Chris Froome blown away by Tadej Pogacar's development and classics prowess: "Something I couldn't have imagined myself doing in the sport"

Chris Froome is a legend of the sport and in the previous decade he won four editions of the Tour de France, and three other Grand Tours. His climbing performances at the time however would earn him nowhere near the same results nowadays in the modern peloton. He discusses the changes in speed and also Tadej Pogacar.

He was asked the tricky but interesting question of would he beat Tadej Pogacar if both raced at the same time. "It's so hard to say because obviously, so many things have changed in the sport, even in the last five years," the Briton said in words to Gazzetta dello Sport.

In pure numbers, Pogacar's level currently is vastly superior to Froome's - who won his last Tour only 8 years ago. However at that time, Froome was at the top of the charts, it is simply that in terms of training, nutrition and aerodynamics the sport has evolved immensely over the past few years. Some riders who have maintained their level into the 2020's lost their competitive edge despite remaining just as strong.

Froome highlights this with a quite simple butt clear example: "We're seeing climbing times that are so much faster now than five years ago. I think my winning times on a lot of climbs from when I was maybe alone or with one or two other guys on a mountain, you're getting 20 or 30 guys together in a group doing that same kind of speed". In other words, any rider in the Top10 of the 2024 Tour de France, with the numbers they put out uphill, would've likely been able to win the Tour 10 years ago.

"Everything has got faster, the bikes the material. We're seeing times breaking records from 20, 30 years ago, last year especially, so it's really hard to say," he says. It was a game changer and for Froome, who experienced a brutal injury back in 2019, making a comeback was already a big mission, whereas evolving according to the new standards at already such a very high age proved to be an impossible mission. The veteran is set to retire at the end of this season and is looking to take part in the Vuelta a España, where "it all started" back in 2011 where he broke through as a Grand Tour contender.

The current peloton is not only marked by the incredible performances that were unheard of a decade ago, but also the sheer versatility of the riders at the top. Namely Tadej Pogacar for example is a rider without flaws and who seems to be above the competition in virtually every aspect of being a pro rider - and wins all kinds of races.

Froome thinks this was completely unthinkable for him even at his peak: "Especially with the way Pogi is riding also the Classics, we're not just talking about the Grand Tours, I mean, he's really doing something quite unique, quite phenomenal, and something I couldn't have imagined myself doing in the sport."