Tadej Pogacar and Mauro Giannetti

[Rackham]

It was 10+ seconds near the top. A lot for such a short climb.

Maybe I'm just totally blasé and I've been watching these riders for a long time now because I'm just not that impressed.

Romain Grégoire and Oscar Onley didn't suddenly turn into beasts either. Yeah Pog gapped everyone who isn't Vinge but did anyone expect anything less? Or did anyone expect other riders to fight for GC? No.

It just seems weird to me how so many people are spazzing out over something we've been seeing for ages now (Pog bossing it with Vinge on his wheel).

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Maybe I'm just totally blasé and I've been watching these riders for a long time now because I'm just not that impressed.

Romain Grégoire and Oscar Onley didn't suddenly turn into beasts either. Yeah Pog gapped everyone who isn't Vinge but did anyone expect anything less? Or did anyone expect other riders to fight for GC? No.

It just seems weird to me how so many people are spazzing out over something we've been seeing for ages now (Pog bossing it with Vinge on his wheel).

I think Pogacar's ride today was more or less what was expected (by his lofty standards). Vingo being able to hold on is not surprising either. There was a question mark regarding MVP on that climb but he beat him easily. Word pedestrian to me sounds like he underperformed.

 

[Red Rick]

To me the only reason it seems pedestrian is because Pogacar is a bit overrated on a hill like this when the race hasn't been that hard. Even on La Redoute, which is longer, he crests with maybe 15s of advantage and that's when attacking early.

 

[Rackham]

I think Pogacar's ride today was more or less what was expected (by his lofty standards). Vingo being able to hold on is not surprising either. There was a question mark regarding MVP on that climb but he beat him easily. Word pedestrian to me sounds like he underperformed.

Oh he was pedestrian alright.

If I'm going to have to sit watching these races and stomach his wins for another 5-10 years, I might as well start creating a hierarchy between really impressive versus Meh versus pedestrian versus où est le Pog? (that's Granon 2022 or Loze 23).

I'm sorry but today was just totally forgettable on the Pogometer scale.

 

[Tommy Gun]

Only French gendarmes can save the Tour now. I miss the rest-day raids from the 90s-00s.

 

[SorelyBoy]

It was obvious during that crazy run in to the last climb, and the last climb itself, that Pogacar wanted to put twenty seconds into everyone and solo to the line. That includes Vingegaard who was really impressive given that short punchy climbs haven’t historically suited him. But if anything, it seemed that Pogacar cracked himself on that last climb. Vingegaard did have that little moment near the top, but in the end he easily made back the gap. Pogacar just seemed to run out of steam (flat battery?). That it didn’t quite work out is interesting, he may be suffering from a huge amount of overconfidence. Visma will probably be quietly content if that’s the case, and that there’s a real chance that he’ll burn himself out as he did in 2022. However, the expectation must be that Pogacar will be on the special bike come the key mountain stages, and maybe on the time trial tomorrow.

 

[Cookster15]

Didn't Vingegaard beat Pogacar in a sprint finish last year - stage 11? Pog seemed a little rattled after that day. I don't think we can read too much into today.

 

[Monoxidator]

Noticed Pogacar messing with his computer again right before the attack… nothing suspicious at all.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Only French gendarmes can save the Tour now. I miss the rest-day raids from the 90s-00s.

Imagine gendarmes handcuff Pogi & Vingo on the first rest day. Cycling world reacting:

Evenepoel (almost crying): This is the happiest day in my career. My dream can finally come true.
Roglic: Tour victory? Why not, eh? It's all about staying on my bike.
Almeida (barely hiding his smile): Oh, this is terrible news but we must go on. I'm going for the victory now!
Jorgenson: I don't want to lead the team in a GT, Sepp is our leader now!

 

[Rackham]

Didn't Vingegaard beat Pogacar in a sprint finish last year - stage 11? Pog seemed a little rattled after that day. I don't think we can read too much into today.

I see mou and the cultists are blaming the lack of gel for Pogi not smashing Vinge by 30 seconds yesterday.

So come on, I was right. It was pedestrian and even the hardcore faithful wanted more.

Now obviously it has zero bearing on what will happen next week. Vinge was also aggressive early on in the Dauphiné and then got pretty easily beaten on the climbs later in the race.

 

[Cookster15]

I see mou and the cultists are blaming the lack of gel for Pogi not smashing Vinge by 30 seconds yesterday.

So come on, I was right. It was pedestrian and even the hardcore faithful wanted more.

Now obviously it has zero bearing on what will happen next week. Vinge was also aggressive early on in the Dauphiné and then got pretty easily beaten on the climbs later in the race.

Yes that is pretty damning. Well played. Let's see I'm not saying much been burned too many times making predictions i this forum

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I see mou and the cultists are blaming the lack of gel for Pogi not smashing Vinge by 30 seconds yesterday.

Remember that Pogi had a sugar low at the end of stage 11 last year? I think that low still affected him yesterday.

 

[DONCA]

But hey only with the aero Colnago still and that was nothing compared to the seated accelarations in FW&LBL. Still what a clownshow. Almeida has also gotten a serious jump in performance, after they finally learned how to train in UAE on winter 23/24.

I noticed the same thing.

There is a normal Pogi (Y1Rs Aero Bike)
and an alien Pogi (V5Rs)

Almost all of his big wins he did on the V4Rs or V5Rs. I think that on the Y1Rs he only won 3 stages (UAE + Tour yesterday). All the crazy performances happend on his VRs bike). Coincidence?

Let´s see maybe the put out the V5Rs with some aero bars for the TT
And what is Pog always doing on his bike computer? Always pressing before his attacks.

 

[pelotonIQ]

I see mou and the cultists are blaming the lack of gel for Pogi not smashing Vinge by 30 seconds yesterday.

Everyone is free to their own speculation but the minority of us in this forum that have experience racing know that a gel towards the latter part of a race before attacking or before the pace picks up is very crucial.

 

[ColonelKidneyBeans]

Noticed Pogacar messing with his computer again right before the attack… nothing suspicious at all.

I'm not a big believer in motors, but when he started messing with his computer my first thought was "he's going to attack!" "..." "Correction, his bike is going to attack"

 

[SorelyBoy]

Everyone is free to their own speculation but the minority of us in this forum that have experience racing know that a gel towards the latter part of a race before attacking or before the pace picks up is very crucial.

Yes, which was why both Pog and Vingegaard were swallowing gels before the last big climb. Let’s be honest, the explanation is laughable. Anyone saying Pogacar isn’t feeding correctly is more or less calling him an idiot for making rookie mistakes. He’s plenty of things, but he’s not stupid. Arrogant maybe, greedy almost certainly, but not stupid.

 

[Didinho]

About the messing with his bike computer. You can easily have a button on the handlebar if you want to hide something. Don’t do it so obvious, so I’m not thinking anything about this behavior.

 

[DONCA]

Yes, which was why both Pog and Vingegaard were swallowing gels before the last big climb. Let’s be honest, the explanation is laughable. Anyone saying Pogacar isn’t feeding correctly is more or less calling him an idiot for making rookie mistakes. He’s plenty of things, but he’s not stupid. Arrogant maybe, greedy almost certainly, but not stupid.

It´s a joke. Mou is always looking for excuses and narratives that distract from the possible doping and Pogs extraordinary performances on the VR5s / VR4s.

Since Pogi has been doing quasi-inhuman things, Mou suddenly appears and tells us the fairy tale that Pog's sudden increase in performance is the result of altitude training and heat training. As if a team like UAE didn't know about it before. Even most amateurs knew about high altitude and heat training. Come on. Since Pogi is doing alien things mou started talking. Why? He tries to maintain the narrative of the clean athlete.

It's always the same principle. Yesterday it was the alleged gel he forgot that explains his "normal" performance and tomorrow it's something else. All Mou is trying to do is distract from something that is very likely -> doping.

This explosion in performance is inexplicable and Mou knows that, and so does UAE. That's why they need people who try to explain it. Otherwise there would be many more skeptics.

 

[noob]

It´s a joke. Mou is always looking for excuses and narratives that distract from the possible doping and Pogs extraordinary performances on the VR5s / VR4s.

Since Pogi has been doing quasi-inhuman things, Mou suddenly appears and tells us the fairy tale that Pog's sudden increase in performance is the result of altitude training and heat training. As if a team like UAE didn't know about it before. Even most amateurs knew about high altitude and heat training. Come on. Since Pogi is doing alien things mou started talking. Why? He tries to maintain the narrative of the clean athlete.

It's always the same principle. Yesterday it was the alleged gel he forgot that explains his "normal" performance and tomorrow it's something else. All Mou is trying to do is distract from something that is very likely -> doping.

This explosion in performance is inexplicable and Mou knows that, and so does UAE. That's why they need people who try to explain it. Otherwise there would be many more skeptics.

I don't think UAE is skilled enough to be able to get use out of Mou. He's in his own world.

 

[Luthor]

I don't think UAE is skilled enough to be able to get use out of Mou. He's in his own world.

Mou is someone from Pog's camp that's for sure. It creates narratives that always benefits Pog's and stirs *** to make him look believable. He is basically a burner account used by Pog's camp to deliver hard to prove evidence and attack riders. Pog's camp doesn't like Ayuso becase he isn't their lap dog so mou *** on him almost all the time. Recently he attacked sprinters and sprint stages. Also attacking Vinge for not collaborating with him. And so on.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

About the messing with his bike computer. You can easily have a button on the handlebar if you want to hide something. Don’t do it so obvious, so I’m not thinking anything about this behavior.

I think he's just finishing off a game of Tetris or Snake before attacking like Pog-Man in real life. However in this version he's a ghost eating yellow things.

 

[Red Rick]

Mou is someone from Pog's camp that's for sure. It creates narratives that always benefits Pog's and stirs *** to make him look believable. He is basically a burner account used by Pog's camp to deliver hard to prove evidence and attack riders. Pog's camp doesn't like Ayuso becase he isn't their lap dog so mou shitted on him almost all the time. Recently he attacked sprinters and sprint stages. Also attacking Vinge for not collaborating with him. And so on.

Literally everytihng about that can easily be a deranged fan. There's basically nothing that suggests inside info.

 

[Luthor]

Literally everytihng about that can easily be a deranged fan. There's basically nothing that suggests inside info.

That's what I thought as well at the beginning. But his comments and behavior are quite different from deranged fans. He is far more vile and launches rumors that benefit Pog. He is aware of his following and also some of his calculations aren't that dumb.
Like take the latest rumor with Evenepoel to Visma. Makes no sense but it's a distraction that benefits Pog.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Are you not entertained?🤣

 

[Berniece]

I’m close to being done with any race he participates in