His form was *exactly* where he wanted it to be, because he never had any intention of racing road worlds. He was very clear all season that Mtb worlds was his target, so I'm not sure why anyone would criticize him for going out and doing the thing that he said he was going to do, and doing it perfectly. We sure didn't see these criticisms leveled at VdP when he tried to do the same thing in 2018 and finished third (at the same racing age that Pidcock was last year, just fwiw).

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Pogacar seems well on pace to be the best monuments rider ever, and (I think?) has the best winning percentage at them, excluding weird one and done types. Somewhat ironically, though, I don't think he's as good at classically-defined "peaking" as VdP, because he just seems able to perform at a level of consistency that isn't possible for anyone else. This is really different from VdP who, prior to this CX season, has always been quite on/off in his form, even in CX.
Historically, if VdP doesn't win, he's usually quite a bit off the pace. He's never been a rider like Wout, who is always in podium contention even if he isn't winning.

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I said I was disappointed that he didn't do the RR as it could have been a spectacular duel. Is that criticizing Tom?

Fun speculation: The podium was Tom: 57 kg. Van der Haar: 58kg Iserbyt:56 kg. Maybe the lightest Mens Worlds podium ever.

You said his form "wasn't where he wanted it to be for a six hour race". A six hour race he never had any intention of participating in. Fair enough, though. Not criticism, simply non sequitur.

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Doesn't he have a background in cyclocross? Like... national champion?

Fair enough. I Could have phrased it a bit better. Just glad that someone agrees that Tom is the master of targeting, peaking for and then executing a particular race.

He won it in 2018, but Slovenian CX isn't even close to World Cup level. He could probably be great at CX if he wanted to be, but hasn't really shown any particular inclination to do more than the occasional local race (which Nationals is, for him).

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

He's done some cx racing and won nationals, but it seems to be a very small sport in Slovenia. I've always been very impressed by how good he is at adapting to different conditions. Dirt, cobbles, crosswinds - always looks incredibly comfortable.

In Murcia, T Dub looks ready for spring, nice ride with Ben O til he dumped him on the final climb.

In Provence, Mads dragged the whole group forever then won the sprint. Looks pretty, pretty good.

And Remco doing Remco things at the Figueiras classic, breaking away for 53 km from the likes of Hirschi and Del Toro to take his first win. Can't wait for the classics.

ETA: this should have been posted in the 2024 thread.