Tadej Pogacar and Mauro Giannetti

[Cookster15]

Well, broken or not, I think there’s something *very* special about that bike. Pidcock even asked after the race who would do his motor pacing in next year’s race if Pogacar wasn’t doing it. To be fair, he has a point.

I think in 2024 it was suggested his Colnago V4Rs were suspect for motors. What happened to that theory?

 

[Rob5091]

It's all Visma's fault! George "he-did-a-Landis" Bennett talks,
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...nd-how-a-tour-de-france-climb-was-the-trigger
(original article at https://www.marca.com/ciclismo/2026/03/25/george-bennett-pogacar-col-du-granon-desperto-bestia.html )

"I met him when we lost the Tour de France on the Col du Granon. I think that moment was pivotal in his career. Back then, he already had enormous talent, but he wasn't working as hard as others," Bennett said in an interview with Marca.
He believes that was what was missing at the time which, when fixed, led to his further development as a rider. "Now he's completely focused: he trains incredibly hard, he's changed his diet… He has the greatest talent in the world and a very strong mentality. He's unstoppable [...] Yes, exactly. Granon awakened the beast".

 

[AlpRaid]

It's all Visma's fault! George "he-did-a-Landis" Bennett talks,
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...nd-how-a-tour-de-france-climb-was-the-trigger
(original article at https://www.marca.com/ciclismo/2026/03/25/george-bennett-pogacar-col-du-granon-desperto-bestia.html )

The amount of articles that are coming out now with attempted explanations for the huge jump he has made is really Armstrong-esque.

 

[SorelyBoy]

The amount of articles that are coming out now with attempted reasons for the huge jump he has made is really Armstrong-esque.

Agreed. The furious and ongoing PR effort indicates that there’s at least an awareness that this is all being perceived as being implausible (gee, I wonder why?). So practically every week someone from his side comes out with a singular explanation. Zone 2 training. Crank shaft development. Seat placement. Sit ups. Food. Superior Slovenian genetics. His opponents annoyed him. Yeah, whatever, they obviously think we’re all gullible idiots who will swallow any old bollocks . It’s all bs of course. The lad is so superior to everyone else across all race types that he’s literally in another class of rider altogether. It’s like a top level world tour rider competing against the juniors while being allowed to dose EPO and huff anything else that might enhance performances. And that can’t be possible never mind natural.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Anyone who has gone to a bike shop with a stone chip, chain slap on the stay, or a big ugly gouged gel coat were your chain got sucked into the bottom bracket shell or between the crank arm and shell was told " your frame is cracked.
Grain of salt statement
Just a few years ago majority of pro crashes involved taco'd, potato chip wheels, today exactly the opposite, people crash and while they might be road rashed or broken bikes, wheels, derailure hangers have an amazing survival rate, majority ride away with rubbed bar tape, dig mark on the saddle, pedal beat up..
Disc brakes don't have relief, so when you use calipers you could flip it open so wobbling wheel wouldn't rub on the brake pads..hydraulic mechanisms pull back so you get a couple of millimeters of float..disc pads are not in constant contact w disc surface..
As far as the bike being" special" it was inspected before and after the race to check for " specialness" none found.
The decent crash and impact didn't damage the " special " capabilities of the bike.. Pretty stealth, bomb proof engineering and execution, nobody sees it, doesn't break when you fall..

I read your posts and am reminded of the nothing see here , move along reasoning used for the worst offenders of the sport. Pogacar bring so much money to cycling (i recently learned) that I don't foresee him getting caught. So Pogacar fans can rest easy. Unless public sentiment changes. For now it's clear your average joe is a Pogacar supporter. Once that stops to be the case, Pogacar diehards better start hoping for a miracle. or that Pogacar is smarter than Armstrong and does not offend former teammates. keeps them nice and happy. Just imagine if something were to stop Ayuso from pro cycling whilst pogacar is still winning left and right. Or some other pro cyclist with beef.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I read your posts and am reminded of the nothing see here , move along reasoning used for the worst offenders of the sport. Pogacar bring so much money to cycling (i recently learned) that I don't foresee him getting caught. So Pogacar fans can rest easy. Unless public sentiment changes. For now it's clear your average joe is a Pogacar supporter. Once that stops to be the case, Pogacar diehards better start hoping for a miracle. or that Pogacar is smarter than Armstrong and does not offend former teammates. keeps them nice and happy. Just imagine if something were to stop Ayuso from pro cycling whilst pogacar is still winning left and right. Or some other pro cyclist with beef.

Everybody in the peleton loves Teddy except Van Baarle and Ayuso (and I'm not even sure there was any beef directly between him and Ayuso, it was more management/ambitions problem).

 

[canina82]

I read your posts and am reminded of the nothing see here , move along reasoning used for the worst offenders of the sport. Pogacar bring so much money to cycling (i recently learned) that I don't foresee him getting caught. So Pogacar fans can rest easy. Unless public sentiment changes. For now it's clear your average joe is a Pogacar supporter. Once that stops to be the case, Pogacar diehards better start hoping for a miracle. or that Pogacar is smarter than Armstrong and does not offend former teammates. keeps them nice and happy. Just imagine if something were to stop Ayuso from pro cycling whilst pogacar is still winning left and right. Or some other pro cyclist with beef.

Pogacar is the face of cycling, a good guy with an insane talent but let's not pretend he is protected and guys like Vingegaard or Remco aren't.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Everybody in the peleton loves Teddy except Van Baarle and Ayuso (and I'm not even sure there was any beef directly between him and Ayuso, it was more management/ambitions problem).

yes, i think a lot of people underestimate Armstrong bullying of that italian(?) cycling and Landis fragile personality.
I like Remco, i doubt he'll ever become a boring rider, but maybe that's why Pogacar is so keen to befriend him. We all know remco can get emotional. At the same time he's from a cycling family and does a lot around cycling already (shop, youth team, ... ) so I doubt he'll take the rest of cycling down with him should he ever end up on the wrong side of the doping test.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

yes, i think a lot of people underestimate Armstrong bullying of that italian(?) cycling and Landis fragile personality.
I like Remco, i doubt he'll ever become a boring rider, but maybe that's why Pogacar is so keen to befriend him. We all know remco can get emotional. At the same time he's from a cycling family and does a lot around cycling already (shop, youth team, ... ) so I doubt he'll take the rest of cycling down with him should he ever end up on the wrong side of the doping test.

Armstrong was a bully in general, even towards his ex-teammates or ex-coworkers. That's why he was penalized in such a brutal way (not just for doping). Pogacar is more like a nice guy type and it seems a lot of cyclists from other teams genuinely like him (not just respect him, as in case of Armstrong). Human aspect is very important and Pogacar excels in that.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Armstrong was a bully in general, even towards his ex-teammates or ex-coworkers. That's why he was penalized in such a brutal way (not just for doping). Pogacar is more like a nice guy type and it seems a lot of cyclists from other teams genuinely like him (not just respect him, as in case of Armstrong). Human aspect is very important and Pogacar excels in that.

yeah, that's why in part i think he'll get away with it. No incentive to catch him, unless the public turns.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

yeah, that's why in part i think he'll get away with it. No incentive to catch him, unless the public turns.

Indurain was a champion liked by his peers. Pogacar is likely to end up like him.

 

[Rackham]

Armstrong was a bully in general, even towards his ex-teammates or ex-coworkers. That's why he was penalized in such a brutal way (not just for doping). Pogacar is more like a nice guy type and it seems a lot of cyclists from other teams genuinely like him (not just respect him, as in case of Armstrong). Human aspect is very important and Pogacar excels in that.

It's a different era and Pog has the benefit of a savvier support structure with well established public relations pedigree, i.e. that would be my own take here.

Just take a look at every major pro-sport out there: they all bombard us with cutesy, pulling-at-heart-strings "awweee so beautiful!" and "ohhh so funny!" media portrayals of their stars designed to make them connect with younger generations raised on the internet. Alcaraz? Check. Lando Norris? Check (in fact F1 drivers really pioneered this phenomenon with video game sessions and lots of media stunts between races). Olympic stars? Check. Ronaldo, Messi and Mbappe? Check. It's all very sleek, very curated and very very fake. Celebrity culture basically where cute and fun is the new popularity. I don't know whether Eurosport still does this but we used to get the ridiculous "Twitter segment" before every stage in a grand tour where Rob Hatch and co would show us the cutesy quirky social media posts of our dear serial dopers and their teams doing cutesy quirky things because reasons. "Smile you suckers and bow to the good guys!"

Lance meanwhile was from a different era where his "grab life by the scruff of the neck and drag it towards the almighty WIN" was the spirit of the 90's. The man was marketing himself as a Terminator because that was the prevailing American mindset at the time.

Pog is just a 2026 version with everything current year entails, aka a pretty savvy pr way of masking moments when he does lose it and lashes out at rivals.