Tadej Pogacar and Mauro Giannetti

[MartinGT]

I am not saying he didn't because the camera's weren't always on him. But I never saw him take a feed yesterday. Never saw him have a gel or anything. I wonder if that had a big part in yesterday.

 

[jotafap]

I am not saying he didn't because the camera's weren't always on him. But I never saw him take a feed yesterday. Never saw him have a gel or anything. I wonder if that had a big part in yesterday.

He did, it was shown at least 2 times, one of those after he made the first comeback before arenberg.

 

[BubbaChuck]

Iam suspecting gels also,but fact is,he wasnot on a great day.He looked crazy easy,when they started sending it,but than he looked laboured rest of the way. VDP looked stronger on flat yesterday and with better recovery. He didnot have usual zing.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Iam suspecting gels also,but fact is,he wasnot on a great day.He looked crazy easy,when they started sending it,but than he looked laboured rest of the way. VDP looked stronger on flat yesterday and with better recovery. He didnot have usual zing.

Didn't you watch PR last year? Pog cracked a bit at the end and was doing zigzags to avoid even easy cobbles (it looked comical). He was maybe more laboured than yesterday. Its the same laws of physics that work against his opponents at the business end of hilly/mountainous races: MVP and WVA have better engines on this terrain.

 

[Revelation]

On this 'fan reaction' issue I'd expect people to have some self awareness, take a step back and look at the bigger picture: Pog, a lightweight climber, has been demolishing absolutely every preconceived notion about cycling since 2020 (talk about weight, seasonal peaks etc. no longer means anything now). He's not alone (others have alien performances as well) but he's definitely the flagbearer for all the what-the-hell-am-I-even-watching that cycling has turned into over the past half decade.

Long range attacks where he blows everyone off his wheel are the norm, as is winning on every terrain all season long in GT's (with ease and absolutely monster gaps) and monuments where he's mostly always the winner and when he isn't he's 2nd.

So the people who attached themselves emotionally to that level of athlete (& yes, with the types of characters behind him like Mauro Gianneti) should probably lay off the defensiveness or perceived victimization when he doesn't win. His entire career arc is not normal. Just like Eddy's was not normal 50 years ago (but for some reason he's been totally whitewashed in order to create GOAT versus GOAT narratives relative Pog when in effect the man was a PED crook).

Serious question, are you trolling, or just somehow unable to see what the issue is? Not exaggerating, half of the race thread was people losing their mind at every turn because other riders dared not do exactly what they wanted to minimize Pogacar's chances of winning the race (as well as the obvious laughable double standards and seething jokes), because that's by far the most important thing for those people. And this went of for 5 hours, over and over. There was probably 10+ posters who if I was in their place yesterday, especially considering what the end result was, I wouldn't dare come back here again. It's insane to me how people like Red Rick and Netserk can conduct themselves in a manner like that again and again and still supposedly be respected members. The topic has nothing to do with Pogacar not winning, but I suspect you understand this and are just reflecting.

Instead your post is about Pogacar not being normal, I can guarantee you that there isn't anyone in this forum who disagrees. So what's the general point then, the best riders should do 3 races per season, so we only have to "suffer" them in those races and are "freed" the rest of the time? That's been a popular one here, pining for the days were proven dopers didn't race or were trash the rest of the season and then wont TDF, because they weren't greedy. Unbelievable.

If anything, one of cycling's issues is that the best so rarely meet throughout the year, it should always be encouraged. Remco racing Flanders was great and actually put Pogacar's performances into perspective, destroying Wout and only 40s behind MVP despite spending so much more energy. But if the sentiment is that they are actually racing motorbikes out there then I don't see much point following, either in Pogacar's era or after that.

 

[Rackham]

Serious question, are you trolling, or just somehow unable to see what the issue is?

There's no issue. If you're talking about fans freaking out it's not a problem because I've seen this a million times already. It used to happen with Sagan, Froome (the Froome versus Contador stuff was brutal FYI) and Cancellara versus Boonen as well.

So if someone is right here in 2026 (after everything Pog has dominated and crushed for half a decade!) acting like it's a problem when people cheer for his defeat, then I'd say that person is perhaps new to cycling or doesn't realize how the game is played, i.e. when you support a serial dominator like Pog, then as with all sports you get people cheering for their demise. That's just the way it is. It's not unfair, it's not trolling and it's not a problem.

 

[ivanic]

Wout saved cycling today.

❤️

Let’s be honest folks, a rider like Pogacar, his physical attributes, shouldn’t be anywhere near winning Paris Roubaix never mind any of the other classic races. So many people have swallowed the koolaid to such an extent that they now think this is all totally normal. It really isn’t.

💯

 

[burning]

Serious question, are you trolling, or just somehow unable to see what the issue is? Not exaggerating, half of the race thread was people losing their mind at every turn because other riders dared not do exactly what they wanted to minimize Pogacar's chances of winning the race (as well as the obvious laughable double standards and seething jokes), because that's by far the most important thing for those people. And this went of for 5 hours, over and over. There was probably 10+ posters who if I was in their place yesterday, especially considering what the end result was, I wouldn't dare come back here again. It's insane to me how people like Red Rick and Netserk can conduct themselves in a manner like that again and again and still supposedly be respected members. The topic has nothing to do with Pogacar not winning, but I suspect you understand this and are just reflecting.

Instead your post is about Pogacar not being normal, I can guarantee you that there isn't anyone in this forum who disagrees. So what's the general point then, the best riders should do 3 races per season, so we only have to "suffer" them in those races and are "freed" the rest of the time? That's been a popular one here, pining for the days were proven dopers didn't race or were trash the rest of the season and then wont TDF, because they weren't greedy. Unbelievable.

If anything, one of cycling's issues is that the best so rarely meet throughout the year, it should always be encouraged. Remco racing Flanders was great and actually put Pogacar's performances into perspective, destroying Wout and only 40s behind MVP despite spending so much more energy. But if the sentiment is that they are actually racing motorbikes out there then I don't see much point following, either in Pogacar's era or after that.

Agreed on this. I wrote this before, but I really struggle to see the posts of Pogacar fanboys that everyone rages about, especially in the clinic. Most "positive" posts are usually in the tune of "he is doped obviously but I like full-throttle racing" instead of the riders who were allergic to see wind in their faces about 10ish years ago.

The PR race thread was completely insane and I thought I was watching a different race, lol. I really don't think most folks would care about or respect the posters that you mentioned. They are probably trolling or really lost the plot, not sure which is more true.

 

[AttaqueDeRolland]

Most "positive" posts are usually in the tune of "he is doped obviously but I like full-throttle racing" instead of the riders who were allergic to see wind in their faces about 10ish years ago.

The last part of this comment seems blind to the fact that preserving energy is absolutely paramount when you aren't a completely radioactive rider. Greg van Avermaet won as much as he did because he raced incredibly smart against Peter Sagan, who instead kept wasting his energy. Ironically, Pogi's superhuman and utterly unbelievable performances have actually lent credibility to the superstars of yesteryear, because at least the likes of Sagan would actually tire significantly when they did all-out turns on the front for 70 kilometers, and often eventually be beaten by riders who rode smart and conserved energy, a very believable outcome to such situations as opposed to the all-out rider just riding his breakaway companions out of his backwheel at will.

 

[burning]

The last part of this comment seems blind to the fact that preserving energy is absolutely paramount when you aren't a completely radioactive rider. Greg van Avermaet won as much as he did because he raced incredibly smart against Peter Sagan, who instead kept wasting his energy. Ironically, Pogi's superhuman and utterly unbelievable performances have actually lent credibility to the superstars of yesteryear, because at least the likes of Sagan would actually tire significantly when they did all-out turns on the front for 70 kilometers, and often eventually be beaten by riders who rode smart and conserved energy, a very believable outcome to such situations as opposed to the all-out rider just riding his breakaway companions out of his backwheel at will.

I don't deny the fact that the riders are way more eager to pull and ride aggressively simply because they are way stronger and not afraid to blow up.

I don't claim that Pogacar or similar riders are not radioactive, I am just saying that I prefer full-throttle racing instead of 2008-2020ish era where all but few riders were deathly scared of doing anything, even though they were riding within their capabilities.

 

[SorelyBoy]

I'd ask folks to analyse the footage from yesterday where Pogacar attacked Wout on the final couple of big cobbled sections. The angle from side on is instructive. Pogacar makes his move, and yet there appears to be no observable additional effort. Maybe a slight increase in cadence? Maybe, but what there certainly doesn't appear to be is a body straining to exert every available amount of power. He floats. There is no contortion of the core nor rocking of the shoulders, no sign of additional power being pushed from his legs onto his pedals. Now compare it to Van Aert. He visibly starts to press the pedals so hard I half expected his feet to break them. The vast amount of power he exerts merely to keep up is transparent for all to see, a super athlete doing his thing. His increased effort looks normal and expected. Pogacar's just looks like a super smooth acceleration with no sign that it's coming from the body. And it looked very odd to me. He did 10KM on that neutral bike and I saw a very different rider, a rider who had to make an actual effort to ride his bike. Sure, not his set up, but it was night and day.