Professional Cycling 2022 - Who can stop the Slovenian Superman?
03-05-2022
, 09:08 AM
A new year means another year of dedicating one's life to achieving your goals, to work your ass off for only a small chance of success, spending two thirds of the year away from home, living in shabby hotel rooms with your teammates, who you might not even like. A willingness to risk everything, including your own health, in the pursuit of glory and immortality in what is arguably the most ruthless and brutal sport there is - professional road cycling. And then, of course, there are people like me, who prefers to lie on my couch watching these epic dramas unfold while accomplishing absolutely nothing in any way.
A cycling race is more than just a competitive sport, it’s a story that unfolds over many hours, days or even weeks, with numerous plot twists, unlikely alliances and bold moves and crumbling plans, often through some of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet.
Cyclists are a special breed; I remember a brilliant interview with a Danish professional cyclist who said he simply could not relax at home if his legs weren’t hurting. If he didn’t have sore legs, he had to go for a 100 km ride before he could kick back and relax. I’ve often wondered what makes people get into cycling; it’s obvious why people want to play football or other sports that are fun to partake in, but what makes a person dedicate their life to the perpetual state of pain, the worst tan lines on the planet, clinical living to optimize your physical performance, to perhaps never be close to winning a race, spending your life carrying water bottles and shielding others from the wind? I can only conclude that cyclists are made of something different.
Cycling is the sport of the opposites, it can be breathtakingly beautiful, and it can be horrible, brutal and ruthless – in more than one way. You can give everything for 6 hours and be in the lead for 230 km before getting overtaken meters from the finish line, a fate that befall many a breakaway. Or you can spend 7 hours on the way to the biggest glory of your life and get taken out by punctures and crashes on treacherous roads, as Gianni Moscon learned the hard way last year in Paris-Roubaix.
Losing out on glory due to a crash or a puncture is far from the worst fate that happens to cyclists. Every year, nightmare crashes result in permanent injury or even death. In the off-season, former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal nearly lost his life when he was hit by a bus while training. Fortunately, he survived, but his future as a professional cyclist remains uncertain. Only a couple of years ago, his then-teammate, four time Tour de France winner and the most dominant rider of his generation, Chris Froome, had a similarly nightmarish crash, a crash that effectively ended his reign at the top of the world of cycling. In 2020, Fabio Jakobsen “broke all bones in his face”, including his palate, lost ten teeth, much of his jaw, and suffered serious brain damage in a high-speed sprint crash in Tour of Poland in 2020. Miraculously he has made a very good recovery and is currently the sprinter to beat. This is also a testament to the mental fortitude of cyclists - it takes a lot of grit to get continue giving everything as a top sprinter after nearly losing your life in a sprint crash.
Many cycling fans remember the tragic death of Wouter Weylandt in the Giro d’Italia 11 years ago, when he crashed on a descent travelling at 80 km/h. Tom Simpson died on the 13th Tour de France stage in 1967, climbing Mont Ventoux. Sadly, there are many stories like these.
People often make out sports to be a matter of life and death, but cycling is one of the few sports where this is the reality. Devastating crashes happen occasionally for both pro, youth and retired riders, they all get into crashes that sometimes end fatally. Last year, Denmark’s most beloved cycling personality, former professional Chris Anker Sørensen who had turned commentator, tragically passed away in a crash when covering the World Championships in Belgium, an incomprehensible loss for Danish cycling, and personally I am still affected by it. Tragedy have always played a role in the world of cycling.
The race (TODAY):
The classics season officially began last weekend with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad where the Swiss Belgian army knife Wout van Aert won in convincing solo fashion. Sunday Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne was raced, and here Fabio Jakobsen won the sprint at the finish line. Today, one of the most beautiful and dramatic races of the season will happen - Strade Bianche. It is an early highlight of the cycling season and definitely worth bailing your friends and family to follow. “Strade Bianche” means “white roads”, referring to the unpaved back roads of Tuscany landscape that is simply breathtakingly beautiful. The two favorites are Tadej Pogacar and Julian Alaphilippe, who won the race in 2019.
The riders:
There is one man who has been above the rest the last two years. He has won virtually everything, including back-to-back Tour de Frances, two monuments, nine Grand Tour stages (in 3 total GTs), and an Olympic medal, where he seemingly decided to settle for third. Indeed, the question on everyone’s lips this season is: who can possibly hope to stop Tadej Pogacar, who has seemed utterly invincible. And he is no more than 23 years old. He has already won the UAE Tour this year, and it will almost certainly be just the first of numerous wins. Hopefully the SE title curse will contribute to evening the playing field a little bit.
With Pogacar being the Slovenian Superman, it seems fitting that the biggest threat to him is something from his home planet Krypto-, uh, Slovenia. Primoz Roglic has won a ridiculous amount of cycling races since he descended on the world of cycling relatively late in his life after being a ski jumper (a fact you will probably hear at least once per day of transmission of a race where he is participating). Roglic was destined to rule the world of cycling, but he has been usurped by his countryman. While he has amassed numerous wins, including Olympic Time Trial gold, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 15 Grand Tour stages and three consecutive Vuelta a Españas and countless other big wins, he has yet to win the Tour de France, his ultimate goal, that he was so brutally robbed off in 2020 when Pogacar did the unthinkable and destroyed Roglic on the final TT of the Tour. After crashing out early last year, this feels like the year that Roglic will have to show that is cut out for it and can win the Tour. He has a ridiculously strong team around him, and it feels like it is now or never he has to show that he can do it.
One of Roglic’s strongest teammate’s is somebody who I 7 months ago did not expect would be a candidate for a key player in the 2022 cycling season, namely 25-year-old Dane, Jonas Vingegaard. After some good showings in the spring, primarily as Roglic’s helper, he took everyone by surprise at the Tour, when captain Roglic was forced to abandon the race, by finishing second overall and, perhaps most iconically, when he dropped Pogacar on Mont Ventoux. Only time will tell if he can replicate his incredible form from last year, if he can, he will be vital in Jumbo-Vismas attempts to overcome Pogacar at the Tour. Look at that beautiful big mouth, those nostrils, capable of breathing in large volumes of air to keep him going up the mountain, a mountain goat from one of the flattest countries on the planet. Vingegaard is the latest of a truly golden generation of Danish cyclists that I am happy to witness, with old man Jakob Fuglsang having won big victories the past couple of years, while younger riders such as Søren Kragh Andersen, Kasper Asgreen, Mads Pedersen, and most lately Vingegaard, have all cemented themselves as top quality riders. Danish world (cycling) domination is imminent.
Other key figures of this season are repeats of last year, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe and (hopefully) Mathieu van der Poel. “The three musketeers” have gobbled up an obscene amount of stages, classics and any other competitive race they could get their fingers on the past couple of years. This trend is likely to continue, although MvdP has struggled with pain from crashes and back problems. Hopefully he can get back to his best because he is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable riders to watch.
The TV transmission for Strade Bianche just began, and the wind has just caused a massive crash, hopefully this will be a season of cycling with all the drama but without the tragedy.
A cycling race is more than just a competitive sport, it’s a story that unfolds over many hours, days or even weeks, with numerous plot twists, unlikely alliances and bold moves and crumbling plans, often through some of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet.
Cyclists are a special breed; I remember a brilliant interview with a Danish professional cyclist who said he simply could not relax at home if his legs weren’t hurting. If he didn’t have sore legs, he had to go for a 100 km ride before he could kick back and relax. I’ve often wondered what makes people get into cycling; it’s obvious why people want to play football or other sports that are fun to partake in, but what makes a person dedicate their life to the perpetual state of pain, the worst tan lines on the planet, clinical living to optimize your physical performance, to perhaps never be close to winning a race, spending your life carrying water bottles and shielding others from the wind? I can only conclude that cyclists are made of something different.
Cycling is the sport of the opposites, it can be breathtakingly beautiful, and it can be horrible, brutal and ruthless – in more than one way. You can give everything for 6 hours and be in the lead for 230 km before getting overtaken meters from the finish line, a fate that befall many a breakaway. Or you can spend 7 hours on the way to the biggest glory of your life and get taken out by punctures and crashes on treacherous roads, as Gianni Moscon learned the hard way last year in Paris-Roubaix.
Losing out on glory due to a crash or a puncture is far from the worst fate that happens to cyclists. Every year, nightmare crashes result in permanent injury or even death. In the off-season, former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal nearly lost his life when he was hit by a bus while training. Fortunately, he survived, but his future as a professional cyclist remains uncertain. Only a couple of years ago, his then-teammate, four time Tour de France winner and the most dominant rider of his generation, Chris Froome, had a similarly nightmarish crash, a crash that effectively ended his reign at the top of the world of cycling. In 2020, Fabio Jakobsen “broke all bones in his face”, including his palate, lost ten teeth, much of his jaw, and suffered serious brain damage in a high-speed sprint crash in Tour of Poland in 2020. Miraculously he has made a very good recovery and is currently the sprinter to beat. This is also a testament to the mental fortitude of cyclists - it takes a lot of grit to get continue giving everything as a top sprinter after nearly losing your life in a sprint crash.
Many cycling fans remember the tragic death of Wouter Weylandt in the Giro d’Italia 11 years ago, when he crashed on a descent travelling at 80 km/h. Tom Simpson died on the 13th Tour de France stage in 1967, climbing Mont Ventoux. Sadly, there are many stories like these.
People often make out sports to be a matter of life and death, but cycling is one of the few sports where this is the reality. Devastating crashes happen occasionally for both pro, youth and retired riders, they all get into crashes that sometimes end fatally. Last year, Denmark’s most beloved cycling personality, former professional Chris Anker Sørensen who had turned commentator, tragically passed away in a crash when covering the World Championships in Belgium, an incomprehensible loss for Danish cycling, and personally I am still affected by it. Tragedy have always played a role in the world of cycling.
The race (TODAY):
The classics season officially began last weekend with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad where the Swiss Belgian army knife Wout van Aert won in convincing solo fashion. Sunday Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne was raced, and here Fabio Jakobsen won the sprint at the finish line. Today, one of the most beautiful and dramatic races of the season will happen - Strade Bianche. It is an early highlight of the cycling season and definitely worth bailing your friends and family to follow. “Strade Bianche” means “white roads”, referring to the unpaved back roads of Tuscany landscape that is simply breathtakingly beautiful. The two favorites are Tadej Pogacar and Julian Alaphilippe, who won the race in 2019.
The riders:
There is one man who has been above the rest the last two years. He has won virtually everything, including back-to-back Tour de Frances, two monuments, nine Grand Tour stages (in 3 total GTs), and an Olympic medal, where he seemingly decided to settle for third. Indeed, the question on everyone’s lips this season is: who can possibly hope to stop Tadej Pogacar, who has seemed utterly invincible. And he is no more than 23 years old. He has already won the UAE Tour this year, and it will almost certainly be just the first of numerous wins. Hopefully the SE title curse will contribute to evening the playing field a little bit.
With Pogacar being the Slovenian Superman, it seems fitting that the biggest threat to him is something from his home planet Krypto-, uh, Slovenia. Primoz Roglic has won a ridiculous amount of cycling races since he descended on the world of cycling relatively late in his life after being a ski jumper (a fact you will probably hear at least once per day of transmission of a race where he is participating). Roglic was destined to rule the world of cycling, but he has been usurped by his countryman. While he has amassed numerous wins, including Olympic Time Trial gold, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 15 Grand Tour stages and three consecutive Vuelta a Españas and countless other big wins, he has yet to win the Tour de France, his ultimate goal, that he was so brutally robbed off in 2020 when Pogacar did the unthinkable and destroyed Roglic on the final TT of the Tour. After crashing out early last year, this feels like the year that Roglic will have to show that is cut out for it and can win the Tour. He has a ridiculously strong team around him, and it feels like it is now or never he has to show that he can do it.
One of Roglic’s strongest teammate’s is somebody who I 7 months ago did not expect would be a candidate for a key player in the 2022 cycling season, namely 25-year-old Dane, Jonas Vingegaard. After some good showings in the spring, primarily as Roglic’s helper, he took everyone by surprise at the Tour, when captain Roglic was forced to abandon the race, by finishing second overall and, perhaps most iconically, when he dropped Pogacar on Mont Ventoux. Only time will tell if he can replicate his incredible form from last year, if he can, he will be vital in Jumbo-Vismas attempts to overcome Pogacar at the Tour. Look at that beautiful big mouth, those nostrils, capable of breathing in large volumes of air to keep him going up the mountain, a mountain goat from one of the flattest countries on the planet. Vingegaard is the latest of a truly golden generation of Danish cyclists that I am happy to witness, with old man Jakob Fuglsang having won big victories the past couple of years, while younger riders such as Søren Kragh Andersen, Kasper Asgreen, Mads Pedersen, and most lately Vingegaard, have all cemented themselves as top quality riders. Danish world (cycling) domination is imminent.
Other key figures of this season are repeats of last year, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe and (hopefully) Mathieu van der Poel. “The three musketeers” have gobbled up an obscene amount of stages, classics and any other competitive race they could get their fingers on the past couple of years. This trend is likely to continue, although MvdP has struggled with pain from crashes and back problems. Hopefully he can get back to his best because he is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable riders to watch.
The TV transmission for Strade Bianche just began, and the wind has just caused a massive crash, hopefully this will be a season of cycling with all the drama but without the tragedy.
03-05-2022
, 09:37 AM
Solid preview. 
In for another season of mostly watching off DVR whenever NBC throws us a bone and puts coverage on one of their channels. Probably still not paying for Peacock, though since they're showing Paris-Nice it's possible.
Really curious what kind of form Roglic will have this year and how he'll plan his schedule.
In for another season of mostly watching off DVR whenever NBC throws us a bone and puts coverage on one of their channels. Probably still not paying for Peacock, though since they're showing Paris-Nice it's possible.
Really curious what kind of form Roglic will have this year and how he'll plan his schedule.
03-10-2022
, 08:23 PM
Quote:
A new year means another year of dedicating one's life to achieving your goals, to work your ass off for only a small chance of success, spending two thirds of the year away from home, living in shabby hotel rooms with your teammates, who you might not even like. A willingness to risk everything, including your own health, in the pursuit of glory and immortality in what is arguably the most ruthless and brutal sport there is - professional road cycling. And then, of course, there are people like me, who prefers to lie on my couch watching these epic dramas unfold while accomplishing absolutely nothing in any way.
A cycling race is more than just a competitive sport, it’s a story that unfolds over many hours, days or even weeks, with numerous plot twists, unlikely alliances and bold moves and crumbling plans, often through some of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet.
Cyclists are a special breed; I remember a brilliant interview with a Danish professional cyclist who said he simply could not relax at home if his legs weren’t hurting. If he didn’t have sore legs, he had to go for a 100 km ride before he could kick back and relax. I’ve often wondered what makes people get into cycling; it’s obvious why people want to play football or other sports that are fun to partake in, but what makes a person dedicate their life to the perpetual state of pain, the worst tan lines on the planet, clinical living to optimize your physical performance, to perhaps never be close to winning a race, spending your life carrying water bottles and shielding others from the wind? I can only conclude that cyclists are made of something different.
Cycling is the sport of the opposites, it can be breathtakingly beautiful, and it can be horrible, brutal and ruthless – in more than one way. You can give everything for 6 hours and be in the lead for 230 km before getting overtaken meters from the finish line, a fate that befall many a breakaway. Or you can spend 7 hours on the way to the biggest glory of your life and get taken out by punctures and crashes on treacherous roads, as Gianni Moscon learned the hard way last year in Paris-Roubaix.
Losing out on glory due to a crash or a puncture is far from the worst fate that happens to cyclists. Every year, nightmare crashes result in permanent injury or even death. In the off-season, former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal nearly lost his life when he was hit by a bus while training. Fortunately, he survived, but his future as a professional cyclist remains uncertain. Only a couple of years ago, his then-teammate, four time Tour de France winner and the most dominant rider of his generation, Chris Froome, had a similarly nightmarish crash, a crash that effectively ended his reign at the top of the world of cycling. In 2020, Fabio Jakobsen “broke all bones in his face”, including his palate, lost ten teeth, much of his jaw, and suffered serious brain damage in a high-speed sprint crash in Tour of Poland in 2020. Miraculously he has made a very good recovery and is currently the sprinter to beat. This is also a testament to the mental fortitude of cyclists - it takes a lot of grit to get continue giving everything as a top sprinter after nearly losing your life in a sprint crash.
Many cycling fans remember the tragic death of Wouter Weylandt in the Giro d’Italia 11 years ago, when he crashed on a descent travelling at 80 km/h. Tom Simpson died on the 13th Tour de France stage in 1967, climbing Mont Ventoux. Sadly, there are many stories like these.
People often make out sports to be a matter of life and death, but cycling is one of the few sports where this is the reality. Devastating crashes happen occasionally for both pro, youth and retired riders, they all get into crashes that sometimes end fatally. Last year, Denmark’s most beloved cycling personality, former professional Chris Anker Sørensen who had turned commentator, tragically passed away in a crash when covering the World Championships in Belgium, an incomprehensible loss for Danish cycling, and personally I am still affected by it. Tragedy have always played a role in the world of cycling.
The race (TODAY):
The classics season officially began last weekend with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad where the Swiss Belgian army knife Wout van Aert won in convincing solo fashion. Sunday Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne was raced, and here Fabio Jakobsen won the sprint at the finish line. Today, one of the most beautiful and dramatic races of the season will happen - Strade Bianche. It is an early highlight of the cycling season and definitely worth bailing your friends and family to follow. “Strade Bianche” means “white roads”, referring to the unpaved back roads of Tuscany landscape that is simply breathtakingly beautiful. The two favorites are Tadej Pogacar and Julian Alaphilippe, who won the race in 2019.
The riders:
There is one man who has been above the rest the last two years. He has won virtually everything, including back-to-back Tour de Frances, two monuments, nine Grand Tour stages (in 3 total GTs), and an Olympic medal, where he seemingly decided to settle for third. Indeed, the question on everyone’s lips this season is: who can possibly hope to stop Tadej Pogacar, who has seemed utterly invincible. And he is no more than 23 years old. He has already won the UAE Tour this year, and it will almost certainly be just the first of numerous wins. Hopefully the SE title curse will contribute to evening the playing field a little bit.
With Pogacar being the Slovenian Superman, it seems fitting that the biggest threat to him is something from his home planet Krypto-, uh, Slovenia. Primoz Roglic has won a ridiculous amount of cycling races since he descended on the world of cycling relatively late in his life after being a ski jumper (a fact you will probably hear at least once per day of transmission of a race where he is participating). Roglic was destined to rule the world of cycling, but he has been usurped by his countryman. While he has amassed numerous wins, including Olympic Time Trial gold, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 15 Grand Tour stages and three consecutive Vuelta a Españas and countless other big wins, he has yet to win the Tour de France, his ultimate goal, that he was so brutally robbed off in 2020 when Pogacar did the unthinkable and destroyed Roglic on the final TT of the Tour. After crashing out early last year, this feels like the year that Roglic will have to show that is cut out for it and can win the Tour. He has a ridiculously strong team around him, and it feels like it is now or never he has to show that he can do it.
One of Roglic’s strongest teammate’s is somebody who I 7 months ago did not expect would be a candidate for a key player in the 2022 cycling season, namely 25-year-old Dane, Jonas Vingegaard. After some good showings in the spring, primarily as Roglic’s helper, he took everyone by surprise at the Tour, when captain Roglic was forced to abandon the race, by finishing second overall and, perhaps most iconically, when he dropped Pogacar on Mont Ventoux. Only time will tell if he can replicate his incredible form from last year, if he can, he will be vital in Jumbo-Vismas attempts to overcome Pogacar at the Tour. Look at that beautiful big mouth, those nostrils, capable of breathing in large volumes of air to keep him going up the mountain, a mountain goat from one of the flattest countries on the planet. Vingegaard is the latest of a truly golden generation of Danish cyclists that I am happy to witness, with old man Jakob Fuglsang having won big victories the past couple of years, while younger riders such as Søren Kragh Andersen, Kasper Asgreen, Mads Pedersen, and most lately Vingegaard, have all cemented themselves as top quality riders. Danish world (cycling) domination is imminent.
Other key figures of this season are repeats of last year, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe and (hopefully) Mathieu van der Poel. “The three musketeers” have gobbled up an obscene amount of stages, classics and any other competitive race they could get their fingers on the past couple of years. This trend is likely to continue, although MvdP has struggled with pain from crashes and back problems. Hopefully he can get back to his best because he is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable riders to watch.
The TV transmission for Strade Bianche just began, and the wind has just caused a massive crash, hopefully this will be a season of cycling with all the drama but without the tragedy.
A cycling race is more than just a competitive sport, it’s a story that unfolds over many hours, days or even weeks, with numerous plot twists, unlikely alliances and bold moves and crumbling plans, often through some of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet.
Cyclists are a special breed; I remember a brilliant interview with a Danish professional cyclist who said he simply could not relax at home if his legs weren’t hurting. If he didn’t have sore legs, he had to go for a 100 km ride before he could kick back and relax. I’ve often wondered what makes people get into cycling; it’s obvious why people want to play football or other sports that are fun to partake in, but what makes a person dedicate their life to the perpetual state of pain, the worst tan lines on the planet, clinical living to optimize your physical performance, to perhaps never be close to winning a race, spending your life carrying water bottles and shielding others from the wind? I can only conclude that cyclists are made of something different.
Cycling is the sport of the opposites, it can be breathtakingly beautiful, and it can be horrible, brutal and ruthless – in more than one way. You can give everything for 6 hours and be in the lead for 230 km before getting overtaken meters from the finish line, a fate that befall many a breakaway. Or you can spend 7 hours on the way to the biggest glory of your life and get taken out by punctures and crashes on treacherous roads, as Gianni Moscon learned the hard way last year in Paris-Roubaix.
Losing out on glory due to a crash or a puncture is far from the worst fate that happens to cyclists. Every year, nightmare crashes result in permanent injury or even death. In the off-season, former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal nearly lost his life when he was hit by a bus while training. Fortunately, he survived, but his future as a professional cyclist remains uncertain. Only a couple of years ago, his then-teammate, four time Tour de France winner and the most dominant rider of his generation, Chris Froome, had a similarly nightmarish crash, a crash that effectively ended his reign at the top of the world of cycling. In 2020, Fabio Jakobsen “broke all bones in his face”, including his palate, lost ten teeth, much of his jaw, and suffered serious brain damage in a high-speed sprint crash in Tour of Poland in 2020. Miraculously he has made a very good recovery and is currently the sprinter to beat. This is also a testament to the mental fortitude of cyclists - it takes a lot of grit to get continue giving everything as a top sprinter after nearly losing your life in a sprint crash.
Many cycling fans remember the tragic death of Wouter Weylandt in the Giro d’Italia 11 years ago, when he crashed on a descent travelling at 80 km/h. Tom Simpson died on the 13th Tour de France stage in 1967, climbing Mont Ventoux. Sadly, there are many stories like these.
People often make out sports to be a matter of life and death, but cycling is one of the few sports where this is the reality. Devastating crashes happen occasionally for both pro, youth and retired riders, they all get into crashes that sometimes end fatally. Last year, Denmark’s most beloved cycling personality, former professional Chris Anker Sørensen who had turned commentator, tragically passed away in a crash when covering the World Championships in Belgium, an incomprehensible loss for Danish cycling, and personally I am still affected by it. Tragedy have always played a role in the world of cycling.
The race (TODAY):
The classics season officially began last weekend with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad where the Swiss Belgian army knife Wout van Aert won in convincing solo fashion. Sunday Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne was raced, and here Fabio Jakobsen won the sprint at the finish line. Today, one of the most beautiful and dramatic races of the season will happen - Strade Bianche. It is an early highlight of the cycling season and definitely worth bailing your friends and family to follow. “Strade Bianche” means “white roads”, referring to the unpaved back roads of Tuscany landscape that is simply breathtakingly beautiful. The two favorites are Tadej Pogacar and Julian Alaphilippe, who won the race in 2019.
The riders:
There is one man who has been above the rest the last two years. He has won virtually everything, including back-to-back Tour de Frances, two monuments, nine Grand Tour stages (in 3 total GTs), and an Olympic medal, where he seemingly decided to settle for third. Indeed, the question on everyone’s lips this season is: who can possibly hope to stop Tadej Pogacar, who has seemed utterly invincible. And he is no more than 23 years old. He has already won the UAE Tour this year, and it will almost certainly be just the first of numerous wins. Hopefully the SE title curse will contribute to evening the playing field a little bit.
With Pogacar being the Slovenian Superman, it seems fitting that the biggest threat to him is something from his home planet Krypto-, uh, Slovenia. Primoz Roglic has won a ridiculous amount of cycling races since he descended on the world of cycling relatively late in his life after being a ski jumper (a fact you will probably hear at least once per day of transmission of a race where he is participating). Roglic was destined to rule the world of cycling, but he has been usurped by his countryman. While he has amassed numerous wins, including Olympic Time Trial gold, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 15 Grand Tour stages and three consecutive Vuelta a Españas and countless other big wins, he has yet to win the Tour de France, his ultimate goal, that he was so brutally robbed off in 2020 when Pogacar did the unthinkable and destroyed Roglic on the final TT of the Tour. After crashing out early last year, this feels like the year that Roglic will have to show that is cut out for it and can win the Tour. He has a ridiculously strong team around him, and it feels like it is now or never he has to show that he can do it.
One of Roglic’s strongest teammate’s is somebody who I 7 months ago did not expect would be a candidate for a key player in the 2022 cycling season, namely 25-year-old Dane, Jonas Vingegaard. After some good showings in the spring, primarily as Roglic’s helper, he took everyone by surprise at the Tour, when captain Roglic was forced to abandon the race, by finishing second overall and, perhaps most iconically, when he dropped Pogacar on Mont Ventoux. Only time will tell if he can replicate his incredible form from last year, if he can, he will be vital in Jumbo-Vismas attempts to overcome Pogacar at the Tour. Look at that beautiful big mouth, those nostrils, capable of breathing in large volumes of air to keep him going up the mountain, a mountain goat from one of the flattest countries on the planet. Vingegaard is the latest of a truly golden generation of Danish cyclists that I am happy to witness, with old man Jakob Fuglsang having won big victories the past couple of years, while younger riders such as Søren Kragh Andersen, Kasper Asgreen, Mads Pedersen, and most lately Vingegaard, have all cemented themselves as top quality riders. Danish world (cycling) domination is imminent.
Other key figures of this season are repeats of last year, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe and (hopefully) Mathieu van der Poel. “The three musketeers” have gobbled up an obscene amount of stages, classics and any other competitive race they could get their fingers on the past couple of years. This trend is likely to continue, although MvdP has struggled with pain from crashes and back problems. Hopefully he can get back to his best because he is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable riders to watch.
The TV transmission for Strade Bianche just began, and the wind has just caused a massive crash, hopefully this will be a season of cycling with all the drama but without the tragedy.
03-13-2022
, 11:35 AM
03-13-2022
, 05:51 PM
With the two stage races coming to an end, we were reminded of two things when the Slovenian overlords won their respective early spring races.
In France, Roglic showed once again that despite great strength, he is human. Meanwhile in Italy, Pogacar cemented the fact that he is not.
The level of dominance he is showing is unlike anything I can recall having seen in my time of watching cycling. It's not just one type of stages or races, or during a specific period of the year when he is peaking, he is so much better than everyone, seemingly all the time.
Despite that, I doubt that he will win Milano Sanremo Saturday. Poggio should not be hard enough for him to drop everyone. WvA seems to be in form, Alaphilippe wasn't good in Strade but has pulled great form out of a hat in the past.
So obviously the most likely outcome is probably a Pogacar win by 45 seconds.
blast tchaz
[SPOILER]again
[/SPOILER]
In France, Roglic showed once again that despite great strength, he is human. Meanwhile in Italy, Pogacar cemented the fact that he is not.
The level of dominance he is showing is unlike anything I can recall having seen in my time of watching cycling. It's not just one type of stages or races, or during a specific period of the year when he is peaking, he is so much better than everyone, seemingly all the time.
Despite that, I doubt that he will win Milano Sanremo Saturday. Poggio should not be hard enough for him to drop everyone. WvA seems to be in form, Alaphilippe wasn't good in Strade but has pulled great form out of a hat in the past.
So obviously the most likely outcome is probably a Pogacar win by 45 seconds.
blast tchaz
[SPOILER]again
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03-19-2022
, 01:13 PM
04-03-2022
, 10:15 AM
04-03-2022
, 10:45 AM
04-24-2022
, 10:37 AM
