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Cycling Pro Discussion 4: Transfers Everywhere, Vuelta & Beyond

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With a day to reflect—what an absolutely magnificent race. The best Milan-San Remo I can recall.

I thought UAE had blown it when they hit the Cipressa with no sign of Del Toro, Pogacar buried 30-40 riders deep, and Wellens still accelerating at the front. But in the end, it all worked out.

I really thought Pogacar was going to drop the other two on the Poggio and solo to victory.

Even with hindsight, it’s hard to fault any of the podium riders or their tactics. MVDP was spot on, of course. Once they had the gap on the Cipressa, working with Pogacar was the right move. Same with the descent into the finish—he played it perfectly.

Ganna had one strategy: just keep riding and hope he could claw his way back. What a gritty performance—truly one for the ages. He was suffering and suffering but never gave up. Chapeau.

I don’t see much Pogacar could have done differently. Watching on MAX, the commentators suggested he should have worked with MVDP to prevent Ganna from rejoining and that he should have stayed on MVDP’s wheel for the sprint. I see it differently. Letting Ganna catch up may have seemed risky, but it actually created more tactical possibilities. Yes, it reduced the raw odds of winning, but with two riders against the best sprinter, Pogacar had more ways to put MVDP under stress. Pogacar doesn’t care about second vs. third—he just wants to win. If Ganna had rejoined with, say, 1.5 km to go, the dynamic could have shifted in his favor.

While Pogacar was a bit too far back when the sprint launched, I understand his thinking. He lined up behind the weaker rider with a clear view of MVDP, aiming for a slingshot sprint. Sitting behind the weaker rider made sense—if MVDP wanted to get to his wheel, he’d have to slide over.

Easy for me to analyze from the sofa. The reality? The race tactics were excellent all around. Nobody lost—MVDP won.

Can’t wait for Flanders. Pogacar will be rampaging, MVDP is in top form, and we should have a handful of other contenders to spice things up.
 
Jonas had a concussion from Paris-Nice and missed 9 days of training.

No announcement on whether he will do any races (presumably Basque or Romandie) before the Dauphine.

I have no doubt that Jonas is going to show up for the Tour in great shape. He always does. The question is will he be in the sort of absolute top shape to take on Pogacar? Jonas must feel behind schedule at this point.

Of course, Pogacar is about to ride a bunch of risky classics, some of which will probably be in bad weather, and perhaps he will have his own set backs (I hope not, of course)


velo.outsideonline.com

‘I Was Dizzy, Nauseous’: Jonas Vingegaard Reveals Paris-Nice Concussion, Road toward Tour de France Unclear

Another pothole in the path toward the Tour: Visma-Lease a Bike leader missed nine days of training and remains uncertain if he'll race again before June.
velo.outsideonline.com velo.outsideonline.com
 
Yoricks Wisdom said:
Oh My!
Brennan at the line!
19 yrs old to boot.
Poor Delgrosso, blew up at 150m out.

Never say die!
Click to expand...

Del Grosso gave away the win. I am amazed by the lack of aero on a rider from such a classics focused team

Gm0Z8aqW0AIDWR7
 
I fell asleep during the ongoing Catalunya stage
 
Pogacar officially so scared from being beaten at Milano San Remo that he has DROPPED OUT of E3 this weekend.

Mentally broken? Will he ever be able to recover and return to being a top rider?

Not sure what his plans are. He mentioned something about some obscure race in northern France. I am still researching the details.
 
Yoricks Wisdom said:
Great finish at Volta stage 3!
Ayusa edges out Roglic for the win!
Click to expand...

Roglic looking much better than he did a month ago at Algarve

eddymotto said:
Pogacar officially so scared from being beaten at Milano San Remo that he has DROPPED OUT of E3 this weekend.

Mentally broken? Will he ever be able to recover and return to being a top rider?

Not sure what his plans are. He mentioned something about some obscure race in northern France. I am still researching the details.
Click to expand...

Dont really like him going for Paris - Roubaix but I quess he'll do what he wants to do. Just dont see how he is going to create separation. Or maybe his 65kg ass is simply going to float over the cobbles?
 
Videer said:
Dont really like him going for Paris - Roubaix but I quess he'll do what he wants to do. Just dont see how he is going to create separation. Or maybe his 65kg ass is simply going to float over the cobbles?
Click to expand...

I don't like trying to peak for Strade and MSR, and then skipping a week (Ghent-Wevelgem) and then trying to peak for two weeks RvV and P-R. That's 5 weeks. Doing two peaks of 5 weeks in the season is practical (going back to my time in racing) but one of those 5week periods is going to be better than the other.

IDK, maybe Pogacar is good enough that his 1 and 1a levels are so good that he is still better than everyone else, or maybe he can do two 5weeks '1' levels in a season. Cycling has changed so much (training and racing) that it's hard for me to comprehend how hard it is to do 5wk peaks at that level in modern cycling.
 
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