Tadej Pogacar and Mauro Giannetti

[SHAD0W93]

Every time when I ride my cargo bike uphill I get the complete opposite feeling you have. I don't think he actually uses a motor, but I always seem to accelerate similar to him.

Maybe it’s from what Peterfin described, since at least compared to the e bike I rode Pogacar didn’t have any accelerations like that.

 

[Cookster15]

Maybe it’s from what Peterfin described, since at least compared to the e bike I rode Pogacar didn’t have any accelerations like that.

I don't think Pogacar is using a motor. But if he was it would be more like 40 watts than say the 250 to 500 watts that commercially sold e bikes make.

 

[HashRouge]

After riding an e bike for the first time I think the theory of Pogacar using a motor has even less credibility. Definitely on something high tech and maybe that crazy cocktail helped with his heat resistance. UAE also doesn’t seem to get bans if I recall vs like Visma with their issue a year and half or so ago.

I genuinely think the improvement in heat resistance might be down to his own hard work. I know that's controversial to say in the Clinic, but I've seen quite a few comments online about people who've come across him training in very hot weather all layered up and dressed in black. I think we have a tendency to say everything is doping, but I think sometimes we need to consider other factors too.

 

[SorelyBoy]

After riding an e bike for the first time I think the theory of Pogacar using a motor has even less credibility. Definitely on something high tech and maybe that crazy cocktail helped with his heat resistance. UAE also doesn’t seem to get bans if I recall vs like Visma with their issue a year and half or so ago.

Oh he’s on a brilliant programme, no doubt. However, the margin of superiority over a never more competitive and professional field does require a different theory and understanding of what is actually happening. I therefore lean towards thinking there’s something going on with the bike judging by the growing weight of supporting evidence we’re seeing during races. The crazy seated and sustained accelerations in Alpine stages which don’t seem to involve a corresponding increase in body torque. The severe uphill short anaerobic accelerations in certain classic races, again seated, and which leave competitors to their square peddling. The savage and sustained attacks from up to 100km out. The weird and unpredictable one day dips in performances, followed by immediate return to form the next day. Such performance dips occur during time trial stages more often than not. I think that’s significant. I could go on about his general unparalleled consistency without having off days, or periods of illness. I think motorised assistance could facilitate effort management, lessening the attritional impact on the body that Pogacar appears not to suffer from so much. When we then also consider what was being achieved by e bike technology up to 20years ago, the constant rumours in the peloton, and the fact that UAE brought bike design in-house, plus the record of its team director, then it’s more than reasonable to be concerned.

 

[Rob5091]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...ording-to-tudor-nutrition-expert-tim-podlogar

(Worth a look at the original article in Slovenian https://siol.net/sportal/kolesarstv...o-katera-od-ekip-kaj-taksnega-ponovila-676625 )

“This year, what stuck with me most was the domination of Tadej Pogacar. I find it exceptional that he is capable of winning such different types of races – from stage races to the most demanding one-day Classics. His physiology seems completely unimaginable to me. It is incredible how he can maintain such high numbers, such a strong rhythm, for so long, and still not arrive at the finish totally exhausted,” says Dr Tim Podlogar, lecturer and head of the Centre for Sports Physiology and Exercise Testing at the University of Exeter, speaking to Slovenian outlet Siol. “It would be excellent if we could study Tadej’s physiology in the laboratory, for example with muscle biopsies, and find out how his muscles function,” he adds – fully aware that there is little chance of that while Pogacar is still rewriting the record books.

(With a nod to the reference of Ljubljana Sports Therapy scene -

Dr. Tim Podlogar is a graduate of kinesiology at the Ljubljana Faculty of Sport, exercise physiologist and nutritionist with a PhD from the University of Birmingham in the UK, researching sports nutrition and metabolism. Under the mentorship of Dr. Gareth Wallis, he received his MSc (2016) and PhD (2020) in Carbohydrate Metabolism. After completing his doctorate, he did postdoctoral work for a year at the Jožef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, where he researched ketone bodies and menthol supplements in extreme environments under the mentorship of Dr. Tadej Debevec. Around the same time, he became an assistant professor of exercise physiology at the University of Primorska. At the end of 2021, he returned to the University of Birmingham as a researcher, where he collaborated with Dr. Wallis on a project that investigated the effect of heat acclimatization on the rate of oxidation of exogenous carbohydrates. Following the completion of this project in September 2024, he joined the University of Exeter as Lecturer and Head of the Centre for Sports Physiology and Exercise Testing. He worked as a nutritionist with the Red Bull BORA-hansgrohe cycling team for three years, and this season he works as a consultant to nutritionists and occasionally coaches in the Tudor team.

 

[Cookster15]

Pogacar was noted for seated attacks since 2021. He won the 2021 TdF with a seated attack. So seated attacks don't indicate anything about his jump in 2024. He got spanked in the Tour two years running and did some homework.

Lack of illness is a new one - but Armstrong never got sick during his 7 tour "wins" either. But if Pogacar's doctors have worked out how to stop him getting sick then I think there is a global medical science community who might also like to know that secret?

Again I ask, who is this maestro sports scientist employed at UAE because it most definitely isn't Mauro Gianetti?

 

[Salvarani]

Pogacar was noted for seated attacks since 2021. He won the 2021 TdF with a seated attack. So seated attacks don't indicate anything about his jump in 2024. He got spanked in the Tour two years running and did some homework.

Lack of illness is a new one - but Armstrong never got sick during his 7 tour "wins" either. But if Pogacar's doctors have worked out how to stop him getting sick then I think there is a global medical science community who might also like to know that secret?

Again I ask, who is this maestro sports scientist employed at UAE because it most definitely isn't Mauro Gianetti?

He was sick in 2023, I believe. At least one year he had a mouth sore. Usually happens when immune systems is down.

He was sick this year as well, no?

I believe most riders are coughing and have light fevers towards the end of any GT, anyway. Most dont make a big deal out of it. Three weeks of traveling and racing in hot/cold weather will do that naturally. Meeting and being around so many people. Hotels and whatnot.

I dont think that is something to really point at as something groundbreaking.

Key is managing and mindset. People underestimate the power of this quality in many aspects.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...ording-to-tudor-nutrition-expert-tim-podlogar

(Worth a look at the original article in Slovenian https://siol.net/sportal/kolesarstv...o-katera-od-ekip-kaj-taksnega-ponovila-676625 )


(With a nod to the reference of Ljubana Sports Therapy scene -

So dr Podlogar implies his compatriot is an x-man. He even wants to put him in a lab and do some tests.

 

[BubbaChuck]

Guy,who won pogi challenge can do 6,3 for 40. And he is 40 years old. Picture pogacar in cyclocross at 35,its gonna get ugly.

 

[BubbaChuck]

Literally better talent than lance armstrong,pantani or big mig.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Guy,who won pogi challenge can do 6,3 for 40. And he is 40 years old. Picture pogacar in cyclocross at 35,its gonna get ugly.

Most hill-climbing events that 40 yo guy does (and likely training as well) are focused on Z5 or Z4 efforts so he's a specialist. Plus it's likely that Pogacar will be way more "spent" at the age of 35 (because of a huge load of intense races and pressure in his career) and won't want to do races anymore.

 

[Red Rick]

Andrew Feather doing 6.3 for 40 is more like Contador doing 458 W for 19:59 in a pre Tour test.

Not exactly replicable in racing conditions.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Andrew Feather doing 6.3 for 40 is more like Contador doing 458 W for 19:59 in a pre Tour test.

Not exactly replicable in racing conditions.

He's a specialist at stand-alone efforts of short or medium duration. Big engine (VO2max) but likely would need a lot of base training to be competitive in normal races.

 

[BubbaChuck]

''Andrew, like Pogi, is an immense talent. It's almost laughable to see how little training you do compared to the amateurs who were over four minutes behind him in the Pogi Challenge. His training volume is probably about half of what others do, who have trainers, an actual diet plan, and a strict routine, while Andrew can just jump into McDonald's and train without any plan.'' Dont show this to Remco.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

''Andrew, like Pogi, is an immense talent. It's almost laughable to see how little training you do compared to the amateurs who were over four minutes behind him in the Pogi Challenge. His training volume is probably about half of what others do, who have trainers, an actual diet plan, and a strict routine, while Andrew can just jump into McDonald's and train without any plan.'' Dont show this to Remco.

Considering that law is his profession, his training volume is likely considerably lower than in case of typical pros. I also tend to think that Z4/Z5 intensity is a bigger percentage of his training than in case of pros (who do a looot of Z2). He's surely a talent, that can't be denied.