Tadej Pogačar Is Through!

Wout van Aert is through!

Quarter-Finals, Match One: Mathieu van der Poel v. Wout van Aert

Mathieu van der Poel Propaganda

As much as I hate the white bib shorts, Mathieu can definitely pull them off. Hate to admit it but he *does* look good in white.

Wout van Aert Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

Round One, Match Fifteen: Remco Evenepoel v. Juan Ayuso

Remco Evenepoel Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

Juan Ayuso Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

THE FINAL: Tadej Pogačar v. Jonas Vingegaard

All propaganda under the cut:

Tadej Pogačar Propaganda

Jonas Vingegaard Propaganda

He is CUTE, he is SMOL, he has a CUTE NOSE and FRECKLES and EYES AS BLUE AS THE ENDLESS SKY---

OK no but seriously, he's amazing. As absurd as it can sound since this is one of the best riders in the world, he's always the underdog in people's minds. Somehow, no one ever thinks "OK I think Jonas is going to win this stage today", and when he does, they're like "OK he won but he still wasn't out of this world, it's because the others were having a bad day", and when he has a stellar day they're like "HE'S DOPING FOR SURE". It's like nothing he ever does is good enough and YET he doesn't give a fuck and keeps performing despite the pressure.

Being consistently good when everyone expects you to win is talent, but being consistently good when everyone hopes you'll lose is something else too.

And he's an incredible human being to boot. He's kind, he's compassionate, he's sensitive, he doesn't have a mean bone in him, he's affectionate, thoughtful. Remember that time during TdF 2022 when he asked Grischa to tell him if he could slow down at the end of the TT to let Wout win the stage? Yeah. He's that kind of guy.

He's a crier. It's cute and it makes me want to hug him. He loves his family and he always has a good word for his rivals and he's humble and I relate so much to his introverted personality and he's a cinnamon roll and a cutie patootie. But when he puts on his sunglasses, he looks like A WAR MACHINE.

(but a cute one)

He got a lot of heat when he didn't wait for Sepp on the Angliru during this Vuelta, only the instructions of the team before that clusterfuck stage were to battle it out between them and he probably liked it even less than us because he wanted Sepp to win the Vuelta from the beginning.

And need I say anything about the absolute sportsmanship of this man? When he lost his balance in the Col of Spandelles, TdF 2022, Tadej didn't miss the opportunity and powered away from him, but when Tadej was the one who crashed two minutes later, he waited for him. HE WAITED FOR HIM.

And he made the sport all the better for it and gave us one of the finest images in cycling history.

if you like MvDP, consider that though in these days when van der Poel is showing up with a mullet, Jonas did long hair earlier and better.

though there has been a change of style

If you like WvA, consider that some of the BEST hug pictures only exist due to Jonas being the kind of teammate whom others want to hug AND eminently sized for hugs/lifts

(we've all seen this but we can look at it again)

He's got sportsmanship. He's got incredible skills. He's even a dad! Maybe he's not always good at smiling for the cameras but he can sure smile for his family

Most importantly, he's a TdF winner with the time trial of the year and he cannot ride his goddamn bike without hands without his body language screaming oh god someone help me

Round Two, Match Two: Wout van Aert v. Tom Pidcock

Wout van Aert Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

Tom Pidcock Propaganda

Just look at the instagram profile for his dogs. That's all. Yes I suppose he races sometimes too, but more importantly, dogs.

Quarter-Finals, Match Four: Jonas Vingegaard v. Thibaut Pinot

Jonas Vingegaard Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

Thibaut Pinot Propaganda

how can you not vote for absolute cycling legend Tibo. The small documentary they made at the end of the season? Fucking broke me man.

Chala-la-lala-lala TIIIBOOO PINOOOOO

Please accept Thibaut age 7 in his cycling gear as additional propaganda (x)

He was full of dreams, and already he wanted to be “Champion of the Tour de France”.

Round One, Match Seven: Cameron Mason v. Magnus Cort

Cameron Mason Propaganda

Does multiple disciplines, good accent, and has a nice youtube channel with a nice homemade feel to it and POV videos of courses, which I find interesting! Also wore some terrible looking kit while he was with trinity racing.

Magnus Cort Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

Quarter-Finals, Match One: Mathieu van der Poel v. Wout van Aert

Mathieu van der Poel Propaganda

As much as I hate the white bib shorts, Mathieu can definitely pull them off. Hate to admit it but he *does* look good in white.

Wout van Aert Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

Matej Mohorič is through!

Quarter-Finals, Match Three: Matej Mohorič v. Mattias Skjelmose

Matej Mohorič Propaganda

YouTube

Post-race interview - Stage 19 - Tour de France 2023

The Tour de France 2023 will hold its Grand Départ in the Basque Country, with a first stage in Bilbao on 1st July, and will finish in Paris

Mattias Skjelmose Propaganda (submitted by poll-runner)

Personal: He’s a super lovely guy with an adorable smile, looks like an elf, likes a cheeky bit of gossip and has no filter, great friendship with Mads Pedersen.

One time he crashed and fell 15m down a ravine, climbed back up himself and yelled “I’m fine, just give me a new bike” which is just. Insane to me

Professional: He’s had a really interesting journey as a rider. He was on top of the world as a junior, rivalling Remco Evenepoel, but was a total dick. Then he got banned for doping because he took some contaminated dietary supplements. Came back a year later and then signed to Trek-Segafredo (much to the irritation of Mads Pedersen, who knocked on Mattias’ hotel room door and asked him why he should believe he had changed, but found himself pleasantly surprised by the type of guy Mattias now was) and now he’s thirteenth on the individual UCI ranking. Rouleur did a great article on him:

Rouleur

Mattias Skjelmose never gives up

This article was originally published in Issue 117 of Rouleur magazine.  I first met Mattias Skjelmose in the spring of 2018. He was 17 year

Primož Roglič is through!

Round One, Match Six: George Bennett v. Primož Roglič

George Bennett Propaganda

Always a DNF in my heart, and just look at him

Primož Roglič Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

Round Two, Match Eight: Remco Evenepoel v. Thibaut Pinot

Remco Evenepoel Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.

Thibaut Pinot Propaganda

No propaganda submitted.