Tadej Pogacar Confronts Dylan van Baarle After Flanders Sprint Finish

Tadej Pogačar was none too pleased with Ineos' Dylan van Baarle after the surprising and messy closing meters of the 2022 Tour of Flanders.



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[joelguerin-simard]

they were coming at much greater speed than he was riding and he let a gab opening between him and Mathieu, Van Barle and Madouas would have been fools to not take the space behind Mathieu for a bit more draft. Good Lesson for a GC rider not used to weird classics sprints.

[krepjx]

First time in a while where you can really see how young Tadej is, he let the gap to MVDP's wheel open up and anyone who has watched crit racing on youtube for 5 mins knows, if you leave the gap, someone will take it and you have no one to blame but yourself.

[tobiaschurch]

It's like the commentators on GCN said, "rookie mistake". He'll learn how to approach sprints. Can't wait to see him next year

[roberteastwood]

He's frustrated. The fault was his own. Hopefully he learns. It was always going to be a hard one for him to win in the sprint with MVDP. vB and Madouas just complicated it and they were his outlet for voicing his frustration. He's still a kid really ...yet a great rider/ racer.

[DancingMachine]

To screw up the sprint after 6.5h of riding, that reaction is understandable. I bet it didn't take long for him to calm down and accept his mistake.

[PEPlourde]

It's called a bike race Tadej! We went bike racing.

[martiniquess]

Today he showed them all. What a rider! 🔥

[TheTomo]

Lets be honest he was never beating mvdp in a sprint anyways… I think you could see it on his face after he didn’t drop mvdp on the last climb that he knew he wasn’t winning

[thangarajmj]

It was Pogis mistake, but he's got the right to be disappointed after 6 hours of Racing. Blaming van Baarle isn't fair though.

[cospinan]

Then, in the interview, pogacar said that he was angry with himself. But this image shows he was angry with the other guy in the heat of the moment. it is good for him that clearly his team is looking after his image

[briannoojin]

A bad look for the Pog. It was his own mistake.

[bdcopper]

He made a tactical error and is blaming it on the other riders. He comes across as a sore loser. He needs to own his mistake. Its a race, a competition and sometimes you don't always win.

[rem]

I'm still amazed at how MVDP eliminated him of the podium while crazyli waiting for Van Baarle and Madouas - Looking forward to seeing Roubaix now

[Thepaytonb]

Fabian Cancellara pointed out that Pog’s cadence was incorrect for a sprint in comparison to MVDP, whose cadence was faster and from which he shifted into a higher gear to maintain speed after initial acceleration. Maybe an easier gear to accelerate for Pog and then a shift to a harder gear, could’ve saved him a podium spot?

[marcelomendes]

I don't think Dylan blocked Pagacar... the Slovenian played badly when he was in the MDVP circle. It's clear he was legless at the late end of his sprinter!

[DriesGntj]

Pogi should stop crying, it was his own fault. What was he expecting Dylan to do? Wait to let him go? Pogi started playing poker way to early and that made it possible for them to get back to the front

[Tom-qxyh]

Guys it was in the heat of the moment and it is a top level athlete bred to compete. Of course he realizes his mistake afterwards but is furious in the moment. These people commenting have probably never been athlethes at a high level

[boxofspace]

So this what we just watched is RAW competitive Pogi after a defeat, if you expect him to be some honorable moral knight that can lose and smile and hug his competitors as if he just didn't spent hours trying to destory them... I don't know, he's not your cup of tea I guess, or perhaps competition has a different meaning to you. I love to see this. Of course the man is upset, he's competitive and a champion. Given that this is DIRECTLY after his own failure to understand tactics, he is upset and doesn't want sympathy or meet his competition. Thats how it feels to lose when everyone is speaking your name. After the emotions passed, he took it upon himself to let others know that it was his fault. Chin up CHAMP, try again next year, or do something great at P-R.

[TroubadourJuggernaut]

Left it too late to start the sprint, his own fault

[johnclement]

Great as Pog is, he got utterly outclassed their, MVP took all he had and then wattbombed him off his wheel along with the other I dont think anyone stays with MVP with that acceleration after that distance.... sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say you were beaten by the better