"It's like hunting, you have to wait until he creates an opening" - Cyrille Guimard suggests patience to Tadej Pogacar's opponents
CyclingThursday, 02 May 2024 at 01:00
With 107th Giro d'Italia just around the corner and the cards already dealt, Cyclism'Actu's Cyrille Guimard tries to read who holds the strongest trump cards in the hunt for seemingly invincible and omnipotent Tadej Pogacar.
"Based on what we have seen since the start of the season and taking into account the opposition, he can hardly be beaten. He has no opponents at his level in this Giro because those who could have been are not present," Guimard raises a question about the competitiveness of Pogacar's challengers.
"How to beat him, or at least shake him up? It's like hunting. You have to wait until he finds himself in a slightly delicate situation to trigger. You should never trigger before. Otherwise you risk burning your wings. Either there is the opening or there is not the opening, because when you attack this type of rider, you must not miss him."
"So contrary to what everyone thinks, it's a waiting race, you have to be in a lookout position. You should definitely not arm wrestle with someone whose arm is twice as strong as you," he concludes.
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- Everyone knows that Pog i s taking a risk by focusing on training exclusively for the Tour for only a few weeks instead of all year round, as Jonas does. But Plugge could easily mention this as simply a choice that Pog has made, which has been accepted up to now. Instead, he changes the narrative to insist that the real truth is Jonas is naturally better able to handle accumulated fatigue than Pog is. More psychological warfare than marketing.Hill3330-05-2025
- Merckx has a crazy number of wins, but so many were meaningless crits. for quality wins, Tadej rivals or surpasses him at similar ages.mij30-05-2025
- Merckx has a crazy number of wins, but so many were meaningless crits. for quality wins, Tadej rivals or surpasses him at similar ages.mij30-05-2025
- I need rephrase myself. I mean the UAE team pulled Ayuso together with other GC contenders back to Del Toro who was further in front. Yes, I noticed Del Toro eased off just before the Red Bull bonus point, which I thought was very strange. It was as though he was acting as a domestique even though he was wearing pink. So, it's not UAE fault that Ayuso can't perform.
KerisVroom30-05-2025 - Agree MIJ: this version of Ayuso, a victim mistreated by his team because in the middle of the stage they didn't stop his job hugging him, kissing him, singing him a soothing lullaby can only be conceived by an excited fan (Mr Flecha).
maria2024202430-05-2025 - really? I watched a team that pulled del Toro back because wanted Ayuso captain (stage 11, del Toro could easily catch up Carapaz, but stayed back helping Ayuso, stage 13, Km Red Bull, del Toro stopped to allow Ayuso won seconds). This version of "Ayuso victim" make me laugh. He is arrogant, selfish, never pull for others, he thinks is Merckx... no, he is not. I hope this Giro helps him to mature and give him a dose of reality.maria2024202430-05-2025
- "Gemini" was unsure but "Siri" told me Carapaz. 😊
Senna196030-05-2025 - And maybe he struggles to maintain a competitive weight. In cycling it's a major disadvantage.maria2024202430-05-2025
- The way the team puts him in lots of races doesnt help eitherabstractengineer30-05-2025
- If he was so concerned, he should have patted Ayuso himself. UAE were busy with Del toro's leadabstractengineer30-05-2025
This man said "I'm dead, I'm gone" and finished 2nd overall.
How can you beat him? especially with Thomas? come on
Stage wins for others are expected, but it's hard to see anyone, but Pogi winning Giro, unless he crashes or gets injured. I would be surprised he won at least 2 of 3 GTs this year. Pogi needs to be nearly flawless to win Giro, TDF and Vuelta in 1 season.
There will be opportunities for stage wins, but the overall? I doubt it if he stays healthy and doesn't crash. However pog is going to try for the double (or is it the treble GC's now?) It doesn't make sense for him to dominate in every stage of the giro and deplete his core energy. He may also take account of the media and punters suggesting this might be a boring giro. He might sit back and let others win, then go for a couple of killer blows. Time will tell.