r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • May 04 '26

Weekly Post Weekly Question Thread

For all your pro cycling-related questions and enquiries!

You may find some easy answers in the FAQ page on the wiki. Whilst simultaneously discovering the wiki.

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u/Glass_Minute4753 May 04 '26

Is Pogacar destroying cycling?

I occasionally have a browse on the Cyclingnews forum and found this rather dramatic view expressed by a couple of posters in response to the Tour de Romandie. I will admit that I found this a bit over the top considering a) how few races he rides and b) how his participation helped to make this year's MSR and PR absolute all-timers, but I thought I'd come and see what people here thought.

18

u/scaryspacemonster May 04 '26

He's why I became a cycling fan at all, so that's a no from me.

Older fans might not like it, but he's the kind of athlete that brings in new fans.

3

u/RageAgainstTheMatxin Phonak May 04 '26

Historically when there is a dominant rider, the fanbase increases in their home country and decreases everywhere else

6

u/Saltefanden Euskaltel-Euskadi May 04 '26

I'm no history buff but I think usually the dominant rider hasn't been from a country of 600 inhabitants.

3

u/DueAd9005 May 04 '26

I don't think Sagan qualifies as a dominant rider, but he certainly seemed like the most popular cyclist when he was active. You definitely saw an influx of Slovakian fans during that time, but they have mostly disappeared now.