General Race Thread 2026 **spoilers**

Pog is exactly the type of rider most of us love. He attacks, he tries every day, he gives it a go on days that don’t seem to suit him.

But it’s not fun watching a race be over 50km from the finish and that happens more often than not

Not his fault, but such is sport

I just can't understand how the other teams don't work together more to bring him back in. They'll put 1 domestique on the front to pull. But no single rider is pulling Pog back. They need to be rolling turns and all working together, but they never do. It's not like the stage was particularly difficult.

So why even race?

On a seperate topic… Is Sam completely done? Halfway into the year and besides a 3rd a Region Pays de la Loire he has basically DNF'd everything.

Surely it can't take this long to build fitness back?

And still valuable in terms of individual and team points.

fwiw I am hopeful of JV at least making a fight of the tour this year. I mean a big deal is made of Pogi breaking his wrist in Liege in 2023, Jonas' crash in Itzulia 24 was career (and life) threatening, and then he topped it up with the concussion in Paris Nice last year. This year is the first since his last win he has had a clear run at it.

They're hardly even trying for that. Take Pog out of the equation and Carapaz / Bagioli have a very healthy advantage over the others.

I'd like to see some of the teams work together on attacking Pog it'll never happen but if they could repeat what Jumbo did with Ving & Roglic a few years back that'd be exciting. But maybe he's too strong now and that won't work anymore.

Adam Rafferty 10th on the queen stage in the baby giro. He’s up to 8th in GC

Irish participation down to just himself after the death of Shane O’Brien meant Liam pulled out. I think it’s why David Gaffney dropped out too. All understandable of course

He maintains an unwavering, explosive peak from the cold gravel of Strade Bianche in March to the high-lbaltitude passes of the Tour de France in July, all the way to autumn Classics in October. In the history of sports science, a cyclist going at 100% capacity for eight straight months without a single day of weakness is a neon red flag

Pogacars year round, unyielding dominance naturally forces a cynical conclusion.if a performance looks too good to be true in cycling, history tells us it usually is.

I agree, I think JV will put up a stronger challenge this year( WvA being out is a massive blow though), don't think it's a certainty that Pog wins this year, obviously the favourite, but, one bad day could change things. He was obviously suffering from a bit of fatigue in the last week last year, but, was so far ahead it didn't matter. If JV is close or even ahead going into the last week, it would make it very interesting this year. Then of course there's always the possibility of illness, injury or a mechanical at a bad time that could tip the balance one way or the other.

You're also describing the perfect gaps between peaks - 12 weeks. I'm far from an expert, but to my understanding peaking at those 3 times are eminently achievable. In fact i imagine a lot of the riders you see in the Ardennes try and peak 3 times.