Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Lui98]

What did he smoke? Mind games or too much respect? I already told Vingegaard lives in his head forever. The only rider he fears.

'He's the best climber in the world' – Tadej Pogačar praises Jonas Vingegaard as Tour de France rivalry enters next chapter

World champion 'hopes to live up to expectations' in search of fourth yellow jersey

www.cyclingnews.com

He said exactly the same thing after his stage win at La Planche des Belles Filles in 2022 and we know how that turned out in the end.
He probably expects a big jump in climbing performance from Jonas compared to the Dauphiné

 

[snipeheem]

What did he smoke? Mind games or too much respect? I already told Vingegaard lives in his head forever. The only rider he fears.

'He's the best climber in the world' – Tadej Pogačar praises Jonas Vingegaard as Tour de France rivalry enters next chapter

World champion 'hopes to live up to expectations' in search of fourth yellow jersey

www.cyclingnews.com

He is just humble guy.

 

[YavorD]

What did he smoke? Mind games or too much respect? I already told Vingegaard lives in his head forever. The only rider he fears.

'He's the best climber in the world' – Tadej Pogačar praises Jonas Vingegaard as Tour de France rivalry enters next chapter

World champion 'hopes to live up to expectations' in search of fourth yellow jersey

www.cyclingnews.com

Or maybe he is telling the truth?
We'll see in just over 2 weeks.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Or maybe he is telling the truth?
We'll see in just over 2 weeks.

Nah, I don't believe he actually thinks that. IMHO there are two reasons for this comment:
1 - Mind Games
2 - too much respect, almost fear

Vingegaard lives in his head and he knows Vingegaard is the only rider able to threat his GC win.

 

[Gratemans]

Nah, I don't believe he actually thinls that. IMHO there are two reasons for this comment:
1 - Mind Games
2 - too much respect, almost fear

Vingegaard lives in his head and he knows Vingegaard is the only rider able to threat his GC win.

There's not much to analyze here imo. They are the two best climbers in the world right now. Who will be the best at the Tour? Neither of them know.
So yeah.. it's not mind games. They're just being pretty honest in my opinion.

They're both fit and healthy, let's appreciate that. And let's hope they both survive week one.

 

[Monsi]

What did he smoke? Mind games or too much respect? I already told Vingegaard lives in his head forever. The only rider he fears.

'He's the best climber in the world' – Tadej Pogačar praises Jonas Vingegaard as Tour de France rivalry enters next chapter

World champion 'hopes to live up to expectations' in search of fourth yellow jersey

www.cyclingnews.com

Pogi just respects Jonas a lot. There’s nothing else to analyze. None of that "Jonas lives in his head", mind games, fear, or what. Nothing’s changed about Pogi being the race favorite over Jonas. I still expect Pogi to be the better climber in the race.

 

[Extinction]

View: https://youtu.be/XFYHXoLu-ak?si=Z9Z3Q-CWCQSZhm87

 

[veganrob]

Nah, I don't believe he actually thinls that. IMHO there are two reasons for this comment:
1 - Mind Games
2 - too much respect, almost fear

Vingegaard lives in his head and he knows Vingegaard is the only rider able to threat his GC win.

I wouldn't go so far as to say Vingo lives in his head but he does have the utmost respect for him. As well he should.

 

[tigabara]

Nah, I don't believe he actually thinls that. IMHO there are two reasons for this comment:
1 - Mind Games
2 - too much respect, almost fear

Vingegaard lives in his head and he knows Vingegaard is the only rider able to threat his GC win.

Of course he knows Vingegaard is the only rider able to threat his GC win. Vingegaard was the only rider that beat him in Grand Tour. So he acknowledge the situation...

 

[Krzysztof_O]

What did he smoke? Mind games or too much respect? I already told Vingegaard lives in his head forever. The only rider he fears.

'He's the best climber in the world' – Tadej Pogačar praises Jonas Vingegaard as Tour de France rivalry enters next chapter

World champion 'hopes to live up to expectations' in search of fourth yellow jersey

www.cyclingnews.com

It's good to put some pressure on your rival. Rafael Nadal before his matches: He's the favourite, no?

 

[Miha81]

View: https://youtu.be/XFYHXoLu-ak?si=Z9Z3Q-CWCQSZhm87

Sound is bad as it was an interview on 2nd rate amateur race. Nevertheless interesting statements.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Of course he knows Vingegaard is the only rider able to threat his GC win. Vingegaard was the only rider that beat him in Grand Tour. So he acknowledge the situation...

But saying he is a better climber than him 3 weeks after Vingegaard got destroyed in the mountains by Pogacar.

 

[tigabara]

But saying he is a better climber than him 3 weeks after Vingegaard got destroyed in the mountains by Pogacar.

Maybe he just being polite...

 

[KZD]

Above all, I hope that Pogacar avoids crashes and illnesses.

If that happens, I think he will already put time into Vingegaard in the first week, put even more time on the second week and just control in the third week (hopefully still winning on Ventoux).

 

[Peyroteo94]

Maybe he just being polite...

Too much to be honest. I'm not saying he should say he is better than Vingegaard but saying the opposite is too much specially after what we saw in the Tour 2024 and Dauphine 2025.

 

[fenns]

Vingegaard lives in his head and he knows Vingegaard is the only rider able to threat his GC win.

What would he have to say about his obvious biggest rival for it to demonstrate that Jonas does not "live in his head"?

 

[Cookster15]

Just hoping no crashes. I'll pick Milan FTW.

Keen to see a proper no excuses battle between Pogi and Vingo. But I am also thinking Remco might be closer than many assume. He looks thin and that can only help him in the mountains and 3rd week.

But first Vingegaard and Remco must minimize any significant time losses before stage 5 when we get to see if Pogi's Dauphine TT was not indicative.

 

[Monsi]

Too much to be honest. I'm not saying he should say he is better than Vingegaard but saying the opposite is too much specially after what we saw in the Tour 2024 and Dauphine 2025.

It’s whatever. That’s just who Pogi is. He respects his rivals. Nothing more to it. He’ll let his legs do the actual talking.

 

[Rou]

Too much to be honest. I'm not saying he should say he is better than Vingegaard but saying the opposite is too much specially after what we saw in the Tour 2024 and Dauphine 2025.

I've said it before. After the Dauphine I don't pay attention to what Pogacar says. At the Dauphine he was criticized for being arrogant with his statements and now he is doing the total opposite.
It doesn't matter. Reality is reality and interviews and statements don't matter when the truth is in front of our eyes.
So Option #1 is that he is just giving compliments to Jonas and trying to be humble.
Option #2 is also possible: He is saying this to actually ''troll'' Jonas. I mean Pogacar beat Jonas on so many climbs these last 18 months that I lost count.

 

[Rou]

The only rider that Pogacar fears is called Mathieu van der Poel in only two races (Milano-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix). In San-Remo I think Pogi was genuinely shocked by Mathieu's performance.
I still remember my own shock and frustration to see MVDP staying with Pogacar on Poggio and even attacking him.
Compare this to the Dauphine and I didn't feel any pressure from Vingegaard.

 

[Shortcut]

The only rider that Pogacar fears is called Mathieu van der Poel in only two races (Milano-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix). In San-Remo I think Pogi was genuinely shocked by Mathieu's performance.
I still remember my own shock and frustration to see MVDP staying with Pogacar on Poggio and even attacking him.
Compare this to the Dauphine and I didn't feel any pressure from Vingegaard.

I had the same feeling. He looked shocked and confused after MvDP being behind him at Poggio. Also looked really dissapointed after P-R which didn't make sense to me. The guy really is something else. Also about Jonas, if Pogi beats him like he did on Dauphine and than does the same on the Vuelta, Jonas will go to other races next year and will not try to go all in just for TdF. He would easily win 4-5 stages at Giro and Vuelta when Pogi is not around also winning overall. 2 TdF, Giro, Vuelta puts him on another level than having 4or 5 2nd Places at TdF.

 

[Rou]

I had the same feeling. He looked shocked and confused after MvDP being behind him at Poggio. Also looked really dissapointed after P-R which didn't make sense to me. The guy really is something else. Also about Jonas, if Pogi beats him like he did on Dauphine and than does the same on the Vuelta, Jonas will go to other races next year and will not try to go all in just for TdF. He would easily win 4-5 stages at Giro and Vuelta when Pogi is not around also winning overall. 2 TdF, Giro, Vuelta puts him on another level than having 4or 5 2nd Places at TdF.

Completely agree.

 

[Lequack]

World and Belgian champs

 

[scribers]

I had the same feeling. He looked shocked and confused after MvDP being behind him at Poggio. Also looked really dissapointed after P-R which didn't make sense to me. The guy really is something else. Also about Jonas, if Pogi beats him like he did on Dauphine and than does the same on the Vuelta, Jonas will go to other races next year and will not try to go all in just for TdF. He would easily win 4-5 stages at Giro and Vuelta when Pogi is not around also winning overall. 2 TdF, Giro, Vuelta puts him on another level than having 4or 5 2nd Places at TdF.

With crashes and such the profile of the tour is too great to not put yourself into a position to win it. Assuming pogi can win this year, visma still lines the tour up every year.

 

[BigCoward]

I beleive Hinault said something similar about Lemond.