He probably knew he didn't have his best early enough after all of his recent racing. Throttling back and still staying in the break becomes your prime pro duty: let your very able teammate take the win if you're going to get beat. IMO if Wout could've dropped him he'd have tried harder to do that. Wout's on the rebound and knows better than overextend, get dropped yourself and provide a free path to what follows. His team did that several days before when Mathieu snuck one by...
- Feb 24, 2015
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Not "possible or likely" but "definitely". Outcome we will still never know...
- Jun 30, 2022
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I think he is aware, as are we, that it doesn't matter.
Seems like he still doesn‘t get what he has to do
That said, I think today's performance bodes well for next weekend.
Everyone can see there is one area where MVDP might beat Pogacar - a sprint.
He wont loose a sprint against Evenepoel or Wout neither.
Assuming he also knows that - why does he pull even a single meter?
He wont loose a sprint against Evenepoel or Wout neither.
Assuming he also knows that - why does he pull even a single meter?
The desire to win in a 1:1 fair flight is still outweighing the desire to win 😂
Seems like he still doesn‘t get what he has to do
He was in amazing form. 6 seconds is really what it came down to. I dreamed of a 4th but it went pretty much as expected.
- Apr 26, 2023
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You can say that Remco can anticipate and if he get 50 m he is a nightmare to bring back, but I think that risking a Remco win is the only way for him to beat Pogacar.
He was doing fake pulls all the time. If he really pushed harder, the gap would be bigger.
^ Exactly.
If he just sits on, Pogacar tries (and likely succeeds) to drop him on Taaienberg.
If he just sits on, Pogacar tries (and likely succeeds) to drop him on Taaienberg.
- Jun 30, 2022
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It‘s 6 seconds on the Kwaremont, if he didn‘t take a single pull, surely that allows him to at least go a bit faster, but it‘s of course easier to ride for second and say it was impossible to follow.
Mathieu did what he needed to do to arrive at Oude Kwaremont with Pogacar. If he never takes a pull, Pogacar attacks every climb and the race is over sooner.
By that metric, everyone's season is a disaster when they line up with Pogacar. He wins all the big races. MvdP won his 8th CX title this year and in this form is still the favourite for PR.
- Feb 20, 2012
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No. Van der Poel is the #1 favorite going into Sanremo and Roubaix. Losing both to Pogacar would be a lost season.
Vingegaard is 2nd favorite for the Tour, and will probably end up winning the Giro as well.
If Van der Poel doesn't win Roubaix he's the #1 biggest loser of the year.
He rode a very strong race, no shame in being second to Tadej.
In a world where Pogacar stayed in one lane and just did the modern traditional mix of grand tour racing and a few hilly classics we would now be saluting MVDP winning 5 RVV in a row.
In a world where Pogacar stayed in one lane and just did the modern traditional mix of grand tour racing and a few hilly classics we would now be saluting MVDP winning 5 RVV in a row.
Such an interesting take – biggest loser of the year. Completely disagree with the MSR status. Of course Pogacar is #1 favourite. He proved he is, last year already. Matthieu will take ParisRoubaix. I am not worried about it. Vingegaard will win the Giro because Pogacar is not there. Otherwise he wouldn't, which is my point, wherever Pogacar starts he tends to be the favourite, except Paris Roubaix. For now...
That is not what I said. He, together with all the other top dogs, simply are a tier below Pogacar. Today underscores that. So I don't understand the expectation that he should win a monument this year where Pogacar is at the start.
Mathieu was poor placed the first time up O.K., forced to ride the fastest up the hill. He of course spent a bullet there.
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