Tadej Pogacar continued his dominant start to 2024 at the Volta a Catalunya last week, winning four stages and three jerseys as he claimed overall victory. Could the UAE Team Emirates' leader's intense desire to win every stage come back to bite him though?
This is a question debated by a pair of American ex-pros, Christian Vande Velde and Tejay van Garderen on NBC Sports Cycling. "He just made them all look like children to be honest. It was kind of frustrating," admits van Garderen, who now works as sports director for EF Education-EasyPost. "Obviously he wants to win and he should win because he's the best in the world I get that but it was a foregone conclusion and you've got guys 10 minutes down in the breakaway, yet his team is still keeping them at a minute because he wants to win again."
As a clear leader in the UCI Rider Rankings, Pogacar can confidently stake a claim to the title of best rider in the world. Could this desire to win each and every stage available come back to haunt him though as frustration from others in the peloton grows? "Again on stage 6, we had two guys up the road half an hour down and he's just giving them a minute," van Garderen analyses frustratedly.
"If the break is pulled back by another team, because tactically they think they can win it and the stage is up for grabs. Then yeah, go ahead and win it!" he continues. "But when a group who's half an hour down and it makes no sense tactically to pull... He's not making a lot of friends right now by bringing them back."
"Listen, usually in one week stage races, things go down to time bonuses and things are won by small margins. It's not until you get to the Grand Tours that you see the big gaps. Right now, we're seeing huge gaps in one week stage races because he's so dominant," van Garderen concludes.
"I'm not saying soft pedal to the line and gift someone a win because that's shit for everyone. Don't do that, bluff a little bit, act as if you don't want to chase it and see if someone else does. But he just rides his team into the ground as says 'I'm going to make sure no breakaway gets anything because I want to win everything.'"
It's an interesting debate for sure. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
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