Expert criticizes the tactic of "avoiding Tadej Pogacar" before the Tour de France: "Rivals need to do more than rely on calculations"
Cycling
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.
"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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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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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
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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