Teams & Riders Tadej Pogačar discussion thread

[canina82]

He tries to pretend he knows how to accept defeat (altough even yesterday he couldn't pull it off!). But you can tell he's completely pissed off. And I suspect he is quite vindictive. And when it comes to WVA, he is out for blood now.
Has he even beaten WVA recently? The truth is, he is already taken two massive hits: Champs-Élysées and Paris-Roubaix. That’s got to sting. Honestly, watching those was pure bliss! Eheheheh.

He beats WVA many times...

SB
MSR
RVV

 

[Extinction]

Pog to win the sprint on Champs Elisse, like Hinault.

 

[Extinction]

Pog has plenty of time to fine tune, with Tour de Swiss, and then ad astra.

 

[onefortheroad]

He beats WVA many times...

SB
MSR
RVV

Oh yes, it is why those losses must sting even more. The skeletons don't even give him a rush anymore. He has got Vinge enslaved, who has not gained an inch on him in years. Now he wants to devour the heavy hitters too. Surreal dominance, for sure, but not absolute...yet. At least he still failed his first win at PR and missed out on winning all five monuments in a single year. For now (2026).

 

[canina82]

Oh yes, it is why those losses must sting even more. The skeletons don't even give him a rush anymore. He has got Vinge enslaved, who has not gained an inch on him in years. Now he wants to devour the heavy hitters too. Surreal dominance, for sure, but not absolute...yet. At least he still failed his first win at PR and missed out on winning all five monuments in a single year. For now (2026).

He is getting closer. 4 monument wins is already a legendary feat. Next year, he will not race all 5.
I'm expecting a schedule like this:
SB
MSR
Pais Vasco
Ardennes
Dauphiné
TdF
WC
Vuelta
GdL

 

[onefortheroad]

He is getting closer. 4 monument wins is already a legendary feat. Next year, he will not race all 5.
I'm expecting a schedule like this:
SB
MSR
Pais Vasco
Ardennes
Dauphiné
TdF
WC
Vuelta
GdL

He failed PR again (his obsession) and won't race it in 2027?! I always thought he desperately wanted PR and all 5 Monuments in one year. More than Giro, Vuelta or the 3 GTs.

 

[jmdirt]

Pogacar is probably around 0.5 w/kg off his best shape which is absolutely normal. He has around 2 kg to lose, altitude training yet to start, etc.

.5 w/kg is significant. If he gains .5...WTFO!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Pog to win the sprint on Champs Elisse, like Hinault.

He will target the green jersey this time. Relief for skeletons of July, disaster for Jasper.

 

[HashRouge]

He failed PR again (his obsession) and won't race it in 2027?! I always thought he desperately wanted PR and all 5 Monuments in one year. More than Giro, Vuelta or the 3 GTs.

As far as I know, he's never mentioned anything about winning all five in one year. Whenever journalists mentioned it to him before PR, he was really playing it down or changing the subject. Presumably because he knows that PR, like MSR, is a very difficult one for him. Also, can we really call PR his obsession? He's raced it twice so far, and nothing suggests he's "obsessed" with it. That was MSR, no?

 

[canina82]

As far as I know, he's never mentioned anything about winning all five in one year. Whenever journalists mentioned it to him before PR, he was really playing it down or changing the subject. Presumably because he knows that PR, like MSR, is a very difficult one for him. Also, can we really call PR his obsession? He's raced it twice so far, and nothing suggests he's "obsessed" with it. That was MSR, no?

He is not mentioning but it's clear he is targetting all monuments. Not only to win all of them but also because Pogacar loves racing classics.

 

[vappa]

As far as I know, he's never mentioned anything about winning all five in one year. Whenever journalists mentioned it to him before PR, he was really playing it down or changing the subject. Presumably because he knows that PR, like MSR, is a very difficult one for him. Also, can we really call PR his obsession? He's raced it twice so far, and nothing suggests he's "obsessed" with it. That was MSR, no?

But, attempting the GT triple would only take 1 P-R attempt away from him, it's not like he'd have to sacrifice multiple years for that. Also, why I think he never spoke about it is because first you have to win Giro, and then the Tour AND then you can start speaking about the triple, plus you have to be fresh enough for the Vuelta. If you fail one of the first two the triple isn't happening anyway

 

[assisting]

I always thought he desperately wanted PR and all 5 Monuments in one year.

Not sure if you are serious. I very much doubt that this is an ambition of his. MSR and PR are way to difficult to win for him. Winning all classics is already a very big task. Winning all of them in one year would be monumental. That it does not seem impossible for him, really shows the level he is at. He is racing history.

 

[canina82]

Not sure if you are serious. I very much doubt that this is an ambition of his. MSR and PR are way to difficult to win for him. Winning all classics is already a very big task. Winning all of them in one year would be monumental. That it does not seem impossible for him, really shows the level he is at. He is racing history.

Why is he racing LBL when his peak was clearly for the MSR-PR period (including RVV)?

 

[vappa]

Why is he racing LBL when his peak was clearly for the MSR-PR period (including RVV)?

Because it's a monument, a top 10 most important race of the season, it suits him, requires no specific preparation for him and slots well into his schedule. Why WOULDN'T he race it?

 

[assisting]

Why is he racing LBL when his peak was clearly for the MSR-PR period (including RVV)?

Because he wants to add to his monuments tally and thinks about the overall record currently held by Merckx?

 

[HashRouge]

But, attempting the GT triple would only take 1 P-R attempt away from him, it's not like he'd have to sacrifice multiple years for that. Also, why I think he never spoke about it is because first you have to win Giro, and then the Tour AND then you can start speaking about the triple, plus you have to be fresh enough for the Vuelta. If you fail one of the first two the triple isn't happening anyway

I wasn't talking about the GT triple? I was talking about winning all five monuments in one year.

 

[canina82]

Because it's a monument, a top 10 most important race of the season, it suits him, requires no specific preparation for him and slots well into his schedule. Why WOULDN'T he race it?

So he thinks in every monument. If he races all of them, he is trying to win all 5 in one season.

 

[AmRacer]

So he thinks in every monument. If he races all of them, he is trying to win all 5 in one season.

Yeah, but he may not be racing MSR again, and PR after he wins it.

 

[vappa]

So he thinks in every monument. If he races all of them, he is trying to win all 5 in one season.

Of course he's trying to, indirectly, win all 5. You can only talk about winning 5 if you win the first 4. But winning all 5 isn't a seasonal priority because everyone realises how difficult that is

 

[assisting]

So he thinks in every monument. If he races all of them, he is trying to win all 5 in one season.

The goal is to win as many monuments as possible. Winning all in one season would have been an extremely nice by-product, but is IMHO not the main goal. As another poster already pointed out, Pogačar did not want to speak about it when pointed to it before PR because he understands that might be seem arrogant.

 

[vappa]

I wasn't talking about the GT triple? I was talking about winning all five monuments in one year.

I know, my point was that even if he does a GT triple that will only take away 1 P-R try, there's a lot more years to try the 5 and, in my opinion, very limited number of years to try the triple

 

[AmRacer]

I know, my point was that even if he does a GT triple that will only take away 1 P-R try, there's a lot more years to try the 5 and, in my opinion, very limited number of years to try the triple

I don't think Pogi will race MSR again. When he's at the start line, he wants to win and it's too dangerous training for MSR and too difficult to win.

 

[vappa]

I don't think Pogi will race MSR again. When he's at the start line, he wants to win and it's too dangerous training for MSR and too difficult to win.

I don't know yet, maybe he will be there because the race isn't difficult and suits nicely into his usual schedule but won't do any specific training for it. Now he'll be the one who could afford to gamble a bit

 

[AmRacer]

I don't know yet, maybe he will be there because the race isn't difficult and suits nicely into his usual schedule but won't do any specific training for it

Then he won't win it, so no.

 

[vappa]

Then he won't win it, so no.

I think he has made enough targeted training in the last few years to win it again. This year a lot of things didn't go to plan and he still won it. So if things do go to plan, he can still win it without obsessively preparing for it