"They should've given Pogacar a ten-minute deficit... But even then he still wins" - Experts wonder what can be done to stop Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
How do you stop Tadej Pogacar? That is the question that will be asked a lot this coming winter. Because after what was arguably the best cycling season ever, Sander Valentijn, Karsten Kroon and Jeroen Vanbelleghem discuss the performances of the Slovenian in Kop over Kop podcast.
The scariest thing is that Pogacar, despite his incredible palmares is still very young and only sky seems to be a limit to what he can achieve in years to come. "He is only 26," Kroon comes to a realization. "Suppose he continues to develop like this for years. Then the UCI will have to intervene in two years."
The former rider also comes up with a special solution. "In Lombardy, the whole peloton was against Pogacar, they did well. But it's not enough to stop the UAE Emirates team. They should have actually blocked the road and given Pogacar a ten-minute deficit... But even then he still wins..."
According to Jeroen Vanbelleghem, nobody could have stopped Tadej Pogacar on Saturday. "Not even Remco Evenepoel in shape. He is also simply driven home by this Pogacar. Maybe he could have stayed with him longer, but win? No." Evenepoel eventually came second. Kroon has pinned his hopes on the Belgian. "He has indicated that he wants to train towards Pogacar's level this winter."
Is there any further reason to worry as a cycling fan? "In principle yes," Kroon responds, who fears that the excitement will disappear from cycling in this way. "But this supremacy will also come to an end," he is hopeful. "In the past we have often said that someone would win the Tour de France in the next ten years. But that did not happen. But for now we have to take our hats off to Pogacar. He is absolutely the best."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
Loading
2 Comments