"That will cost him about an hour of time at the finish every day" - Could having the Maglia Rosa so early prove a burden for Tadej Pogacar at the Giro d'Italia?
Cycling
Although some predicted Tadej Pogacar to wear the Maglia Rose through the entirety of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, it took the Slovenian until stage 2 to move into pink. Could having the race lead so early become a burden though? This is the hypothesis of Sporza commentator Renaat Schotte.
"Is Pogacar untouchable in this Giro? Everyone says so. Everyone thinks he will now keep the pink jersey until Rome," assesses Schotte post-stage 2 at the Giro d'Italia for Sporza. "I say 'no, he is not untouchable' because the race is still so long. Pogacar has that pink jersey now, but that will also cost him about an hour of time at the finish every day (podium ceremony and interviews ed). That's an hour less recovery, sometimes it's even an hour and a half. You carry that with you in a Grand Tour."
Although one hour less of sleep and recovery a night might not seem like too much of a big deal, even the great Tadej Pogacar could feel the effects of the accumulated loss during the race. "Pogacar may still be the superman he is, but he is only human," assesses Schotte. "Due to the special dynamics of this Giro, with an uphill finish on day 2, we will certainly see surprises in the final week and riders who fail."
Regarding the UAE Team Emirates team as a whole however, Schotte also has concerns. "The UAE team is on track. But here and there questions are already being raised about its strength. Pogacar himself said that he was one man short of making a difference on the San Vito," he explains. "After Rafal Majka passed the sceptre just over 4km from the end, Pogacar still managed to ride away from the competition. At the moment of the attack you had the feeling that Pogacar would take a minute. He ran well, but at the finish the difference was only 27 seconds. That indicates a slightly slower final kilometre for Pogacar."
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- Having a competitor is about the only thing that makes top guys better, we’re lucky to be in this era where each helps push the other to a next level we would never see if they’d be able to win complacently. Even Pog or in xc, MVDP or a discipline monster like Primoz can’t/won’t motivate themselves to reach their absolute peaks just for the sake of it.Mistermaumau28-12-2024
- Ha ha, I like the kid's style, he gets in the obligatory "I'm recovering from illness so might've been able to have hung on for longer" Proper Pro! Chapeau young man.Suipedali28-12-2024
- He would still be faster on the course riding his cyclocross bike than in his Lambo!Pogboom28-12-2024
- i love the spirit of any of these younger guys who will say out loud I WANT TO TRY TO FOLLOW MATHIEU. they know plenty well what that means. vanthourenhout, eli, lars and company have kinda been beaten into submission by years trying and failing to keep up with mvdp. i feel for them, seriously. but it’s great to see younger riders show up and take their turn, full of hope.OCexile28-12-2024
- The nice thing about World Tour cycling is it never goes the way you think it ill, haha. Tadej breaking away so far out in the Worlds? Remco doubling up in Paris?
ScottG27-12-2024 - Pretty classy comments by Jonas. Makes me like him even more.ScottG27-12-2024
- MVDP is simply a cross "machine" - amazing to watch.ScottG27-12-2024
- yes, Jonas said that he had lost a little muscle mass. In the other hand, also Tadej changed his physique: thin, more lighter than ever, legs and glutes well defined (finally, no more junior legs). Both were more lighter than ever but Pogi could put more muscle in legs and glutes.
maria2024202427-12-2024 - He can keep contending for Vuelta podium spots. A lot would need to go wrong for others and everything right for him to get on the Giro podium. He'll only be on the TdF podium if he's becomes a podium presenter.Veganpotter27-12-2024
- I like that, mind if I use it from now on? Better than using his name which always gets me worried about Google hits and giving him the excuse he was bound to behave the way he did from the derived verb.Mistermaumau27-12-2024