From 2019 to 2021, every season was better than the last
Tour of Lombardy
Fritsch: “I dream of a sprint between Alaphilippe and Pogacar… is that just a fantasy?”
13 HOURS AGO
It is characteristic of champions and especially those whose precocity and talent have so dazzled the world that we almost forget that they are neither robots nor unbeatable. This reverse of the medal will come soon, we imagine it in any case, knocking on the door of the one we are careful not to call Cannibal but who looks like it, Remco Evenepoel. Since his Slovenian friend cracked down earlier, he is already there. From 2019 to 2021, he had only experienced a rise in power. Judge instead:
2019: Tour of Algarve, Tour of California, 3rd in the Vuelta (+3 stages)
2020: Tour de France
2021: UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour de France, Tour of Lombardy.
Difficult to do better, to tell the truth, even if a title of world champion would not have been a task in the decor. But still, Tadej Pogacar set the bar high, very quickly. And the descent of 2022 necessarily seems more impressive in this respect. At his level, there are only very big races that score. Or the very beautiful victories. The Strade Bianche and his solo of 50 terminals were obviously one of them. Enough to make the 2022 vintage a memorable vintage? No.
50km breakaway for a solo finish: relive Pogacar’s victory on video
The real failure of Pogacar is the Tour
Tadej Pogacar’s real failure of the year is the Tour de France since a tragedy in the family of his girlfriend, Urska Zygart, had led him to go to Slovenia rather than defend his title in Liège . The absentees always being wrong, Remco Evenepoel threw himself on the Strange coincidence trophy, in passing. But “Pogi” had to surrender against Jonas Vingegaard on the Tour de France. The unbeatable with a smirk fell from his pedestal, not far since he landed on the second step. The fact remains that without saying that he will not be the favorite of the Tour 2023, his aura has taken a hit. Hitting the table in Lombardy this Saturday would therefore not be the worst idea.
Van Aert dropped Pogacar, then Vingegaard flew away: how the Jumbo-Visma sealed the Tour
If on the Tour of Emilia, Enric Mas had hit him on the head last Saturday, Pogacar replied on the Trois Vallées Varésines on Tuesday, settling a group of around twenty men in the sprint. “It’s a good performance before Lombardy“, summarized the Slovenian who perhaps needed to reassure himself. Not on his ability to win since he is, with 15 victories, one of the two most prolific men of the season in the company of Evenepoel. Rather on his legs.
Launch 2023 Reclaim
“Winning will be harder than last yearhe said, however. We will try, as always, to give our best“. The course of the classic of the dead leaves has evolved a little and gives less pride of place to climbers, more to punchers. Are we doing so much Julian Alaphilippe, in legs Monday on the Coppa Bernocchi, the favorite? It would be fine After all, if we catalog Pogacar as a climber before saying that he is a puncher, it is only because he is fantastic in the mountains and “only” very good on short climbs .
Coup de force, misunderstanding of the pursuers: how Pogacar won his 2nd Monument
Whether he is favorite or not ultimately matters little to Tadej Pogacar. It is for the majority of the races in which it takes part and if it has won more this year than in 2021, qualitatively the results are obviously less good. A victory over the last Monument of the season will not immediately put it in the “excellent” category, but it would have the advantage of imprinting in the memory of his opponents the image of a victorious “Pogi”. Before the reconquest of 2023, admit that it would not be luxury.
Tour of Lombardy
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Tour of Lombardy
Van der Poel and Sagan “dry” the Monument for the first Gravel Worlds
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