Expert criticizes the tactic of "avoiding Tadej Pogacar" before the Tour de France: "Rivals need to do more than rely on calculations"

A few days ago, the prestigious cycling magazine Velo published a news item talking about the potential 2025 calendar for the Big 6. This group is made up of Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Primoz Roglic. There you could see that each rider usually chooses a different race in which to shine, and they are measured in big events like the Tour de France.

Former pro and current sports analyst Tom Danielson, a stage winner in the 2006 Vuelta a España, gave his opinion on the matter. The American quoted Velo's publication, indicating that for him it is not a good idea to try to avoid the Slovenian leader of UAE Team Emirates XRG, with the intention of leaving it all for the Tour.

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"If you are Tadej's rival, this strategy is not the best from my point of view. If you are really trying to close the gap and compete with Tadej in the TDF, then a few days of racing with him to see his level, see where you are, and see how he is racing would help your chances in the TDF."

"Rivals need to do more than rely on calculating their power from climbing times and then trying to match it in practice. But looking from the couch, it looks like their rivals are doing what they've done before, but more in the hope that it will work. Or they are trying new training strategies in the hope that they will bear more fruit. But either way, both approaches are unproven at Tadej's level. I think they need to get more in the ring with him to learn more and test where you are."

"To complicate matters further, I'm guessing Tadej has new tricks this season. If he's a rival and he's watching how they perform on TV, he's missing a key opportunity to really learn how he can compete."

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tom danielson

@tomdanielson

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If you are a rival to Tadej, this strategy is not the best in from my point of view. If you truly are trying to close the gap and compete with Tadej at the TDF then some race days with him to see his level, see where you are at, and see how he is racing would help your chances at…

Velo

@velovelovelo__

Where are elite men's 'Super 6' racing in 2025? The Tour de France might be the only race all season where the peloton's "bigs" converge at once bit.ly/4iSe2k7

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