So, how does Pogacar beat Vingegaard?
Hello all, forum newbie here! I'm a big fan of the TdF and started off desperate for Vingegaard to beat Pogi. I even cheered as he passed him on the Col du Granon. But then watching Pogi battle on to the top and being so gracious in defeat, and then seeing how he responded and attacked on every stage and was always so positive and cheerful, somewhere along the way I realised that I was actually team Pogacar.
So my question now, is how do you think Pogacar goes about beating Vingegaard next year? Can he beat Vingegaard next year? Assuming that they both are fit, what do Pogi and UAE need to do if they are going to beat Vingegaard?
I should stress that I really like Vingegaard too - I'm not at all sad that he won. I'm super excited to see them both (hopefully) battling again next year. But my impression was that Vingegaard was able to stick to Pogi like glue for a lot of the tour, then drop him on some of the steepest climbs. So how does Pogi counter this next year?
So my question now, is how do you think Pogacar goes about beating Vingegaard next year? Can he beat Vingegaard next year? Assuming that they both are fit, what do Pogi and UAE need to do if they are going to beat Vingegaard?
I should stress that I really like Vingegaard too - I'm not at all sad that he won. I'm super excited to see them both (hopefully) battling again next year. But my impression was that Vingegaard was able to stick to Pogi like glue for a lot of the tour, then drop him on some of the steepest climbs. So how does Pogi counter this next year?
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Good place to look about thoughts on why Pog lost are here, so covers how he should have / could have won.
https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/13118806
Reality is I think he will struggle given the strength of Jumbo Visma.
Though I'm guessing a lot of that is because Pogacar has a better sprint on him - which is worth a little bit but only a little bit in a grand tour.
Vingegaard hasn't done anything in his entire career to suggest he was about to lay waste to the race like he did.
Meteoric, but slow.
Ultimately I think Pog has the talent to beat Vingers if he plays his cards right.
Firstly I think UAE need to get better at policing breaks to stop top guys like WvA go up the road and making life difficult. It’s in his interest for breaks to hoover up bonus seconds. This might require a better team. Probably.
This is because, secondly, he needs to ride more conservatively and stop sprinting for stage wins / bony seconds.
All the big GT winners comment he’s doing too much damage to himself making these big sprints. I suspect there is some truth in that.
Thirdly he needs a more favourable route with more flat TT miles. Not that there’s much to split them but vingers is very light.
Finally he needs to pick and choose his attacks better. One big one. On the final climb.
This is a man who came 6th in the Basque Country, behind the likes of Remco, Vlasov, and Dani Martinez. He was 2nd at Tirreno, but only marginally better than Landa. Indeed, prior to winning the Tour, the only stage race he had won is Coppi e Bartali, where he beat the likes of Honore, Schultz and Hayter. There's literally nothing there to suggest he should have been putting minutes into Pogacar.
Contrast the way that Pogacar rode the Granon where he was all over the bike and obviously bonking compared to the Hautocam where he was just knackered after repeated attacks. He still managed to finish 2nd on that stage.
If he reflects on this Tour I suspect he will still employ his attacking style but with a bit more savvy and not underestimate Jumbo Visma and Vingegaard again. I think people forget the way he beat Jumbo Visma in 2021 with very little support from his team by just following the JV train and attacking at the right point.
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
He hit my radar when he won the penultimate stage of the 2019 Tour of Poland, taking the leader's jersey.
He blew up the next day and rolled home 14 minutes down.
That's the year Pavel Sivakov won the GC.
Not a dig at him, when I first signed up for the Cycling+ forum a Giro win would have you number 1 in the threads about the greatest ever male British road cyclist (probably ahead of the likes of both Millars, Elliott, Hoban etc) but I don't think he's even been on the podium in any other stage race.
I missed TGHs Alpes podium as that race doesn't make wikipedia's cut.
Tao GH won a Giro in October against a weaker field of GC contenders who couldn't time trial at all, albeit he won two Mountain Stages and finished 2nd in a preparatory race in the Alps the year before.
Vingegaard finished 2nd in the tour the year before he won it, which is arguably a better achievement than winning that edition of the Giro.