A fake "Vingegaard" on a motorcycle takes the KOM from Pogacar

For a few hours, the Coll de Rates once again became the scene of a supposed "revenge" between two of the great dominators of current cycling. But only on paper… or rather, on Strava. A fake profile in the name of Jonas Vingegaard managed to erase the recent KOM signed by Tadej Poga?ar, before the platform removed the activity for being fraudulent.

Neither Vingegaard nor on a bike: this is how they tried to steal the KOM from Poga?ar at Coll de Rates

Just a few days after Poga?ar shattered his own record on this iconic climb of the Costa Blanca, lowering it to 11:57, a new activity appeared that left the time at 11:49. The author, supposedly, the double winner of the Tour de France. The story, as expected, quickly raised suspicions.

The first alarm signal was evident as the real Vingegaard is currently in Denmark, enjoying the Christmas holidays with his family. Furthermore, his real Strava account has not recorded any activity since March 2021. Nevertheless, for a few hours, many users believed that the Dane had silently responded to the Slovenian's authoritative blow.

Soon, things started to add up less. The ascent was recorded as being done at an average power of 233 watts, a figure completely incompatible with an effort of that caliber on a 6.43 km climb at 5.5%, with 347 meters of positive elevation. Finally, as it was revealed, the activity had been done on a motorcycle, not on a bicycle.

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After several user reports, the Strava platform removed the activity and restored the KOM to its rightful owner. Once again, Poga?ar's name appears at the top of the Coll de Rates segment, a climb commonly used in training by WorldTour teams during the winter.

It is worth remembering that the real record of the world champion was achieved on December 19, during a ride of more than 220 kilometers, with an average speed on the climb of 32.3 km/h, figures that do match the form that the leader of UAE Team Emirates-XRG is showing even in the middle of December.

This episode brings back to the table the problem that Strava has been working on for years: fake profiles and fraudulent activities. In this case, it all ended up being an anecdote and a few hours of confusion, but it is not the first time something similar has happened with media KOMs.

For now, the Coll de Rates still has an owner. And seeing how Poga?ar is riding, it doesn't seem like he will let it go easily.