IL MAESTRO! 🥳 @TamauPogi takes his fourth @Il_Lombardia in a row, combined with his 25th win of the season! 🎉 Unstoppable. 😮💨 #IlLombardia2024
"We are no longer sure that this is still the case" - Not even Van der Poel and Vingegaard may be competitors to Tadej Pogacar anymore, for L'Equipe
CyclingMonday, 14 October 2024 at 10:01
Tadej Pogacar has won countless races this season and has done what many thought, until years ago, was rather impossible in modern cycling. His palmarès grew this year further than any pro rider has ever done in the history of the sport and it is argued that maybe even Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Vingegaard are starting to be too distant from the Slovenian.
"Remco Evenepoel stayed in place, but if Pogacar is there, that's second place. The Belgian did not even try to hold on to the Slovenian's wheel when he attacked. He knew it was in vain, that there was nothing else to gain than to be blown up," L'Équipe wrote on this Sunday's edition. We saw a strong Evenepoel in Italy this Saturday, one who climbed well, made the difference on the descent to his rivals and then held off a strong group of climbers. But he crossed the line over three minutes behind Tadej Pogacar.
It was an expected win however, with the World Champion attacking exactly where everyone already expected him to, but simply having no response to his move. Not only his attack, but the way he continues to grow the gap throughout the final hour of racing is simply too much for his rivals. The French news outlet's commentary is not surprising, since this is how he took several wins this year and more specifically in recent weeks.
"And then the enormous gap with the rest of the world. From the Strade Bianche in early March, the first day of the race and his first success, to Lombardy on Saturday, he crushed his opponents. He began by demonstrating his superiority, his difference from others, the world that separates them from him," they argue.
Even the top riders that stood beside him look distant now when it comes to their ability to win the big races: "Around him now is the desert. We only knew two real opponents of his, Mathieu Van der Poel in the classics and Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France, the only ones who could break his back. But we are no longer sure that this is still the case, even if we cannot wait to see how the Dane will rebuild himself with a view to July."
Read also
claps 15visitors 41162
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024