"He's just riding his bike at a totally different level" - Tadej Pogacar gets nothing but praise from former pros Jens Voigt and Bobby Julich
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Tadej would clearly love to win the Worlds in Rwanda next year, not least given the parcours, but in his shoes I'd prioritise the Vuelta in order to keep ticking off big races he hasn't yet won. Similarly, I don't think winning three GTs in a year is something anyone needs to attempt and it certainly should rank below trying to win MSR, Roubaix and the other remaining items on Pog's list.
Wild prediction: If he wins the Tour, he wins the Vuelta as well. He'll also ride 4 of the Monuments and win at least 2 of them. Long pause between spring and Tour, and when time for the Worlds comes, he'll be exhausted but still podium. All this with stronger competition from Vingegaard and Evenepoel and van der Poel and van Aert. The reason for this wild prediction is that he only started doing serious strength conditioning with new coaches last year, and his body is still growing into it. I don't think we've seen the end of his growth just yet. His tactics will have to change, but he'll be stronger. Like I say, just a wild prediction, and the season will provide the answers.
Oh, and kudos to quoting other podcasters for a change, not the disgraced ones that are so commonly quoted in articles. Thank you, editors, for that choice.
Which part of your prediction is wild? That's currently the common opinion
Why is it wild? Because I usually don't try to make predictions at all, and let the season run its course, so for me it's wild to predict. Some part of me admires the hell out of him this year, but I just can't imagine it happening again as competition rises up. Then again, I think it's kind of likely with him. So, yeah, maybe not so wild!
Really? Maybe by people who don’t have to earn or place their money on that and who have no face to lose if wrong, maybe by a few who predict hedgingly and conveniently forget about the ones that don’t work out, maybe by fans and those that switch to winners but I doubt you’d get betting odds that back up your statement if you cumulated all the conditions that must be fulfilled.
Now, if in 2022 you’d bet JV would win all3 GTs and occupy the whole Vuelta podium with SK on top, that would have been wild but it actually happened. Betting it would happen again would have been crazy though.
The whole thing about 2024 was exactly that it was exceptional, i.e. unlikely to happen again. I for one am very worried about crashes and unless he is going to ride upfront for the rest of his career, his « luck » (as smarter people say, lack of bad luck) is likely to run out and destroy a lot of people’s predictions.
I don't understand why Tadej couldn't repeat a season like 2024. Eddy Merckx had many seasons similar to Tadej's 2024 season... and we're not talking about the Cenozoic (Coppi, Binda), Eddy Merckx's cycling was quit modern cycling.
If Jonas doesn't crash, if Tadej stays upright, if Remco grows more, and other unknown competitors come to the fore - 2025 could look much different for Tadej.
Much different? I don't think so. I hope no-one crashes (please!), I hope more fights (it's more funny) but even so Tadej could performance a fantastic season again. Will see. The most important thing is NO CRASHES.
Yeah but statistically, these long runs always end at some point. We can hope all we want but reality follows its own path.
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- Both scenarios are complicated: Sky's approach made the grand tours boring, but everyone just racing for second place (like is the case nowadays) also drains the suspense (except maybe for Pogi's fans).Ride197428-04-2025
- Doing well this year, as are Lidl-TMistermaumau27-04-2025
- Now there’s a surpriseMistermaumau27-04-2025
- Totally pointless considering you cannot compare riders who spread across different disciplines. What would Tadej win on the track or in cyclocross or MTB or even against the better sprinters? Would he get a world hour record? Just enjoy what he’s good which is one-day and stage road races, for some, that’s all there is to cycling just like scoring goals would be the only metric that counts in football, which is almost the case.Mistermaumau27-04-2025
- Utterly delusional.
ScottG27-04-2025 - Healy has to be the gamest guy in the peloton. He is always at the pointy end when things are tough, and he never throws in the towel. The break was essentially caught. Pidcock sat up, but Healy pressed on to a desperate (and apparently hopeless) surge from Ciccone. I'm so glad to see he got the podium for his initiative and courage.
Barney27-04-2025 - It's super-cool.Barney27-04-2025
- Well, now he’s tied with Coppi, Girardengo, and Kelly at 3rd on the list of monument winners. He’s been on the podium for the last 6, winning 4 of them. And for the third year in a row, he and van der Poel have each won two - something no two riders had managed before 2023. Anyone placing bets against him in Il Lombardia?RidesHills27-04-2025
- Remco will make it back strong, he still needs some time. Crashes suck and some are tough to get over. The best way back is to race and he's doing that.awp27-04-2025
- Such a privilege to watch Tadej race. Time will tell just how great he is but it's nice watching such a great athlete race in our time.awp27-04-2025