Originally Posted by
GrainBrain
Back to the original thread title, and in defense of Pogacar - yes he is the anti-Froome. Everyone else we're talking about - even the infamous riders of the late nineties - were much older then Pogacar. The guy only just turned 22 the day after the ceremony! Not only that, but he has proof that he was highly competitive at a young age. He has been racing a bicycle since he was nine years old.
Just look at the podium presentation - Roglic, with his young son. Porte, with the weight of his second child born during the race. Then Pogacar, chillin with nothing to lose. That's huge to me performance wise.
Yes, I still remember watching Pogacar pip Higuita at the end of the Mt Baldy stage at the ToC and thinking that boy had the killer instinct. Impeccable racing. But in making sure my memory was correct, I found
this article about it:
UAE Team Emirates began its week at the Tour of California by sending home one of its riders upon learning that his name had surfaced in a European investigation into doping in cycling.
The team appears set to end it with the overall race lead.
Hmm...
Not sure about Porte being weighed by expectations. If anything, all the weight would've been off since he'd finally shaken off so much disappointment from the past and also was ready to close the book on being a GC rider.