Pogačar’s Position

For all the interest in and analysis of Tadej Pogaćar’s enormous success, scant attention has been paid to his somewhat radical method of riding a bicycle. His position, which would have been laughed out of the room a decade ago, is the result of a steady refining and evolving of the biomechanics that mate a cyclist and their machine, one that began in 2010 with Team Sky and their collaboration with British Cycling.

It was during the buildup to the 2012 Olympics and their intense focus on the Team Pursuit that the techs at British Cycling realized that the Team Pursuit was the cycling event that required the largest wattage output, with efforts of 800-900 watts the norm. They found that no matter where their riders began, their positions always ended up being high and forward – and almost all proportionately the same. Taking this information to its next logical place, Team Sky began to change the way their riders sat on their road bikes, basically translating the track position into the road. Zero-setback seat posts, high saddles, low bars, (Geraint Thomas is the best remaining example of this, the way he sits so very far forward on his bicycle). The successes of course followed.

The one exception to this positional overhaul was Chris Froome, whose awkward looking, somewhat unwieldy position elicited much commentary. However, there was real method in that madness as I wrote some time ago in an article entitled Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In the analysis, one that considered the clinical approach of Team Sky on the issue, there were two Chris Froome’s. The first was uphill Chris (Mr. Hyde), saddle low and forward, knees and elbows out, the less-than-beautiful setup allowing him to flail those little gears at 100-120 rpm on the climbs with the devastating results we’ve all seen over the years. The second was Time Trial Chris (Dr. Jekyll) on a Team Pursuit inspired position which he rode with grace and elegance, every bit as smooth, balanced and efficient as a Bradley Wiggins. It was like seeing two completely different bike riders, each one specifically tuned to their specialty.

It's normal for a developing rider to mimic a great champion. Look at the way so many in the peloton are now on 165 or even 160 cranks, all following Pogačar’s lead. In the same way, Froome was the icon to imitate, and I feel that in the beginning the UAE techs followed a similar politic with Pogačar. He looked completely different on his TT machine than on his road bike in the manner of Froome. Champions may begin by copying, but like all great artists, they evolve into their own style.

Pogačar now has a road position that seems almost, in most ways, identical to his time trial one, especially when viewed from behind. The saddle is now quite high, pushed all the way forward on a zero-setback post coming out of a 74.8-degree seat tube angle, pointing downward, rolling his hips forward to such an extent that he’s basically sitting on the center of his machine. His is a virtual 78-degree seat angle. His very short, 53.0 cm top tube, made even shorter by the far forward saddle, makes sense only because of a development in the way the riders now use their handlebars. In the past we all used to ride with our palms around the upper curve of the bars, fingers extended to drape over the brake hoods, “pinkies fluttering in the wind” for those with style. That’s all changed now; instead, the riders hold on to the “knob” on top of the brake handles, putting their hands a full 10cms further forward than with the old method, allowing smaller and shorter frames. The relationship between the brake levers and the saddle is the one that counts today, the drops almost an afterthought, almost only used for sprinting and high-speed descents.

While others have similar positions, Sepp Kuss is a good example of this thinking, Pogačar’s is fairly extreme. From the sideview one can see that, with his hands on the ‘knobs’, that his arms are positioned at less than the 90-degree angle that most of his contemporaries use, his back is arched, his hands thus closer and pulling into his hips for added power. His discovery of the benefits of the shorter, 165 cranks – he used 160’s for the TT to open his hips even more – have added to this new style, allowing him to use his explosivity to its best effect yet keep a very high cadence.

Pogačar had tremendous power coming out of his buttocks and hips as one can see in his unorthodox sprinting and attacking style. He just slams his rear quarters around in an almost circular motion, wiggling up the road with devastating force. The new position has been designed to focus on those hips of his, which are now even more powerful after a few seasons of muscular development training. I am quite sure that split squats are a mainstay of his strength regime, creating the sort of strength, combined with his on-top-of-the-bottom-bracket position, that allows him to drop his rivals while sitting down.

Being that far forward does have its drawbacks, it would seem. Pogačar crashed in turns during two major races this year, Strade Bianche and Paris Roubaix, both crashes in front of riders with traditional positions. He was with Tom Pidcock in Italy, the Brit considered as one of the best descenders in the biz and, perhaps not unrelated to being one of the few in the peloton with a slammed back saddle, when he went down in a turn that Pidcock took with ease In France, away with Mathieu van der Poel, who wouldn’t look out of place in photo with De Vlaeminck or Francesco Moser, the same scenario, down he went while VdP just skated away for the win.

As with any great champion, Tadej Pogačar is always searching for improvement in any way he can find it. He’s willing to challenge orthodoxy, try new ideas, continually test his limits – wherever they may one day be. He’s the most modern racer out there, the most advanced in his technical development. Yet he does all of this while keeping a youthful joy of cycling in his heart. Pogačar clearly loves to race and really, really loves to win. It’s a pleasure to be able to follow his career.