"His cadence is bizarrely high" - Thijs Zonneveld looks into Tadej Pogacar's "effortless" Dauphiné victory
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar made quick work of his opponents at Criterium du Dauphiné. Despite a lesser timetrial, the Slovenian left no doubts that he dominates in the mountains. And he did so with utter ease, reacting to most attacks while comfortably seated on his bike and pedalling his usual high cadence.
"He rides the same speed with even greater cadence," Thijs Zonneveld says in the podcast In de Waaier. "He has paid a lot of attention to that. His cadence remains bizarrely high. But it is also the way he keeps rolling on his bike, so to speak."
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According to Zonneveld, Pogacar did a lot of torque training for that. "Wattages measure how much force you turn, and torque is the moment at which you push down," Zonneveld explains. "What many riders train by riding uphill with a heavy gear. That's great to see, because it's so well developed in him. Even better than in other years."
What that does is that Pogacar is able to transfer his already abnormal power even more efficiently. "It also explains why he can attack while sitting, because he doesn't need to stand up to create a lot of torque. He can do that while sitting. I think he is doing ninety uphill. Usually that goes down when you ride uphill, but with him you hardly see that."
Pogacar has been flying since he picked up shorter cranks last year, but Zonneveld is still convinced whether it's as simple yet reliable method of improvement as the Slovenian makes it look. "It seems, but there is still too little hard evidence that you can maintain speed a little easier with shorter cranks. But if they want to force it, they find it more difficult, they have a little more trouble getting going."
He points out that many other riders would struggle to use the same techinque. "If you're Tiesj Benoot who stands up on every climb, you tend to shift up a gear and start to chop more. If you have that high revolution and if you can do that with shorter cranks, there's an advantage to that. You stay a bit fresher and there's an aerodynamic advantage because you can sit a bit lower because of your hip angle."
After all, Pogacar is quite a unique cyclist. "Maybe it's very suitable for him, because he can keep developing that high torque. You need that, because if you can't do that, in theory you lose explosiveness. I think there's definitely something in it if it suits you, but then it's in the whole of the position."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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