Tadej Pogacar breaks 3 Strava records during his reconnaissance for Paris-Roubaix 2025 including fastest time on Mons-en-Pévèle
Cycling
First they'll battle it out at the Tour of Flanders, but many fans would be lying if they said they weren't looking forward to the following dish even more: Tadej Pogacar vs. Mathieu van der Poel duel at Paris-Roubaix. The Slovenian is yet to make his debut at the Hell of the North this season, but his training efforts are quite promising.
According to the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider's latest activity on Strava, Pogacar did a 213-kilometer training ride this Wednesday, where he broke no less than 3(!) records on sectors of Paris-Roubaix, including Mons-en-Pévèle.
In addition, Tadej Pogacar also recorded the 2nd fastest time ever at Carrefour de l'Arbre, and went through the Vieux Quaremont. There is no doubt that the little cannibal from UAE is taking this part of the season very seriously, and hasn't even begun to think about the Tour de France.
Victories at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are haunting a rider who feels wounded after the defeat at the last Milano-Sanremo. Will this latest training session by Tadej Pogacar make Mathieu van der Poel nervous?
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Tadej Pogacar a effectué une sortie de 213km ce mercredi où il a pris le meilleur temps (KOM) sur Strava dans 3 secteurs de #ParisRoubaix, dont celui de Mons-en-Pévèle. Il a signé aussi le 2e temps dans le Carrefour de l'Arbre. Il est passé aussi par le Vieux Quaremont. pic.twitter.com/FaeTBIypLf
— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) April 2, 2025
All this seems right but the problem is that two riders of differing weight going at the same speed will have different power and they will also have different power per weight yet are both (in theory, i.e. when trying their hardest) at their max,which means the lighter one is proportionally losing more to the wind (working harder to overcome), the heavier one proportionally losing more to rolling resistance and bounce. The extremely difficult calculations to know which of the 2-3 causes the bigger effect under what exact conditions is what makes it impossible to say who will benefit most in many situations when they aren’t different enough to make it obvious, i.e. a puny climber of 50kg vs a sprinter of 80kg on either the flat or a mountain.
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- Being a heavier rider means you have more momentum entering a cobble sector, as your wheel hits every cobble you are going through them at a higher momentum than a heavier rider, so the lighter rider needs to pedal faster to overcome the cobble, furthermore as specified above you have to also consider the fact that the rolling resistance will affect riders of different weights, tire pressure, techniques.. There is also the fact that a heavier rider has more absolute power. TT riders tend to be good when they are of a higher weight. Explain then why are Ganna, Van aert, Kung, Tarling, etc, favorites on flat ITT? Pogacar has lost several flat TTs to heavier riders..alsene12-04-2025
- I think they mistimed their ride by a day and it was intended to be an April Fools thing, coz there’s a video floating around of him training the cobbles behind a motorbike.Mistermaumau11-04-2025
- I like how there are no comments but couldn’t resist when I saw Gilbert’s video post of Pog following the motorbike. Was it April 1st by any chance?Mistermaumau11-04-2025
- What ruling? You aren’t referring to the recent April Fool’s gag?mobk11-04-2025
- Shoulda , woulda, coulda.... pundits can say what they like cycling isn't quite like that and that's what keeps us watching, what keeps sponsors interested etc etcslappers6611-04-2025
- One bike throw at Flanders and a series of mechanicals at Roubaix, and yes, he could have won both, and Van der Poel would have two less on his list. Wout van Aert will likely never reach the magical space of the year he won on Ventoux, the TT, and the Champs Elysées during the Tour, and he's just that tiny notch below the best right now, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a chance. It's Paris-Roubaix, you never know who is going to really make the difference.RidesHills11-04-2025
- The race is NOT on MAX. It's on NBC Sports (Peacock).Ben11-04-2025
- Hard men heal quickly.bobo11-04-2025
- Always reassuring to see articles that explain timelines so well, almost 3 months since when, mid-October then? But if Wout can come back like he did in 5 months so can he. By May he should be in top form again, just in time to let it settle in a while for July. Happy you’re back Remco, go catch em.Mistermaumau11-04-2025
- Yeah, sorry, you said it yourself, it’s the Olympics, not a WC, not a Tour, not a monument, not a team event, not a cycling gala. A once every 4 year event to bring nations together to celebrate the diversity of sport, so what if breakdancing has been included instead of 30 more cyclists who are paid pros? Know your Olympic history, remember drawing? The whole reason of the Olympics is for mainstream public to discover sport they rarely notice, for sports to showcase themselves to public that doesn’t usually watch and in order for athletes from lower ranked nations to participate with the elite for once. The US (now Jamaïca) have known this problem since dominating sprinting but there is no solution, you cannot resolve the Celebrate every nation vs Have only the best equation, it has to be a mix. Already nations with more than 1 cyclist have an advantage, being able to work as a team. As for those countries that can’t keep up, all the better for the elite’s chances, don’t knock it, and sorry but if you allow a Kiesenhofer to win gold, you don’t deserve any medal as an elite. The races have been fine with those that took part, just improve so you make your national selection, if you don’t make that, you don’t really deserve a medal anyway do you?Mistermaumau11-04-2025