"And then there's that smile..." - Bernard Hinault on why Tadej Pogacar strikes a chord with fans more than Jonas Vingegaard

I hate this narrative that Jonas doesn't enjoy riding his bike. In the book by Nando Boers about Jumbo-Visma, Jonas said that even if he had failed at Granon, he still thinks it would have been a good day because of the way they rode as a team. He really enjoyed that they could race like they were just boys again.

What people tend to forget is that Tadej has not been in the yellow jersey since the Granon stage. He has been in the role where he has had to attack and throw all he could at Jonas and Visma. He's also a better sprinter than Jonas and that gives him a lot more options to attack. I don't think Jonas rides boringly, I just think he has been in the position where he's been in the yellow jersey and he had to be in a more defensive mindset.

I don't think Jonas is unlikeable at all. He's just a bit stilted and introverted.

If the peloton were a classroom:
Pogi is the class clown who also happens to be brilliant.
Vingo is the shy but brilliant kid that sits off to himself, doesn't say much but excels on all exams.

Aww that smile 😍😍😻

Everything these days boils down to a popularity contest.

Very hard for people who tell the truth or are honest or speak their mind or ask original or awkward questions to compete, even if they are totally professional. And, thanks to the internet being predominantly Anglo in much of the world, as a non Anglo, you start with a certain disadvantage, not due to the spectators who abide by Anglo as the language of exchange but by the predominance of Anglo media thus biasing reporting. Thankfully this Anglo website doesn’t seem to be Anglo so despite the hilarious mistakes (this time here the lapsus won instead of one) at least there doesn’t seem to be an Anglo rider bias.

People “like” Pog better because his personality makes it harder to imagine doping than with Vin, but as someone already pointed out either they’re both at it or neither.

While i like an all-fight between Pog and Jonas, an individual dominant victory is also fine over a mountain sprint by the never attack just wheel suck for 21 days riders

I find Vin very much in the mold of old team Sky robotic. His team sits on front for 3 or 4 hours then blast off for 5 km. The PR team must pull their hair out at his lack of charisma and ability to reach the public and fans. Check out the Netflix series 2 documentary.I love the look of total shock and awe oh is sports directors faces when he beats Pog in the TT. They just knew what everyone was thinking. I hope he puts a good fight up but like marmite love or hate 😂😂😂😂 sorry English thing

There's nothing novel about Jonas. Just another variation of the robotic stage racing approach that has smothered the sport of cycling since 1991.

At least with Pog you get a return to the kind of versatile performances that existed during the Merckx and Hinault eras.

I'll take that any day over what we've had to suffer through the last 30 years.