in uae as a rider u don't only need to be the strongest but u have to make your own tactics ☹️
 
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I think the argument for adding extra obstacles to a parcours should always be on the table as after all over the years the Cipressa and Poggio have been added as a response to the race getting too easy.

I see it as the advances in equipment and nutrition along with training methods create a position that the old parcours no longer deliver the same level of exertion and challenge to the riders.

Golf is a great example here where technology meant the ball was being driven so much further off the tea that course was being outhit by even the average tour pro. Bunkers were being sailed over and lakes removed from being significant pressure points.

The response was to lengthen the holes and total course length. The cycling equivalent is to add extra climbs or sectors of rough surface such as cobbles or sterrato.
 
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