Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Peyroteo94]

Too pesimistic maybe? For Pogacar the most important thing is to survive the Pyrenees (and especially today). Unless he really collapses and loses 5+ minutes in the Pyrenees, the Tour should be very much on until the late mountain stages (he should recover from the crash by then). I think he may be able to hold Vingo's wheel today but even if he loses 2 minutes in the Pyrenees the race is still very open.

If he loses time, it is due to injuries. Pogacar is on another level in the high mountains compared to Vingegaard. You don't gain a minute in Combloux and lose every advantage you have in the mountains in 4 weeks, specially when you know how to peak for a race and your rival has a record of being close to his peak in Dauphiné.

 

[dr.eve]

I said a couple of days ago that I expect everything from Visma.
Attacks during nature breaks, bidongates, etc..
I even said they are capable of paying off some scrub to crash Pogacar.
Call me a tinfoil head if you want.

Oh gosh... Don't lower yourself so much.

All Visma is doing is making the race hard, fair and square.

The crash from Pogacar was a moment of bad luck and not paying attention by both riders involved.

 

[Cookster15]

it's rather curious that his opponents show more confidence in him than a good portion of his own fans.

Well we don’t have long to wait to find out the truth about Pog. Hautacam awaits!

 

[Rackham]

I said a couple of days ago that I expect everything from Visma.
Attacks during nature breaks, bidongates, etc..
I even said they are capable of paying off some scrub to crash Pogacar.
Call me a tinfoil head if you want.

Nah. The truth is even worse. Tobias Johannessen is actually the first AI bike rider. He's not even real. His neural network was programmed to activate "eliminate Pogi" on yesterday's stage.

What do you think Visma's stalker van I mean control room van is even for? It's all part of the plan.

 

[Miha81]

Well we don’t have long to wait to find out the truth about Pog. Hautacam awaits!

I believe he is actually (somehow) just fine bar some minor bruises and abrasions. Not saying that this can't effect the performance but not hardly as bad as it looked.

 

[RedheadDane]

Nah. The truth is even worse. Tobias Johannessen is actually the first AI bike rider. He's not even real. His neural network was programmed to activate "eliminate Pogi" on yesterday's stage.

What about Anders? Is he real?

 

[Peyroteo94]

There are some things that bother me.
1. What is a race incident? Every crash is a race incident and it's not okay to defend THJ because it was his fault, even him is aware of that. So I don't understand why are some people trying to blame Pogacar.

2. THJ doesn't deserve this hate around him. He is just a normal guy who made a mistake. Unfortunately for him, the rider who got punished for him is the face of cycling and the most popular and important rider in the peloton.

3. How the hell THJ didn't get a yellow card? This is what is driving me crazy right now.

4. Pogacar's crash overshadowed some riders attacking on pee break. For me, this is breaking cycling's unwritten rules. This is way worse than Pogacar's crash (when we talk about attitude).

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

What about Anders? Is he real?

Nope, he's the Beta version, hence the difference in performance.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

4. Pogacar's crash overshadowed some riders attacking on pee break. For me, this is breaking cycling's unwritten rules. This is way worse than Pogacar's crash (when we talk about attitude).

I never understood how pee breaks are afforded the same status as a mechanical or a crash in these "unwritten rules". Stopping at the side is a conscious decision, part of a rider's race/refreshment strategy: does not deserve special treatment at all.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I never understood how pee breaks are afforded the same status as a mechanical or a crash in these "unwritten rules". Stopping at the side is a conscious decision, part of a rider's race/refreshment strategy: does not deserve special treatment at all.

Half the peloton stopped to pee, not just one rider.

 

[yaf2]

View: https://youtu.be/g0NKV6nfTE0?si=Ob_TL9EpiHJN6vhb


Made some research about whats the reason behind the rift b/n jorgenson & pog and found out an interview from pog on stage 7 of dauphine where he stated visma tried to drop/crash him on the descent when he was isolated which made him mention to the public that he didn't like it. He didn't mention names but if i remember correctly it was jorgenson who pulled the group to the top of the climb with all uae riders dropped. Unfortunately we didn't see what happened on tv but I wonder if that was the reason behind his anger, push in the feed zone & constant marking of jorgenson. I see a lot of respect towards vingegaard but with jorgenson they're on a different level this tour

 

[Cycling111]

Half the peloton stopped to pee, not just one rider.

The DS from Astana said on the radio: there are no more rules.

Then he said that half of his team and much of the peloton were peeing and attacked at that moment. He seemed upset.

 

[Jan the Man]

His arm did not look too bad - the hip is the bigger concern and how bruised that will be. Hopefully for him it will not affect his performance too much

 

[Cycling111]

His arm did not look too bad - the hip is the bigger concern and how bruised that will be. Hopefully for him it will not affect his performance too much

The arm is worrying for the time trial. The first part is somewhat flat; it's not much, but it could be enough to cause a bad fit and lose a few seconds.

The hip is definitely the worst, and it usually hurts more after a couple of days.

The time trial was very important to get away from Jorgenson and also to overtake Vingegaard mentally..
That's what worries me most, perhaps more than today; the second day hurts even more than the next.

The knee looks swollen in the photo. It's not Mou anymore; it looks that way in the LEquipe photo.

 

[Cycling111]

Just saying. But if his right knee is slightly or severely injured... how can he record a video sitting in an uncomfortable chair with his leg bent, without ice or bandages? Chilling with his teammates instead of resting in a bed or sofa watching TV ahead of a stage that should end his Tour? Nonsense abounds. I don't want to hear stories of staged plots/conspiracies because the next step is the man hasn't been to the moon. Btw, it's rather curious that his opponents show more confidence in him than a good portion of his own fans.

If you read my posts before the accident, I had no doubts at all. I was one of those who said some were exaggerating when they said Vingegaard had stayed on his wheel during these explosive stages.
But after an accident, it's normal to have doubts, but it's not about doubting him, it's about doubting about what can cause physical damage,

 

[YavorD]

The knee looks swollen in the photo. It's not Mou anymore; it looks that way in the LEquipe photo.

As I said, I think it's more about the lighting and the angle than a real problem.
That photo is pretty soon after the stage finished.
If he had such a bad knee, there's no way his pedaling wouldn't have been affected. And it really wasn't.
And there's no way he would just sit around a table recording videos with team mates with such a bad knee.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Half the peloton stopped to pee, not just one rider.

When Le Patron decides to pee the whole peleton should stop and do the same. Unwritten rules.

 

[Peyroteo94]

We will know more in 3 hours.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Half the peloton stopped to pee, not just one rider.

Well aware of that. Don't see how it changes the validity of my point.

 

[Valv.Piti]

There are some things that bother me.
1. What is a race incident? Every crash is a race incident and it's not okay to defend THJ because it was his fault, even him is aware of that. So I don't understand why are some people trying to blame Pogacar.

2. THJ doesn't deserve this hate around him. He is just a normal guy who made a mistake. Unfortunately for him, the rider who got punished for him is the face of cycling and the most popular and important rider in the peloton.

3. How the hell THJ didn't get a yellow card? This is what is driving me crazy right now.

4. Pogacar's crash overshadowed some riders attacking on pee break. For me, this is breaking cycling's unwritten rules. This is way worse than Pogacar's crash (when we talk about attitude).

1. Good question, apparantly everything is just a race incident and it absolves all responsiblity. Clearly THJ was at fault here.

2. Very unfortunate, but still has be feel lucky that the crash was not worse. Imagine crashing Pogi out of the Tour, that must feel extremely bad.

3. That is the part I don't understand either. Why the yellow cards if you dont hand one out here?

4. This I disagree with. EF obstructed the race, so the riders who wanted to race were not allowed to. If anything you should direct it to EF, because the likes of FDJ, Alpecin etc. etc. wanted a rider in the breakaway, so no harm done at all IMO. I think its a huge problem when several teams literal block the road every opportunity they get to obstruct riders from racing and I'd like to see something done about that.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Well aware of that. Don't see how it changes the validity of my point.

You don’t also see any problem in attacking in feed zones? Because riders/teams choose (conscious decisions) those moments to eat.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

That Johannesen front wheel chop on Tadej looked intentional. He was basically shoulder to shoulder with Tadej before he suddenly accelerated and crossed infront of Tadej. And before that, Jonas and Healy attacked when Pogacar went for a piss break.

I find that an absolutely ridiculous accusation. And the UCI commissars would evidently conclude the same.

 

[kn0s]

I never understood how pee breaks are afforded the same status as a mechanical or a crash in these "unwritten rules". Stopping at the side is a conscious decision, part of a rider's race/refreshment strategy: does not deserve special treatment at all.

The race was not settled and under control, it was still a free for all. If you get off, at that point, it's a risk you are taking. MvdP who was sitting next to him behind the peloton, he seems to have managed nicely.

 

[Cycling111]

The race was not settled and under control, it was still a free for all. If you get off, at that point, it's a risk you are taking. MvdP who was sitting next to him behind the peloton, he seems to have managed nicely.

The Astana DS said the battle started when they stopped to pee.

Many riders were left behind as a result and had to fight back in many parts of the peloton. But it all started when they stopped to pee.

 

[kn0s]

The Astana DS said the battle started when they stopped to pee.

Many riders were left behind as a result and had to fight back in many parts of the peloton. But it all started when they stopped to pee.

Think what he meant to say is -they where ALSO going when we choose to take a pee break. It was absolutely clear that more wanted to get away.