Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Monsi]

Anyways... how far from the finish will Pogacar launch his winning move next week?

2 or 3 laps from the finish on the Kimihurura

 

[rafa92]

Even so, I would consider that today's performance was worse than in Australia, where he finished sixth, but lost seconds in a flat time trial with better competence.

actually when pogacar is not in top shape and has not done a lot of TT specific training where he really struggles is climbing on a TT bike, so this route was awful for him. You can see it visually that he's fighting against the bike when climbing (in montreal on a road bike he looked much better climbing wise). If today was entirely flat he would have lost anyways but not by that margin. To do great performances on a climbing/rolling terrain on a TT bike he has to be 100% (look at him climbing la turbie in the tour 2024, he looked totally different visually, super composed and very high cadence). But I'm not worried about the RR, on a road bike he's a natural, even if he's not at 100% he's super strong, plus his shape will improve in this week

 

[hayneplane]

Isn't Evenepoel an endurance stage-race athlete. He put 0.5 sec/km on Pogacar on those early Tour TTs. Come on.

Not really. Never won a big 7 one week race, just 2 podiums in Grand Tours so far.

By far his best results and performances have been in championships. His best efforts have mostly been in the Belgian national jersey.

That was a fabulous performance from Remco today and that deserves to be fully appreciated and acknowledged.

 

[Cycling111]

If that were true he would have not bothered with this

I don't think so. I said it last week. He did it in Australia too, and even in Glasgow, even though he needed medical attention days before after finishing the route. Do you think Pogacar cared about the Glasgow time trial after his injury, the Tour de France, and the route that left him exhausted?

I think he did it all those times out of commitment to Slovenia .Basically, he did the time trials that Roglic didn't participate in.
He didn't even protest about not being selected for Tokyo. And last year he didn't do the ITT despite it being a tougher route than Australia.
Why did he do Australia ITT (flat) and not Zurich ITT? In Australia, Slovenia didn't have Roglic and Pogacar did them a favor. In Zurich, Roglic did the ITT, so Pogacar didn't feel the need to please his national team.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Not really. Never won a big 7 one week race, just 2 podiums in Grand Tours so far.

By far his best results and performances have been in championships. His best efforts have mostly been in the Belgian national jersey.

That was a fabulous performance from Remco today and that deserves to be fully appreciated and acknowledged.

Remco did his lifetime uphill performance on stage 15 (PdB) of the Tour 2024. How was he already tired and subpar on stage 7 TT? He would've crumbled in the mountains then.

 

[Peyroteo94]

He raced this TT to get miles and not fail to Slovenia. I'm pretty sure this was a goal but he decided to race it because it was on his schedule 2 weeks ago.

 

[hayneplane]

Remco did his lifetime uphill performance on stage 15 (PdB) of the Tour 2024. How was he already tired and subpar on stage 7 TT? He would've crumbled in the mountains then.

Put it this way then - Do you think that stage race Remco is anything close to the same class of rider constantly than championship Remco?

 

[red_flanders]

He raced this TT to get miles and not fail to Slovenia. I'm pretty sure this was a goal but he decided to race it because it was on his schedule 2 weeks ago.

I dig Tadej, but this narrative sounds a little cope...

Don't think he was too happy about getting passed for 2.5 on a cobbled climb.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Put it this way then - Do you think that stage race Remco is anything close to the same class of rider constantly than championship Remco?

In GTs TT, yes, at least those early in the race. Check his early TT results in last two Tours and Giro 2023 or Vuelta 2022. OTOH Pogacar wasn't even close to Tour form today (and in many other WC TT cases, he almost collapsed during 2023 WC for example).

 

[Cycling111]

I dig Tadej, but this narrative sound a little cope...

Don't think he was too happy about getting passed for 2.5 on a cobbled climb.

That's the least of it. Ganna also passed him in the European Championship time trial. Pogacar riding a road bike in a road race is another on the cobbles.

 

[red_flanders]

That's the least of it. Ganna also passed him in the European Championship time trial. Pogacar riding a road bike in a road race is another on the cobbles.

I'm making no comment about his ability on cobbles in a road race.

Just saying he knows it wasn't a good look today. I don't think he was expecting anything of the sort, and I do think it'll motivate him. The "he doesn't care about TT's outside the Tour" is a narrative that may have a little truth, but feels a bit cope after the fact today. He got crushed by a rival.

Not IMO what he was expecting today. Not at all.

 

[Cycling111]

In GTs TT, yes, at least those early in the race. Check his early TT results in last two Tours and Giro 2023 or Vuelta 2022. OTOH Pogacar wasn't even close to Tour form today (and in many other WC TT cases, he almost collapsed during 2023 WC for example).

This Tour has left them exhausted.

That's why I said that if Almeida had finished the Tour, Vingegaard would have destroyed him in the Vuelta. Almeida was never close to Vingegaard; he took advantage of an exhausted Vingegaard to get close to him at Angliru, and even then he couldn't dropped him.
In the Tour, Almeida would have been closer to Lipowitz than to Vingegaard.

Ironically, Almeida benefited from not finishing the Tour, and Remco would surely be more tired if he had finished the Tour.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I dig Tadej, but this narrative sound a little cope...

Don't think he was too happy about getting passed for 2.5 on a cobbled climb.

No, he underperformed badly. This looked like a guy who doesn't see his TT bike since the Tour.
He was bad and Remco was on a stellar day. Both things are true.
Remco was caught by Vingegaard in the MTT, can I say it’s cope if you said Remco was bad?

 

[Red Rick]

I'm making no comment about his ability on cobbles in a road race.

Just saying he knows it wasn't a good look today. I don't think he was expecting anything of the sort, and I do think it'll motivate him. The "he doesn't care about TT's outside the Tour" is a narrative that may have a little truth, but feels a bit cope after the fact today. He got crushed by a rival.

Not IMO what he was expecting today. Not at all.

I don't doubt he would love to win a WC ITT. But it being a WC ITT, it's within a week of a WC road race, and 95% of the parcourses it will make more sense for him to prioritize the road race.

 

[Rou]

The bookies quickly overreacted and increased Pog's odds for the RR to 1.50 while lowering Remco to 4.50.

 

[Cycling111]

i just hope that pog 1 year focuses on tts,he looks mid on that bike on his best day.its clear,he needs work in gym so he can hold that position better.he looks better than in 23 at this point,lol.

Why? He's doing well at GT the way he's doing, focusing on the time trial isn't doing anything new for him.
Training before the Tour is enough for him, as he's shown.

He's certainly training more days for Paris-Roubaix than he does on a time trial bike.

 

[Cycling111]

Most likely he was just hoping to get a podium with less than optimal preperation. There's no way he thought he'd win this.

If anything this duel was extremely overhyped before the race, and that's not even Pogacar's fault.

Pogacar did a favor to UCI . Although he didn't even finish second, the news is that Remco beat Pogacar, not Vine and Van Wilder.

Pogacar played the role that Ganna should have played.
In fact, it's quite unfortunate that the second-best time trialist in the world isn't in the world championships, and the Tour de France winner has to be as Remco's greatest media opponent.

 

[Cycling111]

His whole season has ups and downs in a way. Competing to 2024, when he was absolute beast throughout the season, he relative ups and downs in 2025.

Because he's combined very different races .In 2024, the Giro was a previous extension of the Tour. He only did Liège .Without a doubt, the cobbles classics influence his training a lot.

 

[Peyroteo94]

His face tells a lot. Lol

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[scribers]

1:20 behind vine on sharp climbs. I’m having a harder time with this.

 

[Cycling111]

1:20 behind vine on sharp climbs. I’m having a harder time with this.

If it's any consolation, remember the disastrous climb in Dauphine on the time trial bike and what they was said before the Tour

I only remember one good climb of Pogacar on a time trial bike. In Monaco 2024, and maybe that's because he lives there and knows it

In PDBF, he changed bike. In Peyragudes without ITT bike.

 

[scribers]

If it's any consolation, remember the disastrous climb in Dauphine on the time trial bike and what they was said before the Tour

I only remember one good climb of Pogacar on a time trial bike. In Monaco 2024, and maybe that's because he lives there and knows it

In PDBF, he changed bike. In Peyragudes without ITT bike.

That was before his crazy talk to the press pool

 

[Cycling111]

That was before his crazy talk to the press pool

After Dauphiné ITT, they were going to destroy him

Although the worrying thing now is seeing that Vine and Del Toro have improved in the final sector, while Pogacar hasn't.

He really seemed fatigued. In Dauphiné, although he had a poor time trial, it seemed more like a problem with the bike and him not feeling comfortable, rather than a physical one. Today it was both; he was physically exhausted.
The Tour has left them exhausted.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

I think both things can be true:
- WC ITT definitely isn't a big specific target for him in the context of the season. He also knew that his preparation was subpar and that the RR is more important.
- At the same time, this was probably his best chance ever parcours wise to win the rainbow jersey in the ITT. Very rare to get so much climbing. Pretty sure he knows that and - unlike previous years where he just showed up as part of training/to not let Slovenia down - really wanted to go for it and definitely tried to be in his best shape possible. Think he'll be quite disappointed because that opportunity with (outside of Remco) not a strong field and a perfect parcours won't come back that quickly.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

This was a nice, birthday gift from Remco: a motivation kick for the next Sunday and the next year.