Rowe and Thomas see one way to challenge untouchable Pogacar at Vuelta

Speaking on the latest episode of the Watts Occurring podcast, the pair were realistic about what teams can and cannot do against Pogacar after another dominant display.

Stage four had provided a pretty clear picture. Decathlon CMA CGM tried to make the race hard for Félix Gall, but when Pogačar decided to go, nobody could stay with him. He attacked with around 50 kilometres remaining and quickly turned the first serious GC test of the race into a one man show.

By the finish, the gaps were already significant. Pogačar crossed the line 2:39 ahead of the first group of GC contenders, with Gall among those chasing behind. The result also left Pogačar 3:21 clear at the top of the general classification, an imposing advantage after just four stages.Pogacar’s 7w/kg Andorra raid shows the Vuelta problem facing his rivals

For Rowe, now a sports director at Decathlon CMA CGM, there was little point pretending the situation was anything other than it was.

“Sadly, we’re racing for second, as is the whole peloton,” he said.

Thomas, who retired from racing last year and now holds a senior racing role at Netcompany-Ineos, agreed with the basic point. Trying to take Pogačar on in a pure climbing contest is unlikely to get anyone very far.

“You’re not going to race him with 50k to go and he’s doing seven watts a kilo, because you know you just can’t do that,” Thomas said.

That does not mean teams stop racing him. The opportunities just have to come somewhere else.

“If you look at scenarios where he can lose time, it’s not on the climbs, it’s not on sprint days,” Rowe said. “But on crosswind days, anything can happen.”

That is the opening teams have to look for, with Thomas stressing that they have to be ready to take advantage when those moments arrive.

“If there’s wind, of course you’re racing him then,” he said. “Of course you’re going to try and do something where you put him, his team under a bit of pressure.”

Rowe’s view was similar. Decathlon know they are unlikely to drop Pogačar when the road goes uphill, but that does not mean they should spend the next three weeks simply following UAE.

“You never know,” he said.

Earlier in the episode, Thomas spoke at length about Joshua Tarling and his performance in the opening time trial in Monaco.

Tarling had arrived at the Vuelta just eight days after the death of his 19-year-old brother Finlay, who died following a collision with a van during the Volta a Portugal. He still chose to start the race, with the support of his family and Netcompany-Ineos.

Thomas had been with the Ineos group in Monaco and said Tarling had barely slept, struggled to eat and hardly ridden his bike in the previous week.

Still, Tarling wanted to race.

“He wanted to just come and be normal, be a bike rider, have a team around him to support him and just be worried about racing really,” Thomas said.

What followed surprised even those around him. Tarling came close to winning the stage, despite everything that had happened in the days before it.

“Take all the emotion out of it now, purely from a performance point of view, he didn’t sleep very well. He obviously didn’t eat very well. He hardly rode his bike for a week,” Thomas said.

“To go there and put out that performance, almost win, is just insane really.”

Ethan Hayter’s ride became another talking point. Some people questioned whether the Soudal Quick-Step should have gone all out given Tarling’s circumstances. Rowe and Thomas were having none of it.

“For me, it’s just like, that’s too much,” Thomas said. “It’s a race. You go and you try and win.”

Rowe made the same point from the rider’s perspective.

“Ethan’s got a right. He’s got a sponsor. He’s got a contract. He’s got his job to do at the same time.”

There was plenty of sympathy for Tarling, and many inside the race wanted to see him win, including Tadej Pogačar. But that did not change what Hayter, Pogačar or anyone else was there to do.

“If the best man wins, the best man wins,” Rowe concluded.