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"He is the most gifted rider in decades" - Pierre Rolland blown away by Tadej Pogacar's greatness
CyclingFriday, 19 July 2024 at 04:00
Tadej Pogacar will only celebrate his 26th birthday this September, however it is not far-fetched to already consider him among the sport's greats. There are still three more stages to this year's Tour de France, but with a field record of 3 Grand tour GCs, 23 GT stages and 6 monuments, Pogacar's feats are already far beyond what any mortal could dream of. French expert and himself one of the best climbers of his era Pierre Rolland agrees that whatever happens in next years of his career, the Slovenian already deserves all the respect.
As long as a rider performs at an outstanding level, there'll always be doping conspiracies. "I don't want to get into this debate," Rolland evades giving his own opinion on the matter at Cyclism'Actu. On contrary, he tries to see things through pink glasses: "Since he was 19 and finished third at the Vuelta 2019, we know that he is a prodigy, as are Mathieu van der Poel or Remco Evenepoel."
The comparison of Tadej Pogacar to 'the Cannibal' Eddy Merckx may not be out of the place, as Rolland points out that the Slovenian has little to no weaknesses on top of being ridiculously good on pretty much all the terrains. "He is the most gifted rider in decades, he is strong everywhere, he has no shortcomings, it is extraordinary and quite impressive. The only small shortcoming he may have is that he is a little less efficient when it is above 35°C, that is his only weak point," analyzes Rolland.
Yet, his prediction of the final podium in Nice may be seen as quite surprising considering the current GC situation. "Pogacar in 1, Evenepoel in 2 for the show and Vingegaard in 3. It's really for the show because I see it more in the other direction anyway for the second and third places," concludes Pierre Rolland with a smile.
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- That’s the most stupid thing I’ve read for a long time, did you not go to school and learn even the most basic physics? Aero depends on one thing only, drag, drag depends speed and the relationship is squared and apart from maybe at zero or the speed of sound or due to side winds that relationship is valid at all speeds, it dies not “suddenly” start at a magic number. Very simply, the faster you go the more the effect becomes important. If you think 25km/h is needed to have noticeable effects you’re delusional, athletic WR are cancelled as soon as winds top 2m/s that’s 7.2km/h, why because the assistance is already too important at that speed and the times prove it. You don’t even consider wind which can significantly increase the effective speed for aerodynamics and you underestimate speed of climbs, 6% is ridden more at 30 than 25km/h, a speed at which early generation high rims were considered to have more advantages than disadvantages. And finally, as in normal races you can’t just switch bikes according to terrain, it’s pretty pointless to discuss climbs as a separate situation, the aero will have justified itself plenty during the rest of the ride.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- If you look at how much TP progressed in that 1 1/2 years you can no longer say that’s nothing. If Remco improves as much he’s a challenger!Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- Froome wishing to ride the Vuelta...he won't even be selected for the team!frieders320-12-2024
- Keep telling yourself that Remco but you not only have Tadeg to beat but Jonas!frieders320-12-2024
- Seems farfetched - I agree. Mas has beaten him once. Giro d'Emillia I think - 2022mobk20-12-2024
- Barring injuries, by the time Pogacar's dominance fads there will be lots of new young talent. Pogacar is about 1 1/2 years older than Remco. That's nothing.Sweep20-12-2024
- I actually don’t find that too impressive. In my later forties I did similar figures for a 3.5% gradient as a total nobody with no wind assistance. Am sure there’s margin for improvement there, especially looking at all the names on that list.Mistermaumau20-12-2024
- Jonas', was 6 years agospock12320-12-2024
- The race where he overnight suddenly turned nuclear after being packfodder at best for several years. His Sky days after that Vuelta and Pogačar’s last season shall remain the darkest post Lance stuff cycling has witnessed. Good riddance Froome.
UltimateOpportunist20-12-2024 - Finishing the Vuelta seems to be a reasonably attainable goal. Getting on the team to do that will be the more difficult challenge.
santiagobenites20-12-2024