Tadej Pogacar and Mauro Giannetti

[Unchained]

Most of what you write is a consequence of being from the USA.
Another thing is that he DID beat cancer and recovered to be a 7 time TdF champion. That counts for something.

That counts for everything, not a little something. Lance Armstrong, despite being American was a world wide phenomenon, his bike racing was complimentary to his conquering cancer story.
Bike racing wise Tadej Pogacar looks likely to break most existing records but as of now he is nowhere near what Armstrong accomplished in wealth or public recognition globally. Pogacar is isolated in a cycling bubble, Armstrong was not his biggest impact was outside cycling. If you are just comparing Armstrong and Pogacar using bike racing metrics, Tadej is superior.

 

[aphronesis]

Of course there’s the argument that certain Americans would make overcoming cancer into an identity and publicity agenda.

Pog might have other priorities.

 

[Revelation]

Yes, a guy being the best rider in the world by using training methods a decade out of date makes all of the sense in the world

Shame there's no sense left in this world.

I do think that even if the training methods were far from optimal, Pogacar was also to blame by not dedicating himself fully into maximising his performance until 2024. There was nothing stopping him from having the proper physique before that, so not an insignificant gain was had from that alone before whatever Sola brought.

 

[Abedfo]

I think what we have to remember through all this is that UAEs performances look so over the top because we are also assuming that the majority of other teams also have programmes.

I also find it laughable to suggest a world tour pro isn't "dedicating themselves fully" they are being paid handsomely to do so.