Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Cycling111]

Another Visma win in a GT

11GT. The most dominant team in GT since Sky, but they don't complain about that dominance much.

It's a stupid detail, but they put Ayuso in the photo as if he were the first leader.

I wonder what Almeida thinks about being promised the leadership if Pogacar didn't go and now they do this to him.

They'll keep saying Ayuso is mistreated in the team when he leads GT and several races every year.
And I don't believe that age suddenly doesn't matter for the UAE. This is a consequence of the blackmail of leaving the team.

 

[Rou]

@Peyroteo94
My point still stands.
Vingegaard has better recovery than Pogacar to do a Tour-Vuelta double.

 

[Peyroteo94]

@Peyroteo94
My point still stands.
Vingegaard has better recovery than Pogacar to do a Tour-Vuelta double.

I can't agree but I also can't disagree

 

[Rou]

As long as Pogacar goes to the Tour and is strong enough to fight for the podium he will not ride the Vuelta.
Maybe after 2030 when he's washed.

 

[Peyroteo94]

11GT. The most dominant team in GT since Sky, but they don't complain about that dominance much.

It's a stupid detail, but they put Ayuso in the photo as if he were the first leader.

I wonder what Almeida thinks about being promised the leadership if Pogacar didn't go and now they do this to him.

They'll keep saying Ayuso is mistreated in the team when he leads GT and several races every year.
And I don't believe that age suddenly doesn't matter for the UAE. This is a consequence of the blackmail of leaving the team.

This.
I'm sick of this special treatment Ayuso gets. It's so annoying right now.

 

[Berniece]

@Peyroteo94
My point still stands.
Vingegaard has better recovery than Pogacar to do a Tour-Vuelta double.

Clearly, and even in the TDF this was clear in the last few stages

 

[Cycling111]

This.
I'm sick of this special treatment Ayuso gets. It's so annoying right now.

What surprises me is that Pogacar hasn't even been allowed to reflect. After a few days of rest, things look different.

It seems the UAE was in a hurry to confirm the team. That's the problem with having so many problems with secondary leaders and the whole Ayuso issue.

This confirms what I thought: as soon as Pogacar told them he had doubts, they didn't even try to advise him or talk to him; they saw the solution to Ayuso's problems with the team.

This conflict of interest between the team and other cyclists continues to be a problem for Pogacar.

 

[Rou]

This.
I'm sick of this special treatment Ayuso gets. It's so annoying right now.

Mate if this clown underperforms again and doesn't help Almeida I might break my TV.

 

[James M]

@Peyroteo94
My point still stands.
Vingegaard has better recovery than Pogacar to do a Tour-Vuelta double.

Pogacar rode what is recognized as an unprecedented classics campaign—racing Strade, MSR, RVV, PR, including ALL the Ardennes classics. What a hilarious take, haha. This is wishful thinking if I’ve ever seen it. Completely lacks context.

 

[Rou]

Pogacar rode what is recognized as an unprecedented classics campaign—racing Strade, MSR, RVV, PR, including ALL the Ardennes classics. What a hilarious take, haha. This is wishful thinking if I’ve ever seen it. Completely lacks context.

Context or not Pogacar is not up to the challenge.
He announced that the plan was the Vuelta in January and for the 6th straight season he is depleted after the Tour.
Instead he is going to the Canadian farmers' classics.
No excuses.

 

[Peyroteo94]

This is the best GT for Ayuso to perform. I think he struggles on big mountain stages

 

[James M]

Context or not Pogacar is not up to the challenge.
He announced that the plan was the Vuelta in January and for the 6th straight season he is depleted after the Tour.
Instead he is going to the Canadian farmers' classics.
No excuses.

Well then, you're just telling yourself things you want to be true—admittedly, if you dont take context into account. But that's up to you ofc 😅

 

[Rou]

This is the best GT for Ayuso to perform. I think he steuggles on big mountain stages

He will choke on the Angliru.
He is coached by the bald fraud and Visma will kill him on that stage.

 

[Rou]

Well then, you're just telling yourself things you want to be true—admittedly, if you dont take context into account. But that's up to you ofc 😅

James, I'm one of the biggest Pog fans here and I can admit when Pog fails or makes a mistake.
Pog's goal is to be the GOAT. He needs to challenge himself.
After the legendary 2024 this season is a step down.

 

[snipeheem]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1950194326329319511

View: https://x.com/lucasaganronald/status/1950194326329319511

 

[James M]

James, I'm one of the biggest Pog fans here and I can admit when Pog fails or makes a mistake.
Pog's goal is to be the GOAT. He needs to challenge himself.
After the legendary 2024 this season is a step down.

It has nothing to do with the point you made—which I only pointed out lacked context, nothing more.

 

[Cycling111]

This is the best GT for Ayuso to perform. I think he struggles on big mountain stages

This Vuelta doesn't have any major high-mountain stages. Only the day of the Angliru, and it's a single-climb stage.

I still think it was the year for Pogacar to do it. There will never be a route that easy.

They haven't even given him a few days to reflect. I have the feeling that deep down the team saw an escape route as soon as he raised his doubts.

I don't know if that team is advising him well. There are too many interests from other cyclists who continue to condition Pogacar. Did they really advise him to wait a few days to rest before deciding, and did they talk about the route and other issues? The feeling is no.

Ayuso's entourage leaked this a few days ago.
It's a decision made in the moment, and some decisions have to be made after a few days of rest and reflection. This was one of them.

 

[Cycling111]

Context or not Pogacar is not up to the challenge.
He announced that the plan was the Vuelta in January and for the 6th straight season he is depleted after the Tour.
Instead he is going to the Canadian farmers' classics.
No excuses.

Pogacar doesn't have the usual GT cyclist's schedule either.
Vingegaard has been at home all spring. Froome didn't compete in the classics.

It´s incomparable.
Pogacar has had much more demanding schedules than Vingegaard for six years.

 

[The bald fraud]

I would like to see Pogacar compete at Vuelta. And of course, he wants to win it too. But this year, there were just too many factors leading to greater exhaustion than usual after the Tour. First, he had a significantly worse team than last year - Wellens and Narvaez were good, and Politt was somewhat okay, but Sivakov, Soler and Yates were far below their expected level, and Almeida crashed, so Pogi was left on his own in the mountains. Second, he crashed in Stage 11 and seemed to also be sick in the second half of the Tour, so the (still winning) efforts in stages 12&13 took more out of him than usual. Add to that constant mind games by Visma (such as braking in front of him for no reason) and no wonder he is exhausted.

We can still hope Almeida can challenge Vingegaard at Vuelta. Because Ayuso won't.

 

[Rou]

Pogacar doesn't have the usual GT cyclist's schedule either.

Vingegaard has been at home all spring. Froome didn't compete in the classics.

He's incomparable.

And Pogacar has had much more demanding schedules than Vingegaard for six years.

No excuses, man.
Pog is at 43 race days. He will finish the season in the low 50s.
No disrespect but this is a MVDP number of days. And Mathieu does 10 CX races in the winter.
Pog will be 27 this year - the peak of his career. I expect more of him. I don't expect a battle with Arnaud de Lie in Canada...

 

[rafa92]

@Peyroteo94
My point still stands.
Vingegaard has better recovery than Pogacar to do a Tour-Vuelta double.

ridiculous take, let's see vingegaard prepare SB, MSR, flanders, roubaix and ardennes to be competitive for the win and then let's see if he can do tour-vuelta. Have we all forgotten about the giro-tour double of 2024 with 12 stage wins, great level at the giro and ridiculous level at the tour (to this day his tour 2024 remains by far the best GT ever in terms of level of a single rider)

 

[Cycling111]

Mate if this clown underperforms again and doesn't help Almeida I might break my TV.

Help Almeida?

The AS journalist, close to Ayuso, has already said he's in the lead.

With this route, I wouldn't be surprised if he does better than Almeida. He has a better sprint finish, and there are no high-mountain stages in this Vuelta. They're stages that aren't tough.

In any case, Vingegaard will win easily. And after the Vuelta, there are again leaks from the Spanish press that Ayuso wants to go to the 2026 Tour because it's leaving Barcelona.

This situation in the UAE is very boring every year.
Every year, there's the feeling that Pogacar ends up changing his schedule, partly because the team advises him to do so because of other cyclists' conditions.

 

[Rou]

ridiculous take, let's see vingegaard prepare SB, MSR, flanders, roubaix and ardennes to be competitive for the win and then let's see if he can do tour-vuelta. Have we all forgotten about the giro-tour double of 2024 with 12 stage wins, great level at the giro and ridiculous level at the tour (to this day his tour 2024 remains by far the best GT ever in terms of level of a single rider)

Ridiculous or not Pogacar can't double a Tour with a Vuelta. Every year he finishes the Tour on fumes.

 

[rafa92]

No excuses, man.
Pog is at 43 race days. He will finish the season in the low 50s.
No disrespect but this is a MVDP number of days. And Mathieu does 10 CX races in the winter.
Pog will be 27 this year - the peak of his career. I expect more of him. I don't expect a battle with Arnaud de Lie in Canada...

do you really think counting race days is a smart thing to do? you think PR or Flanders can be compared to 2 stages of a minor GC race like algarve or similar (races in which vingegaard prepares the tour)? in both cases you have 2 race days but to prepare for cobbles you need months and then to recover from them you need weeks. VDP races the classics and then focuses on a few stages at the tour (literally 2-3 stages), and you think you can compare that to a rider who WINS the tour. Come on now!!

 

[Cycling111]

Pogacar says they've decided it's best to stop. He says it in the plural. Apparently, the team has advised him to stop.

What I don't like is him going back to Canada. The best way to rest isn't to take another long trip before a second trip to Rwanda.


“After such a demanding Tour, we decided it was best to take a break. The Vuelta is, of course, a race I would dearly love to return to. I have fantastic memories there from 2019, but now the body is telling me to rest. I’m excited to go back to Canada; the races are tough but beautiful, and they fit my style well. I’ll be aiming to be back racing well again for that part of the season and for the World Championships especially.