Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[Bratone]

You could say whatever you want and post any random numbers you see on the internet but Pogacar is clearly weaker compared to last year, that was visible in all the races this year, and will be proven again in LBL and TDF. The eye test never lies.

 

[Jan the Man]

I don't know if he will ever win this race

He has ridden it twice and finished 2nd twice, an excellent record if you ask me.

He obviously needs luck but so does everyone. He got some today with MvP issue in Arenberg but also had the issues himself before then.

 

[Rackham]

He has ridden it twice and finished 2nd twice, an excellent record if you ask me.

He obviously needs luck but so does everyone. He got some today with MvP issue in Arenberg but also had the issues himself before then.

The eye test says he was stronger in Roubaix last year, certainly relative to the rest of the field.

 

[rafa92]

I might be completely wrong but to me he looked less strong than last year, he probably paid that effort to close the 1 minute gap and especially the fact he had to use a spare bike, but still to me he looked smoother on the cobbles last year. Also in the last 50 KMs he was constantly getting up on the pedals, when I saw that I knew he would probably have lost

 

[Rou]

You could say whatever you want and post any random numbers you see on the internet but Pogacar is clearly weaker compared to last year, that was visible in all the races this year, and will be proven again in LBL and TDF. The eye test never lies.

I agree. Everything else is copium. It's normal that he will hit his ceiling at some time.

 

[canina82]

You could say whatever you want and post any random numbers you see on the internet but Pogacar is clearly weaker compared to last year, that was visible in all the races this year, and will be proven again in LBL and TDF. The eye test never lies.

Did you see that on MSR too?

 

[Skalman]

Someone else could win Tdf this year, ok maybe not this year but very soon.

 

[Rou]

Did you see that on MSR too?

Stop talking about MSR. You think if Vingegaard is in MSR he won't follow Pogacar?

 

[Jan the Man]

Someone else could win Tdf this year, ok maybe not this year but very soon.

That’s what you’ve taken from a runner up finish in Paris- Roubaix and dominant wins at Strade and Ronde 😮

 

[Salvarani]

The eye test says he was stronger in Roubaix last year, certainly relative to the rest of the field.

Tailwind and good conditions

Also hard to gauge how deep he had to go in his multiple mechs

 

[fenns]

some similarities to Paris last year - Pog forced to work on the hardest sectors only to get overwhelmed by Wout

 

[canina82]

Stop talking about MSR. You think if Vingegaard is in MSR he won't follow Pogacar?

Wout was clearly better this year. This race just isn't made for Pogacar. He will have a lot of troubles to win this race.

 

[Rou]

Wout was clearly better this year. This race just isn't made for Pogacar. He will have a lot of troubles to win this race.

As it was said Pogacar looked gassed with 50 km to go.
If MVDP didn't have a flat he would have destroyed him by minutes.

 

[Savant12]

Wout was just better than Pog.

Pog knew that MSR was winnable but PR is a whole different beast to get right.

 

[rafa92]

You could say whatever you want and post any random numbers you see on the internet but Pogacar is clearly weaker compared to last year, that was visible in all the races this year, and will be proven again in LBL and TDF. The eye test never lies.

I was saying this way before today, to me already in flanders he did not look so good, especially compared to MVDP. I would not say he is clearly weaker than last year, probably he's at a similar level, but in PR specifically he looked stronger last year. But I agree those numbers about watts and climbing times do not tell much imo, imo the gap to the competition is more telling and it's clearly worse this year

 

[jotafap]

Ahahaha, first defeat, "TADEJ IS WEAKEEEEEEER! Cmon now, did we watch the same race and same season so far?

Hope he manages to win this race someday.

 

[Salvarani]

Someone else could win Tdf this year, ok maybe not this year but very soon.

We will see.

He has been very good for 5-6 years. It is very rare for someone to be as good as he has been for such a long time, relatively speaking when it comes to riders.

It is all about how long he can go on physically and mentally to be at this level.

 

[rafa92]

Did you see that on MSR too?

in MSR he was a bit stronger than last year, today he was less good that in PR last year

 

[Skalman]

That’s what you’ve taken from a runner up finish in Paris- Roubaix and dominant wins at Strade and Ronde 😮

No its more how he looks compared to others, he looked human today in way I haven't seen since Vingegard beat him in the high mountains

 

[Bratone]

Did you see that on MSR too?

100% and it very clearly started from Strade where he had to dig super deep to drop Seixas and only one by 1 minute, last year the gap was bigger even though he dropped Pidcock at like half the distance.
In MSR the gap to the peleton was 4 seconds, again, much smaller than last year.
In Ronde he only took 6 seconds of MVDP on the 3rd Kwaremont and was visibly struggling, won by 30 seconds which again is half the gap of last year when 5 people were pulling behind him.
As I said, you can say whatever you want but he is clearly weaker than last year.

 

[Rou]

All this talk about 3 GTs in a year and so on is complete BS.
I said it: 'He needs the Vuelta this year or he may retire without one in his palmares'.

 

[fenns]

As it was said Pogacar looked gassed with 50 km to go.
If MVDP didn't have a flat he would have destroyed him by minutes.

Agree MVDP was very unlucky with his mechanical - and all known form says he is the best rider in these conditions.

 

[Jan the Man]

in MSR he was a bit stronger than last year, today he was less good that in PR last year

Las year he was cramping with 75km to go. This year he had a flat and had to spend bullets even earlier. I guess it’s about perception. Wout is clearly stronger than last year so i would not read as much into it that he was able to stay with Pog. Wout and MvP are made for this. I am glad Wout finally won one of these with the bad luck he has had and rode a tactically smart race. I won’t be drawing any conclusions that Pog is measurably weaker than last year from this race though

 

[Red Rick]

The difference between not having hills and having hills is just huge, you can tell by the fact that in the final flat 10km of RVV he puts time into everyone and here they're not really putting time into a chase group. He was proper fried.

 

[rafa92]

Ahahaha, first defeat, "TADEJ IS WEAKEEEEEEER! Cmon now, did we watch the same race and same season so far?

Hope he manages to win this race someday.

I also hope that, but the point is that everybody was saying that he got stronger this year, citing climbing times and watts, also Gorka Prieto said he got significantly stronger but imo in the races so far this year he was a bit stronger in MSR and strade bianche, at a similar level in flanders and in paris roubaix he actually looked stronger last year.