"We saw a tired Pogacar for the first time" - José de Cauwer following Tadej Pogacar's Amstel Gold Race win
Cycling
Many conclusions could be taken from Amstel Gold Race, one being that Tadej Pogacar has entered the Ardennes classics on flying form and could win all three races. Going into detail on his performance this Sunday, José de Cauwer argues that towards the end he may have shown a moment of weakness.
"...He made it difficult for himself by going so early and there was also a lot of stress with that flat tire. At the end we saw a tired Pogacar for the first time," De Cauwer analyzed after the race for Sporza. "You can hardly talk about a dip in form, it had nothing to do with that. Well with the circumstances and maybe he had eaten a little too little. You saw that with Tom Pidcock, a real victim."
The argument revolves around Pogacar's ride in the final kilometers of the race, where he lost some seconds to second placed rider Ben Healy. The reasons for that only UAE Team Emirates know, but notes have been taken on a possible difficulty. His race, despite being a dominant win, caught the attention more due to the brief moments of drafting he got from a race organization car, which has sparked a lot of criticism and debate over how that could take place in such way.
"What I say now does not detract from Tadej Pogacar's merit. But he got help from his support vehicle, where others may not get it," Karl Vannieuwkerke argued. "And in the final, when Ben Healy came closer, suddenly there was the car of race director Leo van Vliet with Walter Planckaert at the wheel. They helped him in a difficult moment."
Pogacar took the victory after a 28-kilometer solo attack, with 38 seconds of advantage over the Irishman. At Flèche Wallone he's struggled to perform in the past but will take to the start as the man to beat at the Mur de Huy, but eyes already lay on Liège-Bastogne-Liège which takes place this Sunday.
"Maybe we'll get a duel. It is so important because everything started for Evenepoel last year in Liège. The new Evenepoel has risen and it has hardly gone wrong since," De Cauwer continued. "We expect that great battle between them. Pogacar is the standard, Evenepoel is coming. It is the last classic of the first, the first of Evenepoel."
In the possible scenario that the two would sprint it out for a win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, De Cauwer gave his opinion on who would win it: "Based on the sprint speed in those previous sprints in Liège against Roglic and Alaphilippe, among others, I would say Pogacar."
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- I have no sympathy for Ayuso or the situations he gets himself into. He was a traitor in the UAE team, he hated Pogi and never wanted to work for him. He always had excuses why he couldn't perform. No riders in the team liked his character and did not approve the kind of person he was on a deep, moral, or personal level. I just don't care about him. Ad acta.PogiSloFans11-11-2026
- Great response! I love the article also. Interesting to see which "Legends" will be covered. There are a few out there :-)
DareDevil11-11-2026 - This is one of the reasons why Ineos is failing, G can comment on his pod but why has he not attracted talent from the peloton to Ineos. He has lot of inside track. Also ratcliffe handling of Man United is also disastrous.abstractengineer11-11-2026
- Theirs a few on the team who may be able to step up/progress to Grand Tour wins but that'll come, not in '27 tho 🤷 - Roglic mayve appealed on a 2 yr for immediate results but other riders would be set aside and the existing riders wouldn't like that
leedorney11-11-2026 - Hey @santiagobenites, that's why @leedorney is wrong. He doesn't see the bigger picture.PogiSloFans11-11-2026
- the rot started in 2022 with Bernal's accident Signings- Just super helpers and non winners. Foss GC Leaders - Reliance on injured Bernal and retiring G Talents - On domestique duty dont learn how to win. Sprinters - No top Sprinter signed Tactics- Outdated Save the leader, trains. Just money badly spent even though there were opportunitiesabstractengineer11-11-2026
- Whole team is a mess. They don't have any really top tier "podium lock" GT riders, and they don't really have a solid classics block. Just a bunch of spare parts. I don't know why any rider would go for them either. Feels like old mate with the money is likely to pull out at any given moment, and that doesn't bode well for their ability to jack up their budget and say "let's buy half a dozen shit-hot talents to ride support/lead our team" - which is what they probably need to do to get competitive again.wrsty11-11-2026
- Pogi is a Goat. He has power numbers that are once in a century. Jonas is a once in a generation, He has power numbers 1 level lower than Pogi. Even if both are equal which they were before 2024, Pogi would have won on sprint bonuses. For Jonas to win he has to crack Pogi, which is impossible. Therefore Giro is a good option considering the TT in TDF. He cannot win but if something happens to Pogi , he should be still in a position to win the TDF, Giro or no Giro, because the others are a level below him.abstractengineer11-11-2026
- for what?frieders311-11-2026
- Blah blah blah!frieders311-11-2026
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A happy man no doubt 😃🤙 @TamauPogi #WeAreUAE #UAETeamEmirates #AmstelGoldRace #AGR2023
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