What Cyclists Can Learn From Tadej Pogačar’s Riding Position
Tadej Pogačar is the benchmark in professional cycling, and his position on the bike attracts almost as much attention as his performances. But there’s an important lesson recreational and competitive cyclists can take from watching riders like Pogačar: a good bike position isn’t just about how your bike is set up. Your body needs to be capable of maintaining that position too.
A Good Bike Fit Is Only Part of the Answer
Professional bike fitting can make an enormous difference to comfort, efficiency and performance.
Saddle height, reach, handlebar position, cleat setup and other adjustments all contribute to how you interact with your bicycle.
But there is another side to bike fitting that is sometimes overlooked.
We need to work with the cyclist as well as the bicycle.
A bike fitter can put you into an excellent position, but you’re then asking your body to maintain that position for potentially three, four or more hours.
If you don’t have the strength, mobility or control required to support that position, your body will eventually find another way to cope.
That’s when discomfort, loss of efficiency and potentially pain can start creeping in.
Look at Tadej Pogačar’s Position
Pogačar provides an interesting example.
Look closely at his riding position and you’ll see a very compact posture on the bike. There is some lower-back flexion and his pelvic position helps encourage good contact through the sit bones.
It’s important to make one thing clear: the goal isn’t to copy Pogačar’s exact position.
He’s one of the world’s best professional cyclists, with extraordinary physical conditioning and a bike position developed specifically around his body and the demands of elite racing.
But there are principles we can learn from it.
One of those is the relationship between the pelvis, trunk and the rest of the body when holding a cycling position.
Your Cycling Posture Needs Strength
One of the things I regularly see during bike fitting is riders who struggle to control their pelvis and trunk once they’re in their cycling position.
This isn’t restricted to elite cyclists or beginners. It can happen to men and women across all levels of cycling.
Some riders are particularly mobile through the lower back and pelvis. Rather than maintaining a controlled cycling posture, they can gradually move into a position where the lower back arches and the pelvis rotates.
The bike itself might be correctly adjusted.
The problem is that the rider is struggling to maintain the position we’ve created.
This is why strength and conditioning can be such an important part of bike fitting.
Connect the Trunk, Glutes and Hamstrings
For a strong cycling position, we want the trunk, pelvis, glutes and hamstrings working together.
You don’t necessarily need complicated gym equipment to start working on this.
In the video above, I demonstrate a simple exercise using a gym ball.
The objective is to recreate elements of your cycling position while maintaining control through the pelvis and trunk.
Start with a slight bend in your elbows, similar to your position on the bike. Gently tuck the pelvis and engage your trunk muscles, glutes and hamstrings.
From there, slowly roll forwards onto the ball while maintaining that position.
The important part isn’t how far you can go.
It’s how far you can go without losing control of your lower back and pelvis.
If your lower back begins to arch as you roll forwards, you’ve gone too far.
Return to your starting position and repeat the movement while concentrating on maintaining pelvic and trunk control.
Simple exercises like this can help develop the strength and control needed to support your position when you’re actually riding.
Why Does This Matter on Longer Rides?
You might feel perfectly comfortable during the first 20 minutes of a ride.
Three hours later can be a completely different story.
As muscles fatigue, your posture can change. Your pelvis may move, your trunk can lose stability and you may start compensating elsewhere.
Those changes can affect your contact with the saddle, your comfort and potentially the way forces travel through your knees, hips and lower back.
This is why a good bike fit shouldn’t always finish when the adjustments to the bicycle are complete.
Sometimes the next step is working on the cyclist.
Bike Fitting Should Consider the Rider and the Bike
At Kernow Physio, my approach to bike fitting combines the setup of the bicycle with an understanding of physiotherapy, biomechanics and the individual cyclist.
Everyone brings something different to a bike fit.
You might have an existing knee problem. You may experience lower-back discomfort after a couple of hours. Perhaps you’re returning to cycling following an injury, or you’re simply trying to become more comfortable and efficient on longer rides.
That’s why copying another cyclist’s position – even a rider as successful as Tadej Pogačar – isn’t the answer.
The goal is to find your position and make sure your body is capable of supporting it.
Experiencing Pain or Discomfort on Your Bike?
If you’re experiencing knee pain, lower-back discomfort, saddle problems or other issues while cycling, don’t automatically assume you simply need to move your saddle or change your handlebars.
The problem could involve your bike setup, your biomechanics, your strength and mobility — or a combination of all of them.
A physiotherapy-led bike fit allows us to look at the complete picture: the bicycle and the person riding it.
Kernow Physio offers specialist bike fitting and physiotherapy for cyclists in Cornwall.
If you’d like to improve your comfort on the bike, address an existing problem or find a position that works better for your body, get in touch with Kernow Physio to arrange an appointment.