Volta a Catalunya, 23-29 March 2026

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Jul 7, 2013
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Since Pogacar will not race Pais Vasco in the next few years due to PR and RVV, I believe Vingegaard will win everything next year.

It depends how hard it will be in Roubaix. If he wins it this year he may appear in Basque Country next year. If he repeatedly fails in Roubaix (like it was in MSR) then Basque Country will be Pogless for years.
 
Apr 13, 2021
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Evenepoel's interviews continue to be box office, we are all his domestiques, whether we know it or not.

10 years, a billion wins and he still doesn't get it.
I have gained even more respect for him after these comments. The low-hanging fruit is right there in that he crashed badly 4 days ago and is hurt. But it would be too simple an excuse. Gotta go all-in on *** talking the race winner instead and does it in brilliant fashion.
 
Jul 7, 2013
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I have gained even more respect for him after these comments. The low-hanging fruit is right there in that he crashed badly 4 days ago and is hurt. But it would be too simple an excuse. Gotta go all-in on *** talking the race winner instead and does it in brilliant fashion.

Remco's interviews are legendary. The best was about Vingo lacking balls at the Tour. He's a bit too hard on his competition: the fact that nobody has as big balls as Remco doesn't mean none has them!
 
Mar 5, 2023
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I don't know why people are getting excited. This doesn't tell us anything. He is not beating Pogacar in these races. May I remind people Vingegaard would cruise in the 2025 Dauphiné against any rider not named Pogacar?
Because if there is nothing to be exited about, why even watch?
 
Feb 20, 2026
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Because if there is nothing to be exited about, why even watch?
My point is why are people getting excited when this performance is everything I expected from him. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, Vingegaard always used to crush his competition (not named Pogacar).
 
Congrats to Jonas Vingegaard, he looked imperious this race building his form for the Giro. I am feeling sorry for the Giro competition already.

As always much discussion about Remco but too negative IMO. Give the guy a break, this was a tough early season race. Remco didn't disgrace himself and should improve his climbing for the season ahead.

Even his most optimistic fans would surely admit he isn't a natural climber? Also a little unfair on the three other riders who finished ahead on GC.
 
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Feb 20, 2026
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Congrats to Jonas Vingegaard, he looked imperious this race building his form for the Giro. I am feeling sorry for the Giro competition already.

As always much discussion about Remco but too negative IMO. Give the guy a break, this was a tough early season race. Remco didn't disgrace himself and should improve his climbing for the season ahead.

Even his most optimistic fans would surely admit he isn't a natural climber? Also a little unfair on the three other riders who finished ahead on GC.
Your question says it all. You are not sure they are reasonable enough to realize Remco is not a natural climber. Years of hearing he is a future TdF winner does this.
Looking to Catalunya, his performance doesn't tell us anything. This race was an important goal for him and he failed (according to his expectations before the race) however we don't know how his crash impacted his level and how better he could be.
Of course, I already read the typical nonsense interview where Bora expected Remco to follow Vingegaard if not for the crash.


"Read, in this case: 20% better than Vingegaard, himself 100%. Now, Evenepoel was a few percent less than the Dane. And that manifested itself in his climbing performance on Pal. Within the team, they are convinced that, with the values he recorded during the altitude training camp on Mount Teide, he should in principle have simply been able to keep up with Vingegaard."
 
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Sep 12, 2022
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He did ride defensively. Only in 2 mountain stages he attacked because that's where his strengths lie. He just never gets out of his comfort zone and tries something new

I agree to a point.

However why would he for example have ridden with Remco’s mad attack on stage 3. The fact that Pog or MvP probably would have ridden with Remco in the same scenario or that it was wildly entertaining (which it was) does not mean that it was a wise attack and from a strategy perspective Jonas rode that smartly. The stratetic thing would have been to ride with the bigger group to put more time into the rivals caught behind (at that time we did not know Almeida was bad).

Jonas’ strengths lie in the mountains hence why he attacks there, nothing more complex than that.
 
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Mar 31, 2015
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He did ride defensively. Only in 2 mountain stages he attacked because that's where his strengths lie. He just never gets out of his comfort zone and tries something new
Why should he, in races in which he is the strongest?

I don't think that's true anyway if you think about last year's Tour. It would be nice to see him race more against Pogacar in stage races outside the Tour to see him do new things, but if he wins by 1 to 2 minutes against anyone else it wouldn't really make sense to do 'new' things.
 
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Sep 12, 2022
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I agree to a point.

However why would he for example have ridden with Remco’s mad attack on stage 3. The fact that Pog or MvP probably would have ridden with Remco in the same scenario or that it was wildly entertaining (which it was) does not mean that it was a wise attack and from a strategy perspective Jonas rode that smartly. The stratetic thing would have been to ride with the bigger group to put more time into the rivals caught behind (at that time we did not know Almeida was bad).

Jonas’ strengths lie in the mountains hence why he attacks there, nothing more complex than that.
Why should he, in races in which he is the strongest?

I don't think that's true anyway if you think about last year's Tour. It would be nice to see him race more against Pogacar in stage races outside the Tour to see him do new things, but if he wins by 1 to 2 minutes against anyone else it wouldn't really make sense to do 'new' things.
I’m not saying he should. He can do whatever he wants. It’s just a defensive approach to racing. Nothing wrong with saying that.
 
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Mar 31, 2015
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I’m not saying he should. He can do whatever he wants. It’s just a defensive approach to racing. Nothing wrong with saying that.
There is an obvious criticism implied in saying Vingegaard is 'defensive' which I have an issue with. I think it is fair to say that in races in which he is the strongest, Vingegaard is broadly cautious and plays to his strengths – which basically everyone does, including Pogacar (e.g., avoiding sprints if possible). I don't think it is right to say he is 'defensive'. Paris-Nice, for instance, wasn't 'defensive'. He is not Team Sky in 2012 and I don't think it's really possible to criticise how he races when he is the strongest there – he is completely in the norm.
 
Sep 12, 2022
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There is an obvious criticism implied in saying Vingegaard is 'defensive' which I have an issue with. I think it is fair to say that in races in which he is the strongest, Vingegaard is broadly cautious and plays to his strengths – which basically everyone does, including Pogacar (e.g., avoiding sprints if possible). I don't think it is right to say he is 'defensive'. Paris-Nice, for instance, wasn't 'defensive'. He is not Team Sky in 2012 and I don't think it's really possible to criticise how he races when he is the strongest there – he is completely in the norm.
I don't agree with the premise that Pogacar rides similarly. For example, Pogacar would have taken turns together with Evenepoel during stage 3. He also just loves to race, even if it didn't make sense strategically. And yesterday, Pogacar also would've tried more than Vingegaard did.
 
Sep 20, 2017
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I don't agree with the premise that Pogacar rides similarly. For example, Pogacar would have taken turns together with Evenepoel during stage 3. He also just loves to race, even if it didn't make sense strategically. And yesterday, Pogacar also would've tried more than Vingegaard did.
Pogacar and Vingegaard both riding to their strengths by definition means that they don't use the same tactics...
 
Mar 31, 2015
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I don't agree with the premise that Pogacar rides similarly. For example, Pogacar would have taken turns together with Evenepoel during stage 3. He also just loves to race, even if it didn't make sense strategically. And yesterday, Pogacar also would've tried more than Vingegaard did.
But that's because Pogacar is better in every regard than Vingegaard, and runs no risk of losing time if he does any of those things. I more meant that Pogacar's love of solos is both aggressive and a bit cautious – in the same way Vingegaard attacking only on uphills is.
 

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