Aravis
Putrid Donut
- Location
- Gloucester
It seems I missed the injured knee revelation. I still think the La Plagne stage was a bit weird, with Poggy seeming go out of his way to avoid making the final capture. Perhaps I need to watch it again
Tour de France 2026 ***Spoilers***
- Thread starter wakemalcolm
- Start date
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CarbonClem
Senior Member
I wouldn't think Pog will be overcooked given the recovery period, I'd expect JV to be more impacted by the Giro. Yes, it 'looked' easy for him but he was never really tested by anyone, so who really knows? I do think though, that by targeting the Giro in Pogs absence he has mentally conceded the Tour before its started.
Hopefully this year will be the end of the dominance and we see a future challenge in reality from Sexy, Lipo or Oscar.
Hopefully this year will be the end of the dominance and we see a future challenge in reality from Sexy, Lipo or Oscar.
mididoctors
Über Member
That always used to be the case, but Pogacar seems to have a peak lasting all season these days. He's down to do the Tour de Suisse so we'll see what shape he's in. No idea who else he'll be up against. Is Suixas doing the Dauphine instead?
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wakemalcolm
Legendary Member
- Location
- Ratho
Yes, the big boys are managing their avoidance schedules nicely:
Seixas: Dauphine
Pog: Suisse
Vingo: in bed
Remco: hiding
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wakemalcolm
Legendary Member
- Location
- Ratho
Yup, could be all over by Wednesday if they're unlucky.
Pross
Guru
Was that his last GT? I thought that was the 2024 Tour and that he was far happier last year.
Pross
Guru
When Pog did the Giro / Tour double in 2024 he also didn't have to go deep in the Giro and started the Tour flying but by the end, although he was a very comfortable winner, there was a lot of talk about him starting to look tired. I'd be more worried about him being undercooked than overcooked.
Would anyone be "that" surprised if he did Lombardy/Vuelta/Worlds to wrap up the season? He seems to be ticking off races, so the Vuelta will be on the cards at some point.
Pross
Guru
I think he's bound to go for the Vuelta and Jonas now has all three. I think he missed a unique opportunity in 2024 to get all three GTs in one season though.
If he does Suisse, Tour, Lombardia, and Worlds he'll have raced 39 days this season. Even with a few 1-day races, it'd be low 40s. He did 58 days when he rode the Tour and Giro.
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wakemalcolm
Legendary Member
- Location
- Ratho
He's never won San Sebastian: that's got to be on his dance card sometime. He also seems to like the Canadian classics which dovetail nicely with the WC this year.
No Ta Doctor
Über Member
I'd take that with a pinch of salt tbh. The manager blames it on him crashing into the Visma car pre race on the 18th stage, someone else said it flared up on the 17th stage. He was already looking like he hated being there sometime earlier.
Pogacar's own words in the 3rd week were along the lines of "I can't wait for this to be over so I can go and do something fun with my life"
I think Visma - chasing an idea that they could tire him out and get something in the third week - made him race far more conservatively than he might have liked (pressure from his team management as well?) and he hated it.
I expect to see Visma repeat this strat again, harrying and harassing from early on and making it hard and irritating. While I doubt Seixas is in any way a serious contender this season it's likely he'll be involved, especially early on.
EDIT: I don't expect either Pog or Vingegaard to be anything but completely fresh at the start of the Tour. It'll be the three weeks that counts, not what they've raced earlier in the season.
mididoctors
Über Member
Did his knee as well.,.
mididoctors
Über Member
I'.didn't like the harassment strategy . It basically went have no idea just do stuff. Tired themselves out . Then came. The soulor
