Thijs Zonneveld: "What would have happened in Strade Bianche if a Van der Poel or Evenepoel had been present? Then we would have had a real race"

Tadej Pogacar's victory at Strade Bianche was nothing but impressive, however Thijs Zonneveld argues what would've been if there was stronger competition in the Italian classic.

"We must take measures against Pogacar," Zonneveld joked in the Het Wiel podcast. "On the day that Mathieu van der Poel won his umpteenth cross of the season, I wrote down a number of proposals to make the cross more fun again. Let him ride with one pedal. Or without a front wheel. Without a chain, that's also possible. I believe that we should introduce something similar for Pogacar." The Slovenian attacked with over 80 kilometers to go and comfortably built minutes of gap, calmly arriving in Siena like no other rider has done in the past.

The longest winning gap ever in the Italian race and the longest one-day race solo win in decades. However the Dutch analyst wonders if the same would've happened if another of the 'superstars of cycling' was there to battle alongside him: "For example, what would have happened in Strade Bianche if a Van der Poel or Evenepoel had been present? Then we would have had a real race. I suspect that Pogacar would have waited a little longer. There was nothing anyone could do about it now. This is what it must have been like in the past to watch races with Eddy Merckx."

"But seriously: we have six exceptionally good riders. These are Pogacar, Van der Poel, Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel. I would like to introduce that when one of these six riders is at the start, he will only be given the opportunity to start if at least one of the other six is also at the start," he jokes again.

With the likes of Evenepoel and Vingegaard also dominating the races that hey have started in February, it continues to cement the gap between these riders and the rest. "Pogacar also knows in advance that he will win. The only thing he still wonders is where exactly he is going to attack. It's becoming more and more extreme," he continues on Pogacar's move at Strade Bianche.

"It is no longer about competing to win, but about beating the others and raising the bar even higher. How will Van der Poel start his season? Moreover, we are seeing fewer and fewer duels between the world's top riders. I really think that's a shame. Fortunately, we still get a few classic races between Van Aert and Van der Poel."

"The spectacle value was of course a bit off," he believes however, a feeling that was shared throughout the race by many fans as well. "That's why I was happy that the Ster van Zwolle was still being broadcast. In the past, riders peaked at one or two times in the season. Now we are in a time where riders are immediately top when they race."

"The margins have become much smaller. If you look at how Vingegaard and Evenepoel started their season, it's just a mess. Remco attacks in Portugal fifty kilometers from the finish and makes fun of everyone, Jonas does the same in Spain. There are still big riders behind them, but no one can argue with that."