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Why is Pogacar riding the Giro?

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Why is Pogacar riding the Giro?

  • He is hedging because he thinks he can’t beat Vingegaard at the Tour

    Votes: 25 31.6%

  • He valued a Giro more than another Tour for his palmares

    Votes: 14 17.7%

  • He thinks riding the Giro will optimize his condition for the Tour

    Votes: 6 7.6%

  • He thinks Giro + Tour will optimize his form for WC / Olympics

    Votes: 1 1.3%

  • His sponsors want him to win the Giro

    Votes: 2 2.5%

  • He just wants to ride the Giro for the experience, and isn’t too worried about implications

    Votes: 35 44.3%

  • His wife wants him to

    Votes: 2 2.5%

  • He wants to give Roglic a fair chance at a Tour to make up for the 2020 ninja move

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 14 17.7%
  • Total voters
    79
Krzysztof_O

Krzysztof_O

Jul 7, 2013
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He's a guy who wants to try new things and win all races possible (look how his spring calendar changes every year). So it makes sense for him to go to the Giro (this way he tried and won RVV). Keep in mind that he has ridden only one non-Tour GT, back in 2019.
Obviously Vingegaard presence makes the Tour very difficult anyway and Pog wants to grab another GT after an almost 3-year break (and have less pressure at the Tour) so there's maybe some hedging involved indeed. But imagine there's no Vingegaard and Pogacar is a 4-time TdF champion (winning last 3 with ease). It's possible that he would change his routine anyway and try something more difficult (the double).
 
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Froome

Froome

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Because he was beaten 2 times by Vingegaard. If he had 4 Tours, certainly he would go all in to win the fifth Tour like indurain, merckx, hinault won.

" He wants to try new things in grand tours", that’s BS, because he could try the double Tour Vuelta this, going to the Tour all in again.

I understand his choice, it's better doing the Tour with a Giro in his pocket, he will have less pressure.
 
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Gigs_98

Gigs_98

Feb 18, 2015
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I think it's mostly that he just wants to win the Giro and thinks, why not now? Vingegaard likely won't go anywhere any time soon, so it's not like it makes much of a difference whether he does the Giro this year, next year, or the year after that. Winning lots of different races is clearly a big priority of Pogacar so he is simply doing that.

But then even I have to admit, being afraid of Vingegaard probably plays a role too. If he just keeps riding the same gts as him year after year there is a very real chance he never wins any of those races. And the thought of not winning a gt for like 5 years probably sounds pretty horrible to Pogacar. I don't think that's the main reason, but I'd be surprised if this doesn't at least play a small role in the back of his mind.
 
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Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Gigs_98 said:
I think it's mostly that he just wants to win the Giro and thinks, why not now? Vingegaard likely won't go anywhere any time soon, so it's not like it makes much of a difference whether he does the Giro this year, next year, or the year after that. Winning lots of different races is clearly a big priority of Pogacar so he is simply doing that.

But then even I have to admit, being afraid of Vingegaard probably plays a role too. If he just keeps riding the same gts as him year after year there is a very real chance he never wins any of those races. And the thought of not winning a gt for like 5 years probably sounds pretty horrible to Pogacar. I don't think that's the main reason, but I'd be surprised if this doesn't at least play a small role in the back of his mind.
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To me the whole "scared of Vingegaard" doesn't fly at all with the fact that he's racing the Tour after the Giro instead of simply going Giro/Vuelta, and by the fact that he was pushing Vingegaard hard before he had a really weak patch around the end of the second week.

What's crazy to me is that last year people treated Granon like the anamolous factor that made him lose the Tour in 2022 when they shouldn't have, and then don't treat Col de la Loze as an anamolous event when they absolutely should - a day when he couldn't follow his own domestiques and UAE even let Yates do his own thing to protect his 2nd place.

Like how should it work? Pogacar either focuses everything on the Tour a 5th year in a row or he's shitting himself? Also, if it wasn't for Vingegaard, would we really argue he wouldn't just try to win the Giro/Tour double as well?

One factor that's actually part of 'winning as many races as possible' that hasn't been mentioned yet is he checked De Ronde off his list last year,
 
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Logic-is-your-friend

Logic-is-your-friend

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Red Rick said:
To me the whole "scared of Vingegaard" doesn't fly at all with the fact that he's racing the Tour after the Giro instead of simply going Giro/Vuelta, and by the fact that he was pushing Vingegaard hard before he had a really weak patch around the end of the second week.
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Haven't read all replies, so i don't know if anyone has said he is literally "scared" but obviously Vingegaard plays a role here. Doing the Giro first is a triple safety blanket. First of all, baring accidents he will win the Giro with a 99% certainty so going to the Tour he likely already has the Giro in the bag. That's one. Secondly, it is the perfect excuse in case he falls short (again) in the Tour, it's a perfectly valid explanation that you can't be at your very best at the Tour after having done the Giro. Winning the Giro, as well as doing the Tour àfter the Giro, considerably lowers the pressure and expectations for the Tour (already having a GT in the bag + impossible to start the Tour with the same freshness as your rivals). And thirdly, in case he does manage to win the Tour after winning the Giro, it makes his win all the more epic. So it's a win-win either way.

Doing the Giro-Vuelta would be a little too obvious, and also completely unnecessary considering nobody will expect him to simply win the Tour after already doing the Giro. But again, Vingegaard clearly plays a role here, if not he would try and do the Giro in a few years, after another few TDF wins. I'm quite convinced him needing to beat Vingegaard at the Tour, makes going to the Giro a lot easier considering my previous arguments. He wants to win the Giro anyway, but now with firm (superior) opposition at the TDF, he might as well do it now.
 
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scribers

scribers

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Logic-is-your-friend said:
Haven't read all replies, so i don't know if anyone has said he is literally "scared" but obviously Vingegaard plays a role here. Doing the Giro first is a triple safety blanket. First of all, baring accidents he will win the Giro with a 99% certainty so going to the Tour he likely already has the Giro in the bag. That's one. Secondly, it is the perfect excuse in case he falls short (again) in the Tour, it's a perfectly valid explanation that you can't be at your very best at the Tour after having done the Giro. Winning the Giro, as well as doing the Tour àfter the Giro, considerably lowers the pressure and expectations for the Tour (already having a GT in the bag + impossible to start the Tour with the same freshness as your rivals). And thirdly, in case he does manage to win the Tour after winning the Giro, it makes his win all the more epic. So it's a win-win either way.

Doing the Giro-Vuelta would be a little too obvious, and also completely unnecessary considering nobody will expect him to simply win the Tour after already doing the Giro. But again, Vingegaard clearly plays a role here, if not he would try and do the Giro in a few years, after another few TDF wins. I'm quite convinced him needing to beat Vingegaard at the Tour, makes going to the Giro a lot easier considering my previous arguments. He wants to win the Giro anyway, but now with firm (superior) opposition at the TDF, he might as well do it now.
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This doesn't hold up if he loses both races. So it is far riskier than one might think. He has anything but won the giro.
 
H

how yes no?

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Another missing option (not the main reason, but still):
-He saw how much love and support from Slovenian fans Roglič got in the last Giro (or any Slovenian when the Giro passed near Slovenia in recent years) and would like some of that as well, or maybe it would be better put as allowing the Slovenian fans to share and enjoy in his success as well. He couldn't do this any year Roglič would also be racing the Giro, so this year is great chance to give it a try from this perspective also.
 
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