Giro d'Italia better for Tadej Pogacar's absence says Nathan van Hooydonck: "Wonder what the viewing figures were like after two weeks. There wasn’t much left to watch"
CyclingTuesday, 06 May 2025 at 15:02
The 2024 Giro d'Italia was nothing less than a three week exhibition of Tadej Pogacar's brilliance. Winning a total of six stages over the three weeks, and the Maglia Rosa by just shy of ten minutes, Pogacar was completely dominant on his Giro debut. This year though, the Slovenian isn't returning to defend his crown and according to Nathan van Hooydonck, that might actually improve the race.
"Last year, the organisers at RCS were probably very happy to have Pogacar at the start," the former Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider recalls in conversation with Derailleur. Van Hooydonck notes however, that initial excitement from RCS might have been dampened as soon as Pogacar's dominance truly came to light once the racing began in earnest. "I do wonder what the viewing figures were like after two weeks. Because, honestly, there wasn’t much left to watch."
"Every stage Pogacar wanted to win, his team would take control of the peloton, and he’d go on to win it," continues Van Hooydonck's recollection of the 2024 Giro d'Italia. "And sometimes he’d even win a stage by accident, overtaking another rider in the final kilometre."
As mentioned, this time around, Pogacar is absent from the start list after having spent much of the 2025 season to date battling the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Mads Pedersen in the Spring Classics, adding more success to his illustrious palmares in the process. In Pogacar's absence, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG team is led by the two-pronged attack of Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates, with Van Hooydonck hoping a more level playing field will result in some much more exciting racing over the next few weeks.
Pogacar eased to a first ever Giro win in 2024
"This year, the field is wide open," concludes the Belgian. "Ayuso and Primoz Roglic are the main favourites to win the Giro, and it could turn into a really exciting battle between the two."
From Durrës to Rome, we’re ready for our first Grand Tour of the season! Here’s our lineup for the 108th #GirodItalia 🇮🇹🩷:
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) May 5, 2025
🇪🇸 @Igorarrieta9
🇪🇸 @juann_ayuso
🇮🇹 @Filobaroncini
🇲🇽 @ISAACDELTOROx1
🇵🇱 @majkaformal
🇺🇸 @BrandonMcNult
🇦🇺 @JayVine3
🇬🇧 @AdamYates7
Andiamo!… pic.twitter.com/2XNMeYReG4
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- Visma have screwed up immeasurably, tactically on this, Vuelta 24 remember that debacle! Tel Toro is the strongest. During a notable Giro Mikel Landa was the strongest but who kept getting backed, Fabio Aru, he never won that Giro - a team SHOULD always ride for the strongest rider!
leedorney23-05-2025 - Very true, the strongest should and will win, in the moment - I know what I would do...leedorney23-05-2025
- Lets not forget it's a 3 week race and Del Toro doesn't have a track record of doing these long GTs. All it takes it one bad moment on a climb to blow up.frieders323-05-2025
- I like this young man, if he is feeling good he should go for it on the next mountain stage.awp23-05-2025
- Team politics are terrible, I suspect that the team management knows who the strongest is on UAE in this Giro, Juan Ayuso is a great young athlete but he wobbles all the time. I figure UAE will go with who feels better. If del Toro feels good the team will probably back him. To hear Isaac say he stopped riding to wait for Ayuso because it was the right thing to do, made me upset. I know we are only fans but we want to see the strongest win.awp23-05-2025
- Froome was, in my book, the greatest Grand Tour rider ever. Better than Armstrong, better than Induarain. It all ends in a second for these guys. I remember that whenever people complain about Pogacar, and I am grateful.
Barney23-05-2025 - Tom retired instead of signing another contract. Visma offered him a contract renewal, he decided to retire which shocked everyone because he is such a strong cyclist.awp23-05-2025
- "North American"adammyerson22-05-2025
- The more statements that came out from his mouth, the more I'm impressed with how he carries himself.
KerisVroom22-05-2025 - What has it to do with us. It's between him and his employer. The crap about him having plenty money is irrelevant.Sabino22-05-2025
"The Giro d'Italia 2024 saw a strong increase in audience figures across RAI networks, especially on Rai2 and RaiSport HD. The race also experienced a significant boost in online engagement, with record numbers of website visitors, video views, and media articles. The event reached over 700 million viewers worldwide...."
Sorry, but Pogacar is boring only for ... envious? ex-riders.
It's always the way in pro cycling - 1 rider wins and the rest,instead of working with each other to topple the better rider, they ride behind said rider collecting scraps that're left...
Better for the Giro? I'm sure viewers would rather see Tadej dominate the Giro from day 1, than see Van Hooydonck (if he were still racing for Visma) battle it out with whoever, maybe Uidtjebroeks (if he was in the Visma lineup).. pun not intended ,for the maglia rosa in the 21-day race.. A grand tour is not like a horse race. People want to see Tadej, Jonas, Remco, Primoz, MVDP, Van Aert etc... If not, I'll just watch the Tour of California.