– What they are doing is absolutely crazy. That’s what news’s cycling expert, Sondre Sørtveit, says, after the extreme climbing times of Tadej Pogacar (25) have now come into focus. It happens after the weekend’s demonstration of power in the Tour de France. The Slovenian cycling star in the yellow leader’s jersey has been unstoppable and has set records up a number of mountains in the biggest stage race of the year. – I allow myself to be shocked that it is as intense as it is now. That’s five minutes better than Lance Arsmtrong and several minutes faster than Marco Pantani, says Sørtveit. POWERFUL EFFORT: Tadej Pogacar delivered what is now considered to be the all-time climbing achievement in cycling. Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP Crushing legends The stars of cycling history from the 90s and 2000s have now been made extras in the top lists of the fastest climbing times. For Sunday’s conclusion of the 197 kilometer long mountain stage, the world has never seen its like. – We push each other to reach new limits, says Tadej Pogacar during a digital press conference on Monday, in which news also participated. Best times up the Plateau de Beille Best times up the Plateau de Beille (riders on Sunday’s stage highlighted in bold) 1. 2024: 39:50 Tadej Pogacar 23.95 km/h2. 2024: 40:58 Jonas Vingegaard 23.29 km/h3. 2024: 42:41 Remco Evenepoel 22.35 km/h4. 1998: 43:20 Marco Pantani 21.88 km/h5. 2024: 43:44 Mikel Landa 21.81 km/h6. 2007: 44:08 Alberto Contador 21.62 km/h7. 2007: 44:08 Michael Rasmussen 21.62 km/h8. 1998: 44:26 Jan Ullrich 21.34 km/h9. 2024: 44:33 Joao Almeida 21.41 km/h10. 2007: 44:45 Mauricio Soler 21.32 km/h Source: Climbing-records.com – The greatest climbing achievement ever, Johan Bruyneel concluded in the podcast “The Move” about Pogacar’s climb up to the Plateau de Beille on Sunday. He was formerly the team manager of American star Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. It happened after the investigation into their team revealed “the most sophisticated doping program ever”. DISTANCED: Lance Armstrong ahead of Ivan Basso up the Plateau de Beille in July 2004. Armstrong is distanced by Pogacar on the all-time best list. Photo: LAURENT REBOURS / AP But development in cycling has accelerated in recent years. – There has been a great development in the sport. It is much more technologically based and it is a scientific approach. Everything can be measured these days and you can use data as a basis in a different way. This has led to many people improving, says Sondre Sørtveit. news’s cycling expert Sondre Sørtveit. Pointing to several factors, Pogacar believes that riders are now hugely focused on what watts they are able to pedal and the details, which make them better. The Slovenian explains the great development with technology, nutrition, training plans, altitude training camps and that the new bikes make the big difference. – Now they are so much faster, especially the tyres. I think they are the biggest difference from what we had six years or ten years ago. The aerodynamics and the frames. It’s incredible how different the bike is now from what it was five years ago, says Pogacar. Tadej Pogacar on his Colnago bike up the Plateau de Beille on Sunday. The extreme climbing times and wattage calculations have now come into focus in the Tour de France. Photo: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP On Sunday, Pogacar and seven other riders were faster up the Plateau de Beille than Armstrong’s best time up the same climb. – It was wild when I checked my numbers after the stage, says Pogacar at Monday’s press conference. Closest to Pogacar was his Danish rival Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane himself believed that he almost made his best performance ever. But Vingegaard was one minute and eight seconds behind Pogacar on the last 5.4 kilometers of the climb. That’s when the Slovenian pulled away from him. – But then there are also more people who now cycle faster than the records in the 90s and early 2000s. For my part, I am slightly shocked that they are cycling as fast as they are now, says Sørtveit. RIVALS: Jonas Vingegaard leads ahead of Pogacar on Sunday’s final climb. Photo: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP Extreme numbers news’s cycling expert points out that Pogacar has broken a barrier. Because the Pogacar’s wattage figures, which are absolutely decisive for how fast it is possible to cycle, are sky-high. Calculations now show that Pogacar pedaled 6.98 watts per kilogram of body weight on Sunday up the 15.8 kilometer climb, with an average climb of 7.9 percent. Six watts/kg is seen as a magical limit in the long mountains. – It is incredible how they push the boundaries of what is physically possible. One thing is equipment and such, says Sørtveit and continues: – I really allow myself to be impressed. With all the technological aids available, it is right that there is a development, says Sørtveit. RIVALS: The duel between Jonas Vingegaard (in the polka dot jersey) and Tadej Pogacar (in yellow) was what the public was waiting for during the 14th stage of the Tour de France. Photo: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP HIGH AND LOW: On the 197 kilometer long stage, they covered more than 5,500 meters of altitude. Photo: Jerome Delay / AP ENSOM MAJESTET: Five kilometers before the finish, the Slovenian Pogacar changed gear and drove everyone off the wheel. Photo: Molly Darlington / Reuters WINNERS: At the top, he secured his third overall victory in the Tour by a long way. Photo: Daniel Cole / AP KNUST: While Jonas Vingegaard, who is gasping for air, has to settle for second place in the summary after all sun marks. Photo: Daniel Cole / AP The staggering numbers among the best in this year’s Tour de France mean huge differences. On Strava, Frenchman Thibaut Pinot had recorded the fastest time up the mountain on the training app Strava. It happened during a stage in the Tour de France in 2015. Nine years later, Pogacar beat the best time on the Strava segment with 5 minutes and 29 seconds. The top list of the Strava segment up the Plateau de Beille, where the cyclist rode up on Sunday. More startling, however, was that Pogacar broke the 28-year-old record up the mountain, set long before the training app Strava existed. It had Italian Marco Pantani. That time was beaten by three and a half minutes by Pogacar. Danish Jonas Vingegaard and Belgian Remco Evenepoel, who were heavily beaten by Pogacar, were also far ahead of the record from 1998. – Another planet Rival Remco Evenepoel, who is number three in the summary, has only realized that Pogacar and Vingegaard’s capacity towers over the rest of the field. And that Pogacar reigns supreme. – He is on another planet, Evenepoel said on French TV’s Velo Club show after Sunday’s stage. The Norwegian Uno X cyclist Tobias Halland Johannessen was dragged back by Pogacar and Vingegaard 9.4 kilometers before the end of Sunday’s final climb. At the finish he was almost six and a half minutes behind Pogacar. – When the two guys cycled by, it was as if I wasn’t doing the same sport as them, said Uno X rider Tobias Halland Johannessen to TV 2 after the finish. Tobias Halland Johannessen during Sunday’s stage. He later had to watch Pogacar and Vingegaard sweep past just under a mile from the finish line. Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP At the press conference with Pogacar, there were written questions. Several submitted questions, including from news, which dealt with the comparison with Armstrong and Pantani’s record times, were skipped or reformulated. – Vingegaard had to answer very critical questions after his crazy pace stage last year. It is only natural when you see such extreme performances that questions quickly arise. The best have to live with that, says Sørtveit. The Tour de France ends next Sunday in Nice. Published 16.07.2024, at 05.25
ttn-69
– On another planet – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
