"He's so full of charisma and that joy he brings it makes it an absolute spectacle" - Tadej Pogacar's dominance far from boring according to Bob Roll
CyclingTuesday, 12 November 2024 at 11:02
Tadej Pogacar had a season from the heavens in 2024. Everything the Slovenian leader of UAE Team Emirates touched turned to gold. For some though, this suffocating dominance Pogacar held over the peloton made the racing boring. In experienced American expert Bob Roll's opinion though, this criticism is way off base.
"If it was anyone else in the pro peloton, it could have gotten a little monotonous," Roll, himself a a three-time Tour de France competitor in the 80s, analyses on the latest episode of NBC Sports Cycling's Beyond the Podium podcast. "But for me, he's so full of charisma and that joy he brings makes it, for everybody, an absolute spectacle."
Across the course of 2024, Pogacar claimed numerous notable and memorable victories including Strade Bianche, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Il Lombardia, the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the men's elite World Championship road race in Zurich. "It was a spectacular season that he had, but with anyone else, can you imagine the same amount of enthusiasm people generally have for what Tadej did this season?" Roll asks co-host and compatriot Christian Vande Velde.
"You're not wrong!" Vande Velde answers with a smile. "He IPogacar ed.) could easily have sat back and let the UAE Team Emirates train just go and steamroll every stage, making it just so boring, but he's attacking full gas and risking everything. Like on the descents! How fast does he rip those descents? The motorcycles can't even keep up with him."
"What he did four days into the Tour de France this year was just nuts," Vande Velde recalls, having had the unique perspective of being on the back of one of the camera bikes. "I was so glad that I was so far ahead of him that I didn't have to risk our lives staying ahead of him!"
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Watching Tadej Pogacar win bike races never gets old.@ChristianVDV | @bobkeroll pic.twitter.com/lo89idkj6y
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) November 8, 2024
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- Quite right, writing off Jonas for 2025 victory after what he still managed under the circumstances is a big mistake. Riders are probably peaking younger these days which means they may not last as long and we might have to stop expecting progress until early thirties.Mistermaumau12-11-2024
- You only had to look at the faces of half the riders at the front to see what was going on. Looking to the side into tge crowds to hide their incapacity to stay serious and concentrated.Mistermaumau12-11-2024
- Maybe the greatest sprinter on roads but not the greatest pure sprinter, I think that’d be the chap who consistently beats everyone almost all the time, who at 27 has already been world champion 16x, european champion 12x, amassed 5 olympic golds plus a bronze and is far from finished. He may not becomes the first ever person to average 80km/h in a sprint (without a lead-out) but no-one has got closer.Mistermaumau11-11-2024
- If one can improve so can the other. The other day we were discussing Tadej’s leg shape change, if that is anything to go by, Jonas has plenty of potential left too.Mistermaumau11-11-2024
- He should exit to free up.the budget for younger riders and help the team reach its full potential. Basically he is just taking from the team at this point because he cannot bring any new money in from his performances. I mean sure getting to live the life of a pro another year as a circus attraction of sorts might be fun but it's just gotten selfish the past 2 years.northcarolinaeric11-11-2024
- Pog is the modern day Merckx. And the best part is he is a very nice guy too!
ScottG11-11-2024 - ok, I respect your opinion but I don't agree with your perception. We talking informally about cycling, riders, who it's a pleasure to watch in more competitions, etc. Then we can't talk about nothing because all is hurting, all is incorrect..
maria2024202411-11-2024 - The way comments are going (number, repetitions, criticism (not always subtle or hidden), anger, etc. I don’t think it’s a joke for everyone and as you probably have noticed, the number or incidents athletes are starting to experience through frustrated fans (viewers more precisely) whether online as abuse or in reality shows that fan sentiment has already become a dangerous thing in sport. It’s time, like in many other parts of life, that we stop telling others what to do as long as they don’t do anything that directly affects our own life. So yes, moan about politicians and business leaders and crooks but not about how much sport an athlete decides to dedicate himself to, what business is it of anyone else except his employer how much he wants to ride or abuse his body or neglect his family?Mistermaumau11-11-2024
- Come on, too much drama. No one is in "fault", It's just a comment about the bad luck of the fans. Among friends, we joke saying that the evil God of cycling gives bread (talent) to those who don't want chewing (and only want to play safe). It's a joke.maria2024202411-11-2024
- I’m pretty sure he will end up winning more even if it never becomes a priority for him and why should it? Do you really think he rides for (or should) to cement a legacy in other people’s eyes, people who by your own admission are kind of only halfhearted fans anyway? He rides because he likes his job, he has the problem of being so talented that he’s capable of winning too many things and needs to be picky sometimes. He’s not done many TdFs yet and so far only as a side activity as it interfered with higher priorities, that won’t be the case every yearMistermaumau11-11-2024