He also got destroyed by a half injured Van Aert a couple of weeks ago.
You're right it was smart to go for a flat sprint against the superior climbers after his all out attack was laughed off.
You're right it was smart to go for a flat sprint against the superior climbers after his all out attack was laughed off.
- Feb 8, 2023
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I would say there’s obviously a reason to it other than Pogacar has become a much worse climber suddenly, as that doesn’t make any sense.
This is Amstel Gold Race and the Dauphine TT from last year all over again, and we saw how that turned out.
If you really think winning 3 Monuments + Strade is such an easy thing to do, why can't your man simply ride those races?
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All Jonas does is stage races, Jonas is Jonas, he’ll be near Pog in the big hills.
Pog is transitioning right now , metamorphosis will be complete by June, the summer butterfly Pog will emerge. Dangerous to do a silly attack while in transition.
Sexy was dropped by Pog on a decent climb so we can’t say Pog isn’t in a good climbing level
Pog is transitioning right now , metamorphosis will be complete by June, the summer butterfly Pog will emerge. Dangerous to do a silly attack while in transition.
Sexy was dropped by Pog on a decent climb so we can’t say Pog isn’t in a good climbing level
Or maybe he did just enough so he would have a couple of guys with for him the flat.
Almost like it was by design when one start to think about it. Anywho.
Jonas has been beasting multiple WT stage races this year already while Pogacar has been hiding from stage races and only done 4 race days.
If Vingegaard won the Giro and sexy won the tour, could Jonas still win the velo d’or this season ?
- Jul 7, 2013
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After hearing Pog's interview it seems he simply wasn't good enough today.
Therefore I agree with @Rou regarding today's performance. I think he was about 5% off his top level (circa 1'-1'30'').
However, to me it's still just one off. We need more data points in the sample to confirm this trend (it could be post-Liege thing). To me it just doesn't add up for someone who can generate so yolo w/kg on shorter climbs (keep in mind that even 4 minute uphill efforts require monster relative (so mass related) VO2max).
- Jan 8, 2020
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Apollo let the others ride in his chariot across the firmament, but did not let them take the reigns like Phaeton and crash in burning disaster. The sun god was merely doing a controlled effort, showing calmly moderation in a first preparation for the Big Stage.
Good first try for someone who has done literally 0 work on relatively long climbs. Very controlled effort and a good training session.
I just think he underperformed today. Could be a bad day, post Liege fatigue, not good base climbing shape on long efforts. We will see this week.
For me people claiming that this was a 'tactical masterclass' from Pogacar are wrong.
If that's your interpretation of Roubaix, don't expect them to take the rest of your comments into account.
- Jan 8, 2020
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He's likely at 80% of capacity for stage races, after a monument campaign that included the cobbled ones, and he still was the strongest climber and dominated the sprint. His performance wasn't undertone given the circumstances and the fact that there was a long, flat run to the finish. He certainly didn't want to needlessly expend energy with the rest of the week ahead.
- Feb 12, 2025
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Agree, if one says this was a tactical master class then maybe I was watching a different sport the last decade. How can risking not to drop others( in todays case lipo & lenny) in the belief they will cooperate with you when there is a big chance they could say no at the top of the climb be a tactical master class? Both lipo & lenny can say to pog, “it’s your problem solve it.” Which could force pog to comeback to the 3rd group which is composed of no uae teammate for him & teams like bora could role him with attacks on the flat. How can one think pog is that naive to think like this🧐 He just missed the legs today probably due to detraining on long climbs + the extra 2 kilos he is carrying from the classics
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nah even if he underperform it doesnt matter for the tour lol only suise will be real test
- Aug 3, 2015
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Sensible ride all things considering. Already thinking about not going too deep. I assume he will just finish off the race on the weekend, because there's no way a guy who's dropping Seixas 3 days ago aint dropping these riders if he really tries.
Different efforts though.
His sprint showed he was fresh, a pity he didn't go all out.
- Jul 24, 2025
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Not that i think that he couldn't go faster, he most likely could, but the sprint itself doesn't say much. Had plenty of time to "recover" and he is by a mile better sprinter than anyone in that group, not even remotely close.
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