We are still trying to grasp just how dominant Tadej Pogacar was in the Giro. The Slovenian breezed through the pink three-week race and is now preparing for his next objective: the Tour de France. However, it's important to also reflect on Pogacar's enormous achievement, as he won six stages, put the second-place rider nearly ten minutes behind, and at times seemed to even be holding back in the Giro. In the podcast TheMove, former pro cyclists John Bruyneel and Lance Armstrong analyzed his performances. And they were at a loss for words.
Armstrong stressed that winning six stages is difficult for a dominant sprinter in a grand tour, let alone for a general classification rider. "Winning that many stages is almost impossible. Only if one man stands out in the sprints, four or five stages are usually achievable. But six for a general classification rider?" Bruyneel also expressed his astonishment and thinks Pogacar could have won even more. "I believe he won six because he only wanted to win six."
Armstrong and Bruyneel fear Vingegaard is no match for Pogacar in the Tour
"It's sad for the competition in the Giro, but that dominance was very impressive. I've heard many people say that it was boring. But Pogacar is simply the best rider there is. And there were no other top-tier riders participating. Dani Martinez and Geraint Thomas are third in line in terms of quality at their teams INEOS Grenadiers and BORA-hansgrohe," the Belgian continued. "He was racing against the lower echelon. His dominance made sense."
"At times, it really seemed like he was simply on a training session. Only in Livigno did he seem to go a bit over the limit." Armstrong continued about Pogacar: "Every race he starts, he wants to win. I would hate to race against him. He really won the Giro on one leg. Jonas Vingegaard has only five weeks to get ready for the Tour... That's going to be very difficult, that's nothing." His former team director then concluded once more with high praise. "He can sprint, climb, handle cobbles, time trial. Has a great team. Only bad luck can stop him. His numbers are from another planet."
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