Three performances that impressed three trainers in the season just ended. Many have in mind the duels between Pogacar and Vingegaard at the top of the Tour de FranceWhoever was there remembers the memorable day of the triumph at Tour of Italy di Roglic on Lussari in front of his people, But coaches look elsewhere. They look at the numbers, it's true, but they don't stop at the emotions behind certain actions.
We asked Paolo Slongo, Giacomo Notari, and Pino Toni which performance had impressed them most. We also included several highlights of the year on the menu. For example, Vingegaard's time trial at the Tour, exalted for their values and attention to detail. Remco's Liège or his rides in Spain. The comeback sprints in Milan. Van der Poel's Roubaix... But they already had clear ideas.
Toni: VdP in Glasgow
Let's start with Pino Toni. The Tuscan coach had no doubts: his favourite performance? Van der Poel's World Championship, he told us immediately.
"Aside from the fact that everyone was there and everyone was at their best and wanted to win," Toni explains, "the Dutchman did really well. In a one-day race, everyone is at their best. This also applies to the Grand Tours, but it's different. Mathieu surprised me above all for the ease with which he completed those 5 minutes “in block” in which he left everyone behind. And he was far from the finish line, 23 kilometers if I remember correctly. And behind him were four very strong riders, all with different characteristics: some were more explosive, some were better suited to long climbs, some were sprinters... a sign that it was going to be a tough World Championship. For that caliber of engines, only Ganna was missing, but perhaps he has a different mentality."
For Toni, those 23 kilometers were a mix of tactics, power, and precise preparation. He edged out Van Aert, Pogačar, and Pedersen—the theoretically fastest, but then the most tired in the final stages—by more than a minute and a half. He also edged fifth-place Kung by nearly four minutes.
«I don't know his exact numbers. I took a look, but the actual file is another matter, and it would be nice to have it! But they were certainly extraordinary values."
Notaries: Groves in Madrid
James Notari, preparer of theAstana Qazaqstan it surprises us, but then thinking about it, not too much, and its pearl is the victory of Kaden Groves in Madrid, on the final stage of the Vuelta. It's worth remembering that the final stage of a major Giro is usually a showcase, but that day, thanks to Evenepoel, things didn't go that way.
«Seeing a sprinter Going on the run with champions, time trialists like Ganna and Evenepoel was very special. And yes, if he had been in the group – explains Notari – he would have won 99 percent of the time, because he wasn't "a sprinter"... He was the strongest sprinter in the Vuelta."
Groves had already shown on other occasions that he was more than a sprinter, but with different tactics. Indeed, he had also finished second on Montjuïc, but while staying covered in the pack. Coming out into the open was truly unusual for someone like him.
"I was in the team car that day. They were going so fast that people were breaking away from the group. The Madrid circuit isn't exactly flat, in fact… Groves has very important numbers in the sprint, he is around 1.600-1.700 watts and all in all, given that there were six of them in the breakaway, he was able to digest those 10”-15” of sprinting well, physically.But if you consider that they averaged over 50 and still managed to sprint in the final, for me it's the performance of the year."
Slongo: Vdp on the Poggio
So let's close with coach Paul Slongo, by force of Lidl Trek. Paolo “returns to Italy” and does so with Van der Poel too, but at Sanremo.
«There have been many interesting episodes this season – says Slongo – but The performances I liked the most were those of Van der Poel, because what he declared he then managed to win. From cross-country world championships to road world championships."
He's also competing in the world championship, Finally, Slongo told us about Sanremo. And Poggio in particular. He got there with millimeter-preparedness.
"It's been a few years since we've seen a number like that on Poggio. It was a powerful number: Mathieu managed to make the difference when everyone was tired, he had an extra push. And this was the performance. True, it was windy and Pogacar pushed hard, but Pedersen, Van Aert… weren't able to deliver the extra push.
"To be able to do that move on the Poggio means he gets there spending less than the others. Besides having an enormous aerobic threshold, this also means he's highly efficient: its engine consumes little. Is it the result of training on 20"-40"? I don't train him and I don't know, but VdP certainly holds 40" well, even 45" of full attack... even after so many hours."
