I didn't know Pogacar loves beer but maybe the way he drank the Amstel beer back in 2023 was a good indicator of that.
Relax, it's not like Vermaerke was supposed to do anything in MSR. McNulty would be important though but I didn't see a injury report so I think he is good.
Mcnulty is gone, I can tell you, he might be good enough to start but not in a condition to make any difference (you will see in a week and you will agree with me). There is an injury report, uae talked about a knee injury. Vermaerke at this point was one of the few good riders who could at least play a role in msr. Also christen was important, and he crashed this week and during the race it's clear he was not at the same level as in the previous races. Plus of course the real big problem which is the absence of the Narvaez/wellens duo.
Cool stuff. It should be a fun race to watch regardless. Panicking does no good. They will just have to do their best. No reason to stress about things you cant control. Just give it a go and see what happens. Thats what racing is about and which personify this race the most.
fun for sure, just like in 2025, but mvdp is even more favourite than last year, despite pogacar being probably stronger. If pogacar wins, it would be by far his biggest achievement imo. It's not panicking, just commenting on the state of things
I mean I look at all the crashes for uae this year and look at the roster the will likely have at msr compared to the one they could have if they planned carefully for msr and I express my opinion, I call it commenting
Hardest achievement not biggest.
I remain with biggest, especially if he manages to win all five monuments. I agree with you that at this point there's the risk of a race not selective enough and the versatile sprinters might have a bigger chance this year
And I call it panicking, in the way you was commenting.
But that's your opinion based on feelings. Facts say the most important race in cycling is the TdF so his biggest achievement is the Tour.
ok, I change it, it was just to emphasise the point. He has very little chance, and clearly a much lower chance than he would have with Narvaez/Wellens/Vermersch/Del Toro/Christen/Mcnulty/Consfroy all there and all at 100% (which is very much possible if they really planned for msr as an organization, you just have to sacrifice some 5th places or even some wins in minor races, that's the way to "buy your luck"). Would you agree with this?
I know that, I measure achievement based on the difficulty of getting to it, it's clearly purely my opinion
These riders also need to lead some races in order to be happy. If they are not happy, their work for Pogacar will not be the same.
you do not answer to my points: Does he have little chance? Would his chances be much higher with a super team? It's entirely in the hands of the management team (and the owners of the team) to make things go in a certain way
I dont think you are making any points.
they can lead races from march onwards, skipping alula tour or TDU one year is not a tragedy, we are talking like winning these races would change anything in the careers of these riders
"They will still line-up with a competitive team": no they will not, in one week you will agree with me.
Stop stressing. Things will rarely be ideal. Neither before or during a race.
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