The grumbling has started. Keyboard warriors are taking to their laptops to raise more than a digital eyebrow at the extraordinary exploits of Tadej Pogacar.
The words Pogacar and Armstrong are being used in the same sentence and not in a good way. I have been watching the tour for many years and I remember the Texans dominance. I was taken in, I read all the books, quoted all the quotes and wore the yellow band. I even rode a Trek because that is what Lance rode. The man himself has even voiced an opinion that Tadej needs to look a bit ‘less good’, to ‘cool his jets’, perhaps for fear of drawing too much of the wrong kind of attention.
The way Tadej has carved up the tour this year, is reminiscent of the Lance days. He has won with ease. He is a prodigious talent that we are privilaged to witness, but exploits like these draw comparisons with the bad old days when the wins went to the best dopers.
Pogacar’s level has been far above the rest this time. He has not had a bad day. Admittedly, all his biggest rivals had their tour preparation compromised by huge accidents. Jonas’s crash is the Basque country was horrifying, Remco too. The latter has impressed hugely. The former, has tacitly admitted he can only do what he can do and in the light of his interrupted preparation, his performances have been no less amazing. He will be back and Remco too, stronger for the experience.
Some have suggested that Pogacar should share the crumbs. On stage 20, he sat on Jonas’s wheel until he was ready to sprint clear for another stage win. Jonas even suggested that he thought Tadej might let me take the stage, having done a lot of the work. But in all honesty, any victory for the Dane would have been a pyric one. The watching world would know. Eddy Merckx said that people came to the roadside to see him win. I am sure Tadej would say the same. As spectators, we should marvel and wonder at this amazing talent.
Tadej’s dominance is no accident. The investment by UAE in the very best of everything is reminiscent of the Team Sky project of 15 years ago. The deep and practical understanding of the riders individual training nutritional and recovery needs can only come as a result of the investment they are making in expertise as they strive to achieve total world domination. Not unlike Formula One, combining a prodigious talent with the very best backroom team, wins races. For Pogacar, sub in Verstappen or Hamilton when he was in his pomp. UAE have dialled things up a notch as did Sky. The other teams will be playing catch up for a few years.
Pog is backed by a team of ‘Galactico’s’ most of whom would make team leaders elsewhere. Riders that have joined the UAE team are better riders as a result of the teams investment. The sum of the parts is adding up to more than the whole.
But two things concern me. First the spectacle. As a passionate cyclist, I can find things to enthral on even the most boring of transition stages, but this year’s Giro and the Tour were forecast by everyone, as wins for Pogacar, and so it has proved. This has made both races somewhat predictable. Often the only question was just when Pog would attack before riding away to the win. All sport requires an element of jeopardy to capture and retain the public’s imagination. If Netflix revenues and sponsorship money are to continue to flow, a degree of unpredictability is needed.
I believe that Pogacar is the ‘real-deal’ for the reasons I have outlined. But the mutterings of even well informed pundits – let alone all those joining the social media pile on – will undermine his credibility and that of the sport. The largely clean nature of cycling now will be drawn into question again. It is small consolation that Vingegaard was looked on with equal suspicion when he was dominating. The public needs to know that what is being achieved is not due to doping. Sponsors will only stick with the sport if the public believe it is clean.
My suggestion is that UAE need to be more open, to share the data and the methods that have enabled them to be such a force. To show where the advantages have been created. The sport needs to up its PR game.
In the meantime, I want to revel in the super-human talent of Tadej Pogacar, to be thrilled by his exploits, grateful that I am around to witness his greatness. I hope he continues winning, It is what he lives for. Pog and his team will raise the standards further as others vie to compete. I can’t wait for the Vuelta!