You can’t help but be amazed at what the superstar of professional cycling, Tadej Pogacar, has achieved this year. How he duped the competition in the spring at the Strade Bianchi with a monster solo over 80km, how he completed the double of Giro and Tour victory with frightening dominance, which was no longer considered possible in modern cycling, and how he also won the World Championship title in the road race in Zurich wins is more than extraordinary. In the entire history of cycling, only two past heroes have achieved the so-called Triple Crown [1], Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987). With the exception of the Radamazone van Vleuten, which achieved this feat in 2022, this extremely rare Palmarés dates back quite some time, in eras when the power density in the top sector was far more inhomogeneous than in the current generation of bike-loving Watt monsters. However, anyone who thought that Pogacar would go on a well-deserved seasonal vacation after his hussar ride in Switzerland was proven wrong by his further brilliant performance on the Tour of Lombardy [2a]. With its consistent performance over such a long season, Pogacar sets completely new superlative standards in professional cycling [2b]. And whenever such superiority of an athlete reduces the equally talented competitors to extras, legitimate questions are asked about the credibility of the high-flyer. At the latest when another “unearthly” colleague [3] and another exceptional talent of his time evaluates this spectacle of the Slovenian radiant man as “not normal” or “superhuman” [4], one should pay attention.
The way in which Pogacar pulverized the World Cup race is therefore worth taking a closer look at, after all, the assembled world elite of classic car hunters were there at the start and the course with 4,500m and a distance of 274km should have been at least as good as Pogacar. How the Slovenian then filleted his competitors surprised even hardened insiders. His attack 100km from the finish from the favorite group was initially viewed as completely absurd based on decades of empirical findings [5]. However, when he was then specifically escorted towards the leaders by fellow countryman Tratnik, who was waiting from the leading group, it was obvious that a planned tactical approach was taking place, even if this was vehemently denied by those involved [6]. How the Slovenians managed to dock Pogacar with a precision landing at Tratnik without racing radio, which is prohibited at the World Championships in contrast to all other competitions during the season, is a curiosity in itself.
At this point in time, people in the favorite group already suspected that the apparently pointless early attack, which would have been doomed to failure according to the rules of cycling history that had applied up to that point, was actually meant seriously. As the entire Belgian classics elite got involved in the follow-up work in vain, it also became clear to the experienced viewer on the screen that they had just witnessed a racing situation that had never been experienced before.
When Pogacar attacked again from the leading group 20km later, the race for the world title was over. And in fact, this cycling android brings the lead against all the counterattacks of the world elite from all nations, over a solo ride that is almost 100km long, to the finish line in a truly playful way. The chronicle and choreography of this race is already absurd, if you look at Pogacar’s performance characteristics over the duration of his ride, you can assume that there is some decisive evolutionary human physiological leap in the regions of Slovenia (Pogacar’s birthplace), Monaco (Pogacar’s place of residence) or the Arabian desert (team headquarters UAE) must have been overlooked.
During Pogacar’s attack in the World Cup race, the US American Quinn Simmons, who has also had experience with the woke cancel culture [8], tries to follow for approx. 41s with Ø743W (peak 985W), during which Simmons then heaves for 4min Power of 550W to hold Pogacar’s rear wheel before it has to break. “Pogi” looks totally relaxed, even though he has to pedal at similar levels (Simmons is slightly taller at 1.85m and heavier at around 72kg). When Pogacar, after his 2nd attack from the leading group, was briefly on the move with his UAE teammate Sivakov (1.88m, approx. 70Kg), who was starting for France, Sivakov drove 8min:37s Ø485W (NP 512W) i.e. 7W/kg KG! On Zurichbergstr. Sivakov had to go deep into the red zone for 1min:54s with 641W in the steepest section and in the Witikon climb with 438W (NP 483W). Mind you, there were still 70km to ride there! Sivakov also has to give up [9]. Incidentally, Pogacar’s performance values are confirmed in the season-ending races.
At the Grand Prix Montreal in Canada, Matteo Jorgenson tried in vain to follow Pogacar’s attack with 912W for 30 seconds [10]. During the hussar ride during the Tour of Lombardy, Pogacar drove a sector with 445W for 31min (6.8W/kg body weight), as well as his decisive attack of 460W for 12.5min and later again for 10min at 467W (7.2W/kg bodyweight) [11a ]. And that at the end of the long, extremely difficult racing season!!! There has actually never been anything like this in the history of cycling [2b]. Another novelty is that Pogacar cranks everything into the ground with a 165mm crank length and an incredible cadence of 92-97rpm throughout the entire racing season [11b, 12]. As early as the 1930s (at the Wehrmacht’s Muscle Flight Institute!), 1977 (Seabury et al.) and 2004 (Diss. S. Ückert [13a]), empirical studies demonstrated the economization of the intracyclic dynamics in the pedal cycle by shifting to a higher cadence with increasing resistance loads [13b]. A finding that a high-frequency Lance Armstrong had already successfully demonstrated against Jan Ullrich’s power-oriented driving style.
