THREAD The best photos from this year’s men’s and women’s Liege Bastogne Liege monument, part 2. 1. The portrait of Tadej Pogačar. (📸: visualsofharry)
"He is really doing Merckxian things" - Tadej Pogacar one of the greatest ever according to Tom Dumoulin
CyclingWednesday, 24 April 2024 at 10:59
In the latest display of his brilliance, Tadej Pogacar powered to a stunning solo victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday afternoon. According to Tom Dumoulin, the Slovenian has his chapter in the annals of cycling history confirmed.
"We have had quite a nice spring," the former Giro d'Italia winner reflects for NOS. "Just like last year, a number of riders stood head and shoulders above the rest. If they go, the rest actually don't stand a chance. This resulted in beautiful solos by Mathieu van der Poel in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. And yesterday with Pogacar at Liege-Bastogne Liege."
"I saw that Pogacar has already won more than fifty WorldTour victories," Dumoulin continues, in awe of the UAE Team Emirates leader's recent performances. "If he continues like this, he will go down in the history books as one of the best cyclists ever. And for me, he already is. He is really doing Merckxian things."
The fact that Pogacar didn't just win at Liege-Bastogne-Liege but was so dominant, is a testament to the immense level of the 25-year-old. "Pogacar is not half or one percent better in the hills, but just five percent. He can choose when he goes. He ensures that his team controls the game, then he can save energy until he goes full steam ahead on the Côte de la Redoute. But he could also have said: you know what, I'll leave a climb earlier. Or a climb later. It doesn't really matter to him," Dumoulin concludes. "As a former athlete, I can enjoy those solos. But of course they don't really give you exciting races. That may be a bit of a shame, but it also has its charm. They are top athletes in top form, you look at the highest of the highest.”
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- I counted 16 riders under 24 out of 43 that started. Once was only 16 ! Two of the top riders are Zoe and Schreiber and both under 23 yet that have done 50 min races in the past with the elites so I think it's just bad clock management. Let them race 50 freakin' minutes! One more lap could have made a big dffierence most times in the podium and winner.frieders319-11-2024
- He needs to finish out his contract and then go hit MTB and Cross/Gravel really hard, that's where his heart is.awp18-11-2024
- Pidcock is starting to sound like Froome now.Sweep18-11-2024
- I think this was because there were junior women in the race. If a race has junior women am pretty sure it has to be less than 45 minutes. I believe a rule is coming in for next season that will fine organisers that don't put on a junior women's race a fine equivalent to the prize money. So fingers crossed we should see more longer elite and junior women's races from next season.NorrisHippocampe18-11-2024
- Of course he CAN. Big salary in cycling is not when you win but when they talk about you (and your team / sponsors). For every news about Jonas, MVdP or Wout there are 10 times more(!) news about Pidcock (like everyday for last 2 months?). Since cycling is advertising sport not competitive sport (in terms of from money comes from) Pidcock is winner and GOAT - change my mind. ;-)averagecyclist18-11-2024
- Why do the women CXs keep getting short changed with the length of theor races? They could have easily done another lap to put them at 50 minutes which is their time limit. Yet another CX race where they fail to reach this when they had a chance to. Come on ... the math isn't that hard to figure out lap times and divide into 50 min!frieders318-11-2024
- All pro cyclists are massively underpaid! The amount of riding and physical exertion they put their bodies through is crazy compared to other sports. I can't think of any other sport where you are physically active at a very high level of power output for hours on end each day.Pogboom17-11-2024
- When I was working for Starkist/Heinz my manager quit. So the next week my group was put under another manager. During our first meeting he asked if there was anything we needed to tell him. I said that I would be out the following week on vacation. He said "I don't know if I can let you go on vacation". I replied, "You can't tell if I can go. You can only tell me if I can come back".Sweep17-11-2024
- :-)Sweep17-11-2024
- What a mess there :-)
DareDevil17-11-2024