Tadej Pogacar and Mauro Giannetti

[Abedfo]

Velo e-newsletter: "How Pogacar Transformed His Body for the Cobbles"

It really does feel like we're living in the past. They ran an article on his carb loading magic last week. Hard to believe that at this point in the evolution of the sport it's just lifting a few more weights and eating some more carbs...

Is that a typo ? should it not read e-velo newsletter

 

[ashhutch1997]

Velo e-newsletter: "How Pogacar Transformed His Body for the Cobbles"

It really does feel like we're living in the past. They ran an article on his carb loading magic last week. Hard to believe that at this point in the evolution of the sport it's just lifting a few more weights and eating some more carbs...

Carbs, wide tires and tubeless tires!

 

[MountainGoatW]

Velo e-newsletter: "How Pogacar Transformed His Body for the Cobbles"

It really does feel like we're living in the past. They ran an article on his carb loading magic last week. Hard to believe that at this point in the evolution of the sport it's just lifting a few more weights and eating some more carbs...

That's very true, but you can see even here in the clinic that it works and the explanation is accepted like the most normal thing. People say his power/endurance and all year top form, crushing opponents at will on all terrain is completely normal and his clean or at maximum uses some grey area stuff. It's a WWE-circus these days.

 

[Abedfo]

Carbs, wide tires and tubeless tires!

How can you forget the aero socks and the all new aero BB's!!!!!

 

[ashhutch1997]

How can you forget the aero socks and the all new aero BB's!!!!!

That's another 100 watts!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

How can you forget the aero socks and the all new aero BB's!!!!!

I didn't know blood bags could come with an aerodynamic advantage, but nothing can surprise me anymore.

 

[AlpRaid]

Velo e-newsletter: "How Pogacar Transformed His Body for the Cobbles"

maybe he had chemo. that's worked in the past.

 

[onefortheroad]

It’s not all ‘eye test stuff’ though, is it? It’s ’what he actually does’ stuff. It’s 2026 and by now Pogacar wins every race he takes part in. That is objectively unprecedented. That’s evidence item number one. Then, related of course, there’s his consistency and immunity to fatigue. Number three is his ability, in this age of super specific cycling, to ride all race types and be not merely competitive but to destroy all his competitors. Which brings me to number four. An ability to win at will, and in any fashion, with relative ease, in whatever manner he chooses. Seated accelerations that leave everyone else behind as if they were standing still. And I ask again. Why does he not suffer from oxygen debt following brutal accelerations at high altitude? Why can he just keep going at those faster speeds without having to knock off the effort? That doesn’t need numbers, or calculations, it needs an explanation.

Totally agree.
For decades, cycling was a game of trade offs. But Pogačar is dismantling the specialists at their own game, all year round. He has the punch of a sprinter, the engine of a TT specialist, the lungs of a pure climber, rolling harder on the flats than the classicists who weigh more. Simultaneously...

Yet here we are. He doesn't just win. He chooses where to win, how to win, when to win, and by how much to win. Isn't just dominance, it's a middle finger to the rest of the World Tour. He has engineered away the "bad days".

In 2026, I expect a 100% strike rate. Any "crumb" he leaves behind (a minor stage or a secondary race) would be purely strategic.