Nothing is finalized between Tadej Pogacar and his teammates: “It’s not the Playstation”

A rather classy reaction from the champion, who could also have pointed out the fact that he found himself isolated in a peloton of around sixty riders in the final. Marc Soler and Joao Almeida, his last relays, had slipped to the back of the group for a few hectometers when Nick Schultz placed his attack “in postman”, approaching the red flame. Completely alone, Pogacar found himself in difficulty at the most important moment of the race while Sivakov, Grosschartner, Novak and Vine had long since disappeared.

In Milan-Sanremo, the tactics of the Emirati team had already surprised. By wanting to harden the Classicissima too much from the first Capi, the UAE-Emirates had burned their wings even before the Poggio. Covi had exploded on the first slopes of the Cipressa and the young Del Toro had quickly plateaued. “We were counting on Hirschi and Ulissi at Cipressa but they were no longer there,” explained Mauro Giannetti upon the arrival of the first monument of the season. Result ? Pogacar even asked through the headset if he shouldn’t attack from this Cipressa, even if it meant disrupting the team’s plans. “It would have been suicide,” explains his sports director who therefore managed to reason with him.

“We have to climb the Cipressa faster so that everyone arrives tired at the foot of the Poggio but it’s not the Playstation,” said Tim Wellens regarding his team’s failed tactics. “I had to work earlier than expected and I lacked the energy for the Poggio.” The Belgian had in fact taken over from Isaac Del Toro when the latter was no longer able to toughen up the race.

The hell train of Wellens and UAE Emirates lacked a carriage in Milan – San Remo: “I felt that it was of no use”

Far from the efficiency of the Visma – Lease a Bike

Meanwhile, Jonas Vingegaard does not miss any opportunity to raise his arms. Every time he wanted to win, he succeeded. Whether at the Tour of Galicia (three stages and the general) or at Tirreno-Adriatico (two stages and the general). In these two races, the Belgian Cian Uijtdebroeks never had to sacrifice himself for his leader, striving to obtain a good result himself. As if the Visma – Lease a Bike had an “excess” man, where one is often missing from its great rival.

It must be said that the Dutch steamroller is much more advanced. When they take control, the pace only gradually accelerates, from kilometer to kilometer. Without taking the trouble to make “jumps” like those which were fatal to Soler in Catalonia or to Del Toro in Sanremo. In a platoon of sixty men, Vingegaard still has four to five teammates around him, where Pogacar only has one or two. However, when we see the quality of the teams aligned around the Slovenian, there is really nothing to be ashamed of.

We must add to this the few huge tactical failures of the Emiratis since the start of the season: a Milan-Turin offered to Bettiol, while Christen, Hirschi and Ulissi take 2nd, 3rd and 4th places after forgetting to play it collectively in the final; the funny attitude of Nils Politt who takes Jan Tratnik to victory without asking for the slightest relay in the Nieuwsblad finale; the failure of Juan Ayuso in the final of the Trofeo Laigueglia where he was no less strong than the winner Lenny Martinez…

There were also some failures, like those of Brandon McNulty and Jay Vine in the last stage of the Tour of the United Arab Emirates, at home. As if to remind us that this team is only really on point when Tadej Pogacar is a leg above everyone else and can afford to place his victorious attack more than 80 kilometers from the finish, like on the Strade Bianche .

So of course, “it’s not Playstation” and all these runners are human. But the reality of the duel at the top of the World Tour (and the next Tour de France) between Team UAE-Emirates and Visma – Lease a Bike is that one team approaches the “blackboard” much more often than the other ” on a tactical level. Fortunately, Pogacar and his teammates have a few months left to correct the situation…