Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Cycling111]

Deja Vu of the preview of Lombardia and Del Toro couldn't even follow the second strongest rider.

Montreal came after he won his fourth Tour de France.

It's Pogacar's first race of the season.
He's not the favorite in the second, and it's important to start with a win.

He's one victory away from surpassing Cancellara.They just named a sector with his name, he'll want to honor it.
This race matters more to him than Montreal.

Strade Bianche is a gravel race, so there's always more risk. He doesn't take that risk to make concessions.

For these reasons, he's not going to give it away. But, in any case, Del Toro should be the second strongest by a wide margin. The same thing was said before Lombardy, and he wasn't at all.

 

[CyclistAbi]

For Pogacar the big races are the Tour, San Remo, Roubaix, World Championship, Liege, Flanders and Lombardy. Probably at some point also the Vuelta to “finish” his palmares.

Strade is a big fish, but not that much for Pogacar. I think that if he can ensure Del Toros loyalty in the big races for a season or two by giving away Strade he will do it.

If Pogi wanted to gift (a chance) SB to del Toro then he wouldn't participate.

 

[Gratemans]

For Pogacar the big races are the Tour, San Remo, Roubaix, World Championship, Liege, Flanders and Lombardy. Probably at some point also the Vuelta to “finish” his palmares.

Strade is a big fish, but not that much for Pogacar. I think that if he can ensure Del Toros loyalty in the big races for a season or two by giving away Strade he will do it.

Gift Strade to ensure his loyalty? What the hell are you smoking? Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Deja Vu of the preview of Lombardia and Del Toro couldn't even follow the second strongest rider.

Montreal came after he won his fourth Tour de France.

It's Pogacar's first race of the season.
He's not the favorite in the second, and it's important to start with a win.

He's one victory away from surpassing Cancellara.They just named a sector with his name, he'll want to honor it.
This race matters more to him than Montreal.

Strade Bianche is a gravel race, so there's always more risk. He doesn't take that risk to make concessions.

For these reasons, he's not going to give it away. But, in any case, Del Toro should be the second strongest by a wide margin. The same thing was said before Lombardy, and he wasn't at all.

Del Toro hasn't shown much in classics over 200 km long. SB is just slightly longer so it may be short enough for him to shine. I don't think Pogacar is planning to give the race to Del Toro but I can imagine a race scenario when it's a possibility.

 

[AmRacer]

Del Toro hasn't shown much in classics over 200 km long. SB is just slightly longer so it may be short enough for him to shine. I don't think Pogacar is planning to give the race to Del Toro but I can imagine a race scenario when it's a possibility.

Pogi wants the record for most wins first.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Pogi wants the record for most wins first.

In the past Pogacar revealed a bit his SB plans before. Interestingly, today he said that he would wait for Del Toro's move and it didn't matter who wins as long as it's a guy from the UAE team.

 

[CyclistAbi]

In the past Pogacar revealed a bit his SB plans. Interestingly, today he said that he would wait for Del Toro's move.

I doubt that Pogi will wait he will attack first.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I doubt that Pogi will wait he will attack first.

I think Pogi and Bull will have some fun tomorrow.

 

[CyclistAbi]

I think Pogi and Bull will have some fun tomorrow.

Fun yes, gifts no.

 

[AlfaLum]

Gift Strade to ensure his loyalty? What the hell are you smoking? Thanks for the laugh.

Yes, he has a lot to gain from a Del Toro that works entirely for him in the biggest races in the year to come.

He has also seen a lot of other stars in his team that didnt do it in recent years because they wanted to achieve their own result. So by gifting Strade he can actually potentially gain more.

You can ridiculize it, but its not that crazy an option.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@AlfaLum

Could be but SB is a bit much, isn't it? Gifting such races can crooked a goat.

 

[Lequack]

He says he will wait for Del Toro attack

https://twitter.com/x/status/2029977642598842856

View: https://x.com/cyclingontnt/status/2029977642598842856

 

[Lequack]

You know the season has properly started when you see the tufts

 

[Cycling111]

It might seem like an unpopular opinion, but I don't understand why he has to give away races to get help in San Remo. If Del Toro didn't want to work in San Remo, or he have to do it in exchange for a gift, he shouldn't go or he should have signed for another team.

It's professional sport; you shouldn't give gifts to inferior athletes. The best rider should try to honor their sport and win.

Besides, Del Toro wins a lot; it's absurd to ride five classics and have to give away one the second-most successful rider on the team.

For me, it would be very disappointing. The 2023 Vuelta is one of the most disappointing memories I have of this sport, and the saddest thing is that many fans celebrated that farce.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Hopefully Rogla will be able to help, at TA, to lower the appetite. But it does seem that they have a slight problem at UAE, lets see on how it goes. Two leaders and limited number of gifts.

 

[canina82]

He said the most important thing is a UAE win, it doesn't matter who wins between Del Toro and himself.

 

[AlfaLum]

It might seem like an unpopular opinion, but I don't understand why he has to give away races to get help in San Remo. If Del Toro didn't want to work in San Remo, or he have to do it in exchange for a gift, he shouldn't go or he should have signed for another team.

It's professional sport; you shouldn't give gifts to inferior athletes. The best rider should try to honor their sport and win.

Besides, Del Toro wins a lot; it's absurd to ride five classics and have to give away one the second-most successful rider on the team.

For me, it would be very disappointing. The 2023 Vuelta is one of the most disappointing memories I have of this sport, and the saddest thing is that many fans celebrated that farce.

I dont say I like it. I also dont say he should do it. But he gave away victory in Montréal to Mcnulty.

And while I agree that Strade Bianche is a step above Montréal, Del Toro also has the potential to be a way more important team mate than Mcnulty in the biggest races.

And moreover, I also have the impression that Pogacar and Del Toro really get along very well. So if Del Toro is capable of being the second best rider in the race I can see a situation where Tadej would actually gift the win to Del Toro than fight for it.

 

[CyclistAbi]

He said the most important thing is a UAE win, it doesn't matter who wins between Del Toro and himself.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. But realistically yeah, it's coming, this race or some other, UAE team leader will get challenged. It's all gearing up to that.

 

[canina82]

For Pogacar the big races are the Tour, San Remo, Roubaix, World Championship, Liege, Flanders and Lombardy. Probably at some point also the Vuelta to “finish” his palmares.

Strade is a big fish, but not that much for Pogacar. I think that if he can ensure Del Toros loyalty in the big races for a season or two by giving away Strade he will do it.

He doesn't need Del Toro's loyalty. He can win anything without much help. Even MSR and PR. He needs some luck, that's it.

 

[AmRacer]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. But realistically yeah, it's coming, this race or some other, UAE team leader will get challenged. It's all gearing up to that.

The road up north

 

[Cycling111]

He said the most important thing is a UAE win, it doesn't matter who wins between Del Toro and himself.

Let's be realistic. Del Toro's only chance of winning is if Pogacar decides not to compete against him.

@AlfaLum Thinking similarly about Montreal, I believe it would be even more absurd to give away this race, given it's his first race of the season, considering the risk of gravel race, and the possibility of surpasse Cancellara, etc. And McNulty has fewer WT victories. Del Toro is going to win so much that it's ridiculous to have to give him his fourth victory in March.
Del Toro will be the leader at Amstel and FW.

Besides, actually Strade has more prestige than Montreal.

 

[AmRacer]

Let's be realistic. Del Toro's only chance of winning is if Pogacar decides not to compete against him.

Also Pidders is better I think.

 

[Cycling111]

Also Pidders is better I think.

It would be very sad if Pogacar only wins because his rivals force him to win. LOL

 

[No Excuses]

Finally he is back in the saddle. I'm expecting total UAE domination.