Pogačar Takes Yet Another Monument, But Seixas Not Far Behind; Vollering in Control; On-Line Wagering Concerns Grow; Middle Eastern Sports Decline; Two-Hour Marathon Barrier Broken; Levi's Fondo ...

Key Takeaways:

● Pog Wins Again … (We Are Running Out of Superlatives ….)

● But Seixas is Proving Himself – and Raising French Hopes

● Vollering in Seeming Control of the Women’s Peloton

● Online Wagering Presents Increasing Concerns for Sport

● Middle Eastern Countries Continue Pulling Out of Sporting Events

● Unassailable Sub Two-Hour Marathon Record Falls – Twice

The running of this year’s fourth Monument, Liège-Bastogne-Liège this past weekend saw yet another race unsurprisingly go according to “plan.” L-B-L featured a showdown between two riders who have won the last six editions of the race, Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel, joined this time by the teenage French sensation Paul Seixas. When the dust settled, Pogačar had bagged his third straight and fourth overall Liège title. And by taking his thirteenth career Monument, he edged that much closer to Eddy Merckx’s record of nineteen – generally keeping on pace to surpass the rider considered to be the greatest of all time by the end of the 2028 season. The outcome also further shrunk the conversation from a “Big Six” (which we used to talk about, and which was later reduced to a “Big Four”) down to a league of just one. While the last few seasons were defined by a tense and at least rough parity between Pogačar, Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, and Wout van Aert, Pogačar is now clearly operating on a separate plane of historical dominance.

Pogačar and Van der Poel previously went blow-for-blow in the top one-day events, but he has now racked up five Monument titles since Van der Poel’s last victory, effectively ending the stand-off era. This doesn’t seem to be a temporary phase; rather, it seems to be a total decoupling of Pogačar from all of his peers. Illustrating just how far above Pogačar has risen in the last few years, Evenepoel, who rode clear on the final climbs at Liège in 2023 and 2022, appeared to be in a completely different gear on Sunday, as Pogačar accelerated with a clinical, almost bored superiority. He has effectively turned the world’s most prestigious races into a series of predictable solo processions. We are kind of running out of superlatives to describe Pogačar’s performances.

However, even as the sport seems to be settling into a period of predictable Pogačar hegemony, Sunday also reminded us that nothing lasts forever. L-B-L also offered a glimpse of the future, with 19-year-old Paul Seixas proving he isn’t just another “next great French hope” narrative, but a true generational talent. By matching Pogačar stroke for stroke on La Redoute and securing a strong second place, the teenager is definitely raising nationalistic hopes for the future. (Indeed, rumors are circulating that even French President Emmanuel Macron is involved in talks ensuring that Seixas stays with a French-owned team.) Earlier in the year, he became the first French rider to win a major one-week stage race since 2007 and seems ahead of the development curve of practically any predecessor, including Pogačar himself at the same age. In just the last few months, Seixas has shown unprecedented improvement and has already leapfrogged established young rivals like Juan Ayuso and Lenny Martinez. This trajectory suggests he isn’t just a future challenger, but perhaps currently the only rider capable of pressuring Pogačar in top races; he may well also be the only rider capable of closing the performance gap that Pogačar has spent the last three years widening. In short, the “Pogačar Era” may be at its zenith, but in Seixas, the sport has finally found a rival whose potential seems just as unlimited.

Demi Vollering’s confident ascension to the top of the women’s peloton was crowned by her superlative win in Liege on Sunday. She committed to a mammoth 34-kilometer breakaway and correctly read the tactical infighting and constant reshaping of the front groups to forge an insurmountable minute and a half victory over Puck Pieterse and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. Below the polished surface of her podium are two key findings that may shape the rest of this season. First, Vollering and her FDJ United-Suez management have molded one of the strongest teams ever assembled in women’s pro cycling, not just full of riders capable of winning on any given day – as her teammates Franziska Koch and Elise Chabbey have proven – at Paris-Roubaix and Strade Bianche. The team is fully rounded out with riders capable of defending Vollering on any parcours without hesitation. And second, Vollering has seemingly shed all of the luggage that virtually followed her when she left the last so-called women’s super-team, the 2023-2024 SDWorx squad. One could get the sense now that the SDWorx experience literally worked her over. Some observers may wonder if the team focused on teammates-turned-rivals like Lorena Wiebes and Lotte Kopecky to deliberately hinder Vollering’s progress, or worse, devalue her market worth in favor of Anna van der Breggen’s return to the peloton after a short retirement. Winning the Fleche-LBL double in dominant fashion, and isolating Van der Breggen in the chase – which eventually froze her out of a podium spot – demonstrates a rider at the top of her game and in full control of her future.

Online sports wagering is a critical topic and controversy that is not going to quiet down anytime soon – the multi-billion-dollar industry has recently been labeled an emerging public health crisis. Gambling addiction is a well-understood social scourge; a psychological loop that is as difficult to break as chemical dependency, often leading to lifelong cycles of bankruptcy, failed rehabilitation, and criminality. We have recently highlighted the rapid emergence of prediction market platforms and how this new form of wagering widens the breadth of an already under-regulated industry. A new article highlighted the myriad ways that this new online wagering frontier could wreak havoc, similar to the way in which opioid proliferation created two decades of addicts at the start of the century. Advertising saturation and celebrity marketing creates the illusion of safety and entertainment when using the platforms, but the reality of “Vegas Odds” – the fact that gambling is by its very design crafted so that players almost always lose – quickly pulls its participants under the financial solvency waterline. Pro-platform investors point out that playing in prediction markets and sports wagering is voluntary and that participants must be over 18 years of age (21 for gambling platforms). But critics point out that the gamification and social media structuring of the platform experience encourages addictive behavior loops; as one researcher stated, “The problem is the product, not the people.” Lawmakers in the U.S. and beyond are debating legislation that might create meaningful policies to make the platforms safer – while maintaining sports wagering’s role as a valuable economic and engagement tool to bolster sports entertainment experiences.

One problem that the cycling media has increasingly had to deal with the past several years is decreasing access to riders and team officials – as teams try to utilize social media and internal PR departments to better control their own narratives. Almost all teams today have specialized social media departments, geared to portraying individual riders or teams themselves in a way that team ownership deems optimal. A similar and telling event occurred this past week in Formula 1, when a reporter from The Guardian went to interview the world champion driver Lando Norris of the McLaren team. Although the reporter had been warned ahead of time, he asked some questions about Norris’s relationship with other top drivers and opinions on recent F1 regulation changes. Even though Norris was personally happy to discuss these issues with the reporter, team officials jumped in and cut the interview short – raising a general alarm in media circles around the sport. Cycling seems to be headed in the same direction.

The Middle Eastern sports bubble is continuing to deflate, with another report this week that Saudi Arabia’s appetite for sports investments may be starting to reverse itself. After reporting last week about the uncertainty around the Saudis’ continued support of LIV Golf, it looks like this pull-back or complete withdrawal could extend to other sports as well. After the Jeddah Grand Prix and local pro soccer matches were cancelled due the uncertainties around the Iran war, other less high-visibility events are also pulling back or being cancelled. All of this retrenchment and repositioning is a direct result of the Iranian situation, with all Middle Eastern governments now taking another look at where their abundant financial resources are allocated, “with security concerns rising to the forefront.” More recently, Saudi Arabia also pulled out of plans to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup. According to reports, “what once looked like an unstoppable expansion is now a reminder that Western sports organizations, in their reckless pursuit of profit, staked their futures on a partner that never had to prove it could sustain the weight of what it was being asked to build.”

Levi’s Gran Fondo took place on Saturday, north of San Francisco, with prize money totaling $156,000 which makes it – surprisingly – the richest one day race in the world. That’s right, the world. It has developed into the most innovative bike race in the United States, due to several key factors: (1) equal distance (137 miles) for men and women; (2) equal prize money; (3) several different mass start events behind the pro races; (4) live streamed video for the entire seven hours of racing; and (5) an interesting mix of pro riders from MTB, road and gravel racing. In addition, the event’s spot on the calendar completes a coordinated “west coast swing” of spring bike racing that starts with the Redlands Classic stage race, followed by the Sea Otter Classic Life Time Grand Prix gravel event. Some athletes visiting from Europe managed to compete in each of these events. The only real drawback is that a lot of the racing is on roads open to cars. While closing roads, even in rural areas, is expensive and challenging, seeing cars whiz by the peloton only a few feet away feels like a potential disaster. Hopefully, this can be avoided next year.

Sunday’s London Marathon featured remarkable new world records in both the men’s and women’s races. Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa won the women’s event in 2:15:41, while Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe broke the previously unassailable two-hour barrier (as did the 2nd place runner) to set a new world record of 1:59:30. Observers likened the drama to Roger Bannister’s first sub-four minute mile some seventy years ago. While these are historic achievements, one needs to consider several factors when assessing them. First of all, each of the winners was wearing a revolutionary new Adidas shoe, weighing only 97 grams per shoe. Second, and more concerning, there has been a well-documented epidemic of doping in East Africa in recent years. Indeed, since 2020, some 140 Kenyans have been sanctioned for PEDs. While Adidas did pay for additional testing for Sebastian Sawe during his run up to London, his coach, Claudio Berardelli, has been accused in the past of doping athletes. Hence, despite Sunday’s historic drama, some remain skeptical of the performances.