The champ is here! 🇨🇦 @rusty_woods has joined the team ahead of tomorrow's @GPCQM Montreal, where he will be joined by: 🇨🇦 Guillaume Boivin 🇨🇦 Derek Gee 🇩🇰 Jakob Fuglsang 🇨🇦 Hugo Houle 🇱🇻 Krists Neilands 🏴 Stevie Williams #GPCQM 🇨🇦 #YallaIPT
Michael Woods on Tadej Pogacar and GP de Montréal: "UAE are just going to make the race super hard, because that's the best way for him to win"
CyclingSunday, 15 September 2024 at 14:36
The GP de Montréal takes place today in Canada and unlike Friday's Québec circuit, this one is more fit for the climbers. UAE Team Emirates pushed the pace hard from early on last year for Adam Yates who then attacked to victory and the country's national champion Michael Woods believes the team will deploy a similar strategy today for Tadej Pogacar.
"In some senses, he's a problem, but in other senses, he makes the race really simple and easy. It's not a complicated race tomorrow. It's super challenging in the sense that it's just demanding from a physical perspective," Woods said in words to CyclingWeekly. The Canadian champion believes there won't be much tactical aspect to the race, but instead a show of force from UAE and then an attack from the Slovenian. Whether it will be enough to take the victory is a different question.
"And with Pogačar being there, you can almost guarantee that UAE are just going to make the race super hard, because that's the best way for him to win," the veteran argues. "And then for me, it just makes my life both really easy and really hard. Easy in the sense of tactics, and very hard in the sense of just having to execute a plan." A strong and in-form puncheur, Woods will like the profile of the race, but his top result is only an 8th spot from back in 2019 which he will hope to improve on.
"Last year I was a bit disappointed with my performance. It was a perfect race for me in the sense that it was really hard, really demanding, and it was such an attritional race, especially with the extra lap... I just remember feeling very upset and disappointed with my performance, not being able to be up there with Adam Yates and Pavel Sivakov," he shares.
"I think we made some mistakes that day, we rode too much on the front, too early, and that cost us a bit, and I just wasn't good enough. I didn't have any real race days prior to Montréal last year, whereas I've got the Vuelta under my belt now. I think that's really going to help me for this race." This year he's struggled with illness until the second half of the season, but proved to be back to his best level with a strong win at the Vuelta a España on the Puerto de Ancares.
"I had this bacterial infection that we couldn't figure out until May. During that period, I really thought that I was just getting old, and my performance was sliding. At that moment, I was thinking that I definitely wouldn't go till 2026. Now that I'm doing well, and I'm feeling good, I certainly want to do next year, and then I'll make a decision after that for 2026," he concludes - noting that the 2026 World Championships take place in Montréal.
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- Oh Lordspock12319-12-2024
- Interesting suggestion, fo you think testing Tadej’s (or Bolts’ or so many others’) parents would have given us a preview of his potential then or what criteria do you have to pick parents with?Mistermaumau19-12-2024
- Even amateur teams suffer this sort. But this is also largely due to the precarious sponsorship, in very few sports do you find kit with so many sponsors having to be integrated and changing so regularly.Mistermaumau19-12-2024
- I think it’s pretty obvious what was responsible for destroying interest that used to be there.Mistermaumau19-12-2024
- This has been stated repeatedly, MVDP for CX, road and if it already counts, gravel. Lavreysen for track. I expect as a cycling fan you’ve heard of them?Mistermaumau19-12-2024
- The same thing was said when Tadej announced that he would ride the Giro: "he goes to Il Giro because he knows he can't win the Tour". Always negative speculations. Maybe Primoz, near to the final of his career, simply wants to try this experience.
maria2024202419-12-2024 - If Valentino Rossi could never win during his period of dominance, and massive personality, then Pogacar not winning isn't a massive surprise. Cycling isn't a Premier League global sport......only one event reaches the mainstream every year - and that's not good enough.wipperman9519-12-2024
- I don't think it's only a British thing; the biggest talents aren't usually drawn to CX. Where are all the top Italian, French, Spanish, Slovenian CX riders? Apart from Belgium, and Netherlands, it's not really a target for up and coming cyclists - as there's no career unless you move to Belgium. Other countries can't support a proper professional series, like an international sport should be able to do. Lets not forget, since 2016, British riders have won plenty of World championships; with Pidcock, Richards, Tulett & Backstedt all winning more than one..... And, there was a time when Belgium didn't rule the roost in CX; that was Switzerland, but since the advent of XC MTB, their top off-road talents race there instead of CX - and the 2nd raters not good enough for XC MTB, race CX.wipperman9519-12-2024
- "25-34 are only 13% of USA Cyclings membership" Wow. I own a bike shop, and that number comports both with what I see in the business as well as on the road and trails, but it's somehow hugely demoralizing to see it quantified. Thirteen percent?verve82519-12-2024
- What super dutch talent are we talking about?awp18-12-2024