"He had the legs to take a bunch of time but he decided to win the stage in a very economical fashion" - Experts surprised by Tadej Pogacar's conservatism

Cycling
Sunday, 12 May 2024 at 10:15
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Tadej Pogacar triumphed in dominant fashion on the stage 8 summit finish at the 2024 Giro d'Italia. Rather than putting the hammer down with a big attack though, this time the Maglia Rosa saved himself for the sprint.
"It's not surprising (that Pogacar won), but it's quite surprising the way they did it... it was fairly dominant," Adam Blythe analysed afterwards for Eurosport on 'The Breakaway'. Pogacar seemed to be riding well within his limits on the final climb, marking moves without getting out of the saddle and destroying the spirit of his rivals despite barely putting a pedal down in anger.
EF Education-EasyPost boss Jonathan Vaughters impressed by Pogacar's new, more conservative attitude. "I don't really know what to make of it. Clearly he was fresh enough, clearly he had the legs to take a bunch of time out of everyone else and clearly he wanted to win the stage. But he decided to win the stage in a very economical fashion," points out the American. "It might mean he's already thinking ahead to the third week and saying 'I can win the stage without expending any extra energy and I don't need the extra time.'"
Many had thought this stage would be one for the breakaway but UAE Team Emirates kept things on a tight leash throughout the day. "They turned themselves inside out to keep that gap down and it's an interesting call," Vaughters assesses. "They're going to be tired in the third week."
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15 Comments
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StardustDragon 12 May 2024 at 18:23+ 1653

Lost my Dad in 2019, but should I take all my grief on here? It makes no difference anyway. You always troll on here, while I'm mostly on Men's Tennis forum, so defend yoursrlf all you want, but it will not change anything⬇️

Ben 12 May 2024 at 13:39+ 495

He could've let Rafal Majka win.

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leedorney 12 May 2024 at 18:17+ 720

The 3rd week will will be interesting...

abstractengineer 13 May 2024 at 07:35+ 3230

Why would he attack. None of the others did except for Tiberi in the last few ks. He is 2:30 ahead. The Giro is over. There is no suspense, but the TV people got to keep people watching by making up any absurd reason they want even if it is contradictory to common sense

Cooldude 12 May 2024 at 13:24+ 123

When Pogacar races one day classics, he has to play it like a middle distance runner, but when he does a Grand Tour, he has to pace it more like it's the 10,000 metres.

SpinClub 12 May 2024 at 18:17+ 779

Or more like a marathon or a cross continental race? What these men do over three weeks is incredible.

It's like theater with over fifteen acts in the play. And yes it can get "boring" yet any day can upend the race.

Mistermaumau 12 May 2024 at 18:16+ 3736

For me the guys doing cross continentals are far more impressive, that’s a TdF in around 5 days and then another half TdF for desserts in the next 2-3 days, all on your own, no peleton or drafting.

But, it is pretty boring, even for the riders ;-)

Mistermaumau 12 May 2024 at 11:08+ 3736

Experts surprised by someone behaving logically? Couldn’t ask for a better example of a paradox.

So much for gobbling what the experts (and their fanboys) tell you to.

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StardustDragon 12 May 2024 at 18:18+ 1653

Just clickbaits from media people, duh!

Mistermaumau 12 May 2024 at 09:09+ 3736

Like I’ve implied, the media will say anything to attract viewers and 80% of viewers accept and fall for it

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StardustDragon 11 May 2024 at 22:01+ 1653

Interesting

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santiagobenites 12 May 2024 at 13:24+ 1827

First they say that he's wasting his energy with unnecessary attacks, then they say that they're surprised that he's not attacking more. It's all rather amusing.

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Senna1960 12 May 2024 at 11:06+ 305

Spot on, the guys wasting there energy are the rest of the field. The ease he won the sprint, need we say any more.

mobk 12 May 2024 at 11:08+ 1668

Agreed and Majka didn’t even have to kill himself whittling down the field

SpinClub 12 May 2024 at 18:17+ 779

Majka is a good rider on his own. If there weren't teams, many domestiques would occasionally have a win and there would be way more breakaways.

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