Cruising home this morning and then these two passed me. Ended up doing another three hours 🤣🤦♂️ They did buy me lunch though, every cloud #cheersPogiandBling
Top form on demand: Pogacar did - away from the crowds - "nothing special" for sought-after World Championship legs
CyclingSaturday, 21 September 2024 at 11:20
Tadej Pogacar is the top favorite, and according to some cycling fans and analysts, the World Championship will even be a formality. "If Pogacar has the guts, he'll make it a one-man show in Zurich," Michel Wuyts wrote at HLN. Nice, but what exactly about his World Championship legs? Pogacar provided a small teaser in Canada but otherwise kept remarkably quiet. That's no different at UAE-Team Emirates.
How Pogacar won in the GP Montréal was impressive, as he has been on the attack playfully all year. Some saw a gap for the World Championship afterward ("His attack was not like the way he attacked in the Tour"), and others looked with open mouths at his "breathing rate" and "glycogen." For a World Championship, nothing goes unsaid, and they seem to get that at Camp Pogacar, too. No Strava files of workouts and hardly any spontaneous contributions on social media; he is on a mission.
Fortunately, on Friday, Geraint Thomas was training in the Alpes-Maritimes region of southern France. It's near Monaco, where Pogacar and Thomas live, and Michael Matthews, the Slovenian's great cycling friend. Thomas saw the pair riding past by chance. "I was on my way home when these two drove by me. I ended up spending another three hours on the bike," the Welshman laughingly wrote on his social channels. "They did pay lunch for me, fortunately."
Read more below the photo.
UAE Team Emirates claims Pogacar did "nothing special" after Tour
So he is still around, Tadej Pogacar. Aside from his appearance in Canada, we haven't seen him in a race since the Tour de France. Not surprising, after he had already won the Giro d'Italia before it. After the usual celebrations and a well-deserved vacation, he posted something on Instagram again four weeks ago. "Time to get back to work," a commercial post read. In the following weeks, we saw snippets of his World Championship preparations. He was cycling with Matthews and Tim Wellens behind the moped toward Canada and standing on the pedals around Monaco.
No altitude training toward the World Championship, no official training camp... At UAE-Team Emirates, they took it all lighthearted. Team manager Andrej Hauptman told IDLProCycling.com when asked about the Tour of Luxembourg. "Tadej is always motivated and looking forward to winning new races. He already has a good standard, although he didn't do anything special for that. He rode relaxed for a few weeks after the Tour without specific training. He is preparing more precisely and then gets up to speed quickly. Whether he can do more after Canada? That's never easy to predict. You depend on other teams ' strengths, even if you are in top form. We'll see."
Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])
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Latest Comments
- I wish we could have seen him try. He'd absolutely get dropped before Pogi overtakes his domestiquesVeganpotter10-12-2024
- Talk is cheap! Next year barring crashes with a healthy team... all well be on track! Some need to talk to make a headline!mootman27-11-2024
- I do not see this event listed on HBO Max Sports Online? Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
MrYuck23-11-2024 - It seemed that he was focusing forward at the time of the crash, after seeing a quick video snippet. But one thing I think he should focus on more intently is breaking a bad habit he has, right now. And that is his constant looking over his shoulders. He does that so much, that I am very sure it is not good for him. Simply watch videos of the greats of CX and you will see very little of that constant looking over their shoulders. That is a behavior that betrays a bit of insecurity on his part. He shouldn't be so concerned, incessantly, about what is over his shoulder. He needn't worry they didn't all disappear. He neds to keep his focus more ahead of himself, and he needs to pay a bit more attention to himself, in a confident manner. It is very frustrating to watch, because it is apparent that he has a lot of potential, and is in much better shape thwan many of his competitors, but the mental game needs to be sharpened more, because that part of strategy plays a huge part in the final results
reemmo022-11-2024 - hahahaha love this shit! I didnt even watched the race, but reading all the gossip articles of how stupid this is!Zatoichi19-11-2024
- Van Aert is really handsome. He can influence me all day! Ditto for Philipsen. Why do you think many of us love cycling?: to see heroic attempts at climbing mountains at high altitudes or to watch speedsters sprint for the finish line or to watch a human being ride at break neck speed down a tricky descent? No, it's all about their lean physiques and muscular legs. (apologies for objectifying these dedicated and amazing athletes).BarwonHeadsUp25-10-2024
- It is unfortunate that the author can't feel the joy that Pogacar brings to the sport and his fans who are legion and I for one feel lucky to have watched such a memorable performance and historic season From the Strada until yesterday with multiple wins in stages in both tours and beyond dominance in the World's. He is proud to wear the Rainbow stripes, shows his leadership to protect his fellows and is as courteous and sportsman-like as the sport allows. He goes early to not have to respond to each attack as all the rest would make him do it. Any racer who could would do the same. Don't "grow tired" of greatness as it is always fleeting.ccrider13-10-2024
- What load of rubbish. Pog is likely a once in a generation cyclist, the like of which hasn't been seen since 'the Cannibal '. How many people were complaining that Merckx was making racing predictable? I remember this year's World RR as one of the most exciting I've watched. Mainly BECAUSE Pog was the favourite and launched what everyone thought (Pog included) was a suicidal attack with 80km to go. For the next 2 hours, I was on the edge of my seat thinking "this is too much, even for Pog". Maybe Zonnefeld prefers the snooze-fest that is a bunch sprint? Like most people I know, I can't watch two hours of the bunch riding very fast... I wait for the final 5km and watch just the sprint. In any event, most races are won from a sprint or lone break. What difference does it make who makes the lone break? Ultimately, the other contenders will have to figure out a way to beat Pog. Even if that means collaboration between teams. It's going to be an exciting few seasons, until the next Pog arrives on the scene. If this is boring, heaven knows what exciting looks like!Michael513-10-2024
- This is not a gravel race. UCI fail, from the surface they are on to team tactics. In what country was the first "gravel race" in what country is the most popular gravel race? Go with the race model that created the discipline.
Barnes127411-10-2024 - And don't forget he has now won 4 of the big 10 races (Grand tours, Monuments and WC/OG) in one year with a chance to make that 5. (5 has only been done once before)Joostmehrtens05-10-2024