Tadej Pogačar is the 𝙗𝙤𝙨𝙨 👊👉 Moving his pieces like a chess grandmaster on Tour de France 2023 Stage 14. @TeamEmiratesUAE @TamauPogi
"If anyone can do it, it’s Pogacar" - Jens Voigt believes Giro-Tour double is almost impossible, but points towards his favourite
CyclingSaturday, 27 January 2024 at 10:16
Jens Voigt has never been a major Grand Tour contender but, with almost inequal experience, shares his opinion on the rider who is most likely to be able to succeed at winning Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in a single season.
“It hasn’t been done because no one is using super petrol (widespread doping use, ed.) anymore. That’s one of the reasons why winning the double hasn’t been done since Pantani," Voigt said in an analysis with GCN. "I raced both races and was competitive in stage hunting in the Giro and was good in the Tour as a stage hunter or as a helper to someone like Carlos Sastre but GC is different.”
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The German is a frequent voice in the peloton's key subjects and perhaps none is more important than Tadej Pogacar's schedule in the 2024 season. Voigt is unsure if it is possible in the current day and age to win both Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, but if anyone can it is the Slovenian. “Tadej is a lot younger but he has an incredibly strong team and he’s a racer and a winner. He’s not going to go to the Giro to finish seventh. That’s just how he is. If anyone can do it, it’s Pogačar."
"I’m a little biased because I like him. He’s a cool young man and he’s not afraid to attack long. I’m a fan, I have to admit. Who would have thought that a rider like him could win Flanders?" he continues. "So I think he can do the double but he’s also thinking that he’s been second twice to Vingegaard at the Tour de France so he’s probably thinking he needs to change something."
At the Giro Pogacar will have a sole leadership, however at the Tour de France he will be one of four leaders alongside Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso and João Almeida. “I think that the Giro and Vuelta double is probably more manageable. Like with Roglič. He would have done it last year but he wasn’t allowed to win the Vuelta. There’s enough time between Giro and the Vuelta. With the Giro and the Tour, there’s a complicated distance between both races," he argues.
"It’s far too long to push it for both races because you’re in shape for four weeks at the Giro, and then it’s impossible to hold top shape for 12 weeks until the end of the Tour. The time between both races is also short, so you can’t take a week of holiday and then try and build back up. It’s tricky in the past but with the coaches and data the riders have now, it’s manageable," Voigt believes, arguing that the evolution in nutrition and preparation may assist riders in this difficult goal.
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- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024