{"id":1818213,"date":"2026-03-09T03:48:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T00:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1818213"},"modified":"2026-03-09T03:48:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T00:48:01","slug":"why-2026-will-be-the-year-rivals-unite-against-tadej-pogacar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1818213","title":{"rendered":"Why 2026 Will Be the Year Rivals Unite against Tadej Poga\u010dar"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3-2.jpeg”]<\/p>\n

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Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n

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Updated March 10, 2026 10:55AM<\/div>\n
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Strade Bianche this weekend didn\u2019t disappoint. Does it ever?<\/p>\n

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Tadej Poga\u010dar blew the peloton\u2019s doors off (again).<\/p>\n

Paul Seixas raced all of France into a frenzy.<\/p>\n

Demi Vollering,\u00a0Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot, and a bunch of favorites saw their chances get lost in the craters of a rogue farm road.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019ve wiped the white dirt out of our eyes and made sense of the racing, here are 3 hot takes from the bleached Tuscan sterrato<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Will 2026 be the Anti-Poga\u010dar season?<\/h2>\n
\"Poga\u010dar
Poga\u010dar opened his season in the only way he knows how at Strade Bianche.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Race day no.1 for Tadej Poga\u010dar, ridiculous solo raid no.1 for Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise Tom Pidcock was down in the dumps Saturday afternoon after he was put through the wringer by Pogi and a bunch of UAE lieutenants so strong they could be leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you can feel a bit of sombreness here with everyone,\u201d the very downbeat Brit said at the finish. \u201cWith UAE like that, there\u2019s not much you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Poga\u010dar\u2019s 80km gallop across Tuscany on Saturday arrived just 6 days after Mathieu van der Poel made a miracle save and then rode the peloton off his wheel at Omloop Nieuwsblad.<\/p>\n

On that day, UAE racer Florian Vermeersch caught shade for pulling with Van der Poel in the attack, and effectively towing the towering Dutchman to victory.<\/p>\n

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5 years ago, the last time Tadej Pogacar was dropped in Strade Bianche. Not only by Mathieu VDP but by Bernal and Alaphilippe too. Crazy how times changed since then, eh?! \ud83d\ude05#StradeBianche pic.twitter.com\/YcfZyPyDJD<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) March 5, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Unity vs. Poga\u010dar and MVDP?<\/h2>\n

Will 2026 finally be the season where teams shift from \u201cfollowing our own plan\u201d to actively foiling Poga\u010dar and MVDP?<\/p>\n

Will rivals collaborate to break a one-day duopoly that already seems absolute?<\/p>\n

Riders have already hinted that drastic action might be needed to prevent another spring defined by two superstars.<\/p>\n

This winter, classics ace Tiesj Benoot joined Uno-X\u2019s young star Johannes Kulset in hinting at his discontent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have to stop riding at the front when Van der Poel and Poga\u010dar are there,\u201d Benoot told IDL<\/em>. \u201cI don\u2019t understand that. In my opinion, that\u2019s racing for second place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could a cross-team collaboration have influenced the men\u2019s Strade Bianche this weekend?<\/p>\n

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Arguably not. The parcours is too fiddly and downright hard<\/em> for a collective to make an effective chase.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the bunch was in tatters after Poga\u010dar launched his trademark move over the stones of the Monte Sante Marie. But when a chase pack did finally form, \u201cgroup 2 syndrome\u201d set in hard.<\/p>\n

Any slim chance at the cycling \u201cSlim Shady\u201d being reigned in was wiped out when top riders like Pidcock, Matteo Jorgenson, and Ben Healy wouldn\u2019t dare pull each other toward a potential podium position.<\/p>\n

Who knows, maybe riders\u2019 union president Adam Hansen will be presented with an anti-Pog petition some time soon.<\/p>\n

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Seixas needs to square-off against Evenepoel and Vingegaard<\/h2>\n
\"Paul
Paul Seixas stands in line to inherit Poga\u010dar\u2019s pro cycling crown.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Paul Seixas hype-train is hurtling so fast across the spring that it\u2019s at risk of overheating the railings.<\/p>\n

The scrawny French sensation has already been hailed \u201cthe chosen one,\u201d and \u201cone of the top 5 or 6 riders in the world\u201d by veteran French racer and former team manager Marc Madiot in an interview with RMC<\/em>. He\u2019s been anointed with a front-page feature in French daily L\u2019Equipe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that Sexias has replaced Isaac del Toro as the new darling of the cycling world\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

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And rightly so. The 19-year-old\u2019s romp across the Strade on Saturday showed his outrageous performance one weekend prior in the Ard\u00e8che was no fluke.<\/p>\n

Even Pogi was impressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a super good ride,\u201d Poga\u010dar said of Seixas after the race on Saturday. \u201cHe showed that he can ride under pressure, that he can deliver a result, and he has incredible legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a big machine,\u201d Poga\u010dar said.<\/p>\n

It seems that Seixas\u2019 breakout third-place finish behind Poga\u010dar and Remco Evenepoel last fall at the European championships was only the start of a new era.<\/p>\n

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Faun Ard\u00e8che Classic on front page of L\u2019\u00c9quipe wasn\u2019t on my 2026 bingo card. pic.twitter.com\/Cr1oPkLN5g<\/p>\n

\u2014 Daniel Friebe (@friebos) March 1, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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The new hierarchy behind Poga\u010dar<\/h3>\n

Seixas reiterated on Saturday that he\u2019s got the watts and the wherewithal to be promoted to the tier of riders who are \u201cnext in line\u201d behind Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n

He joins Del Toro, Evenepoel, and Juan Ayuso as the most likely rider to crack the Poga\u010dar-Vingegaard lockdown on the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

Now, maybe I\u2019m hard to please, but I\u2019m desperate to see how Seixas stacks up against his new peers.<\/p>\n

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His second-place finish between Ayuso and Joao Almeida last month in the Algarve provided some clue of cycling\u2019s new power-ranking, but we\u2019ve still got little indication of how Seixas fares in the biggest stage-racing brawls.<\/p>\n

Because while Seixas stunned everybody but Poga\u010dar in Siena, he\u2019s sure not perfect. Positioning and tactics aren\u2019t yet his forte.<\/p>\n

The notoriously gnarly Itzulia Basque Country is the next race on Seixas\u2019 calendar, and Del Toro, Ayuso, and old dog Primo\u017e Rog will be there.<\/p>\n

Six days across the Basque hills will help us make sense of the new hierarchy behind Poga\u010dar. It might well decide whether we see Seixas make his grand tour debut this summer at the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

Buckle up, because the Seix-press is accelerating fast.<\/p>\n

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Chaos still rules the science of modern cycling<\/h2>\n
\"Strade
Strade Bianche Donne was shaped by a bunch of favorites being led down a wrong turn.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Strade Bianche showed how power meters, ventilation sensors, nutrition apps, unusual Whoop straps, and \u2013 most pertinently \u2013 GPS units can\u2019t out-science chaos.<\/p>\n

Strade Bianche Donne on Saturday was shaped by one wrong turn in what was one of the most \u201cWTF\u201d moments in recent memory.<\/p>\n

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Pre-race favorites Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot were among the hitters who followed a misguided lead moto down a cratered farm track that looked like sterrato<\/em> on steroids.<\/p>\n

The group lost more than a minute to the leaders as they reversed out of the craziness, and the door opened for Vollering\u2019s superdomestique Elise Chabbey to deliver the \u201cW.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few hours later in the men\u2019s race, the chase behind Poga\u010dar could have played out differently if Pidcock didn\u2019t suffer two mechanicals across the most crucial sector of gravel.<\/p>\n

The racing Saturday was a telling reminder that not everything can be tracked, measured, and preempted in modern sport.<\/p>\n

And ironically, \u201cwrong turn-gate\u201d at Strade Bianche Donne came just one week after the women\u2019s race at the U.S. half-marathon championships ended in similar controversy.<\/p>\n

Three charging front-runners ultimately finished 9th, 12th, and 13th after a guide bike accidentally led them off course in the final mile of the race in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

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“This is a DISASTER.” \ud83d\ude31<\/p>\n

Gracie Elvin, Bridie O’Donnell and Matthew Keenan could not believe the race mix-up that caused major contenders in the women’s race to take a wrong turn and lose vital time! \ud83d\udc40#StradeBianche | March 7-8 | SBS and SBS On Demand \ud83d\udcfa pic.twitter.com\/yIYK5y4a9a<\/p>\n

\u2014 SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) March 7, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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One wrong turn is all it takes<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s hard to say who was to \u201cblame\u201d for the riders taking the wrong turn Saturday in Strade.<\/p>\n

Yes, they all have GPS units that can guide the route. But who would dare not follow an official moto in the heat of a race?<\/p>\n

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Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot was at least able to laugh off the fiasco.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how this could have happened. There was a lot of dust. I had no idea if the leading group had ridden correctly. I didn\u2019t know anything, and I still don\u2019t, actually,\u201d Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot told reporters at the finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m curious to see what happened,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Strade Bianche should offer succor to veteran cycling fans sick of power meters, race radios, and a dominant Slovenian.<\/p>\n

In this era of superteams, supreme talents, and extreme sport science, racing still isn\u2019t simply a fitness competition. One missed turn can still trump a winter of 30-hour training weeks, cherry juice, and 10 w\/kg intervals.<\/p>\n

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Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n

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Updated March 10, 2026 10:55AM<\/div>\n
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[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/teams-gang-up-on-pogacar\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3-2.jpeg”] Jim Cotton Updated March 10, 2026 10:55AM Strade Bianche this weekend didn\u2019t disappoint. Does it ever? Tadej Poga\u010dar blew the peloton\u2019s doors off (again). Paul Seixas raced all of France into a frenzy. Demi Vollering,\u00a0Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot, and a bunch of favorites saw their chances get lost in the craters of a rogue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1818213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1818213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1818213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1818213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1818213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}