Teams & Riders Peter Sagan discussion thread.

[italoc]

You are all forgetting how good Paolo Bettini was (2 WCRR, 1 OCRR, 2 Liege, 1 MSR, 2 Lombardia, San Sebastian, Hamburg, 2 Zurich). Sagan has a long way to go to catch him too.

 

[Ruby United]

Re:

You are all forgetting how good Paolo Bettini was (2 WCRR, 1 OCRR, 2 Liege, 1 MSR, 2 Lombardia, San Sebastian, Hamburg, 2 Zurich). Sagan has a long way to go to catch him too.

I did not mention him as I thought that perhaps spalco defined 'modern era' as riders who raced post LA.
Bettini's last good season was 2006 and he stopped in 2008 if I remember correctly.
The other riders all raced until just a few years ago.

 

[ooo]

Sagan and UCI drop Tour de France disqualification dispute

gif video

 

[yaco]

The moral to this story is that riders should be interviewed/state their case in this type of incident - It should be standard practice before any race jury makes an adjudication.

 

[RedheadDane]

"We just realised that it was wrong to throw you out of a race several months ago. Whoops, sorry... not that anything can be done about it now."

 

[animir]

Previously I was thinking, that Sagan has blocked Cavensdish, but after I have rewatched crash videos, I have changed my mind.

Here are pictures showing movement of riders until contact between Sagan and Cavendish:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ueB6AgZ8cHvklkLS2

1 - everything OK, every rider is in his line
2 - the moment just before Demare starts his move to the left side, Sagan seems to be closely watching Demare.
3 - Many people still think, that Cavendish was on Demare's wheel and Sagan just took it. On pictures 3,4 you can see what trees hide, when watching from above. The fact that Demare was moving to the left side already in this moment changes a lot, when judging Sagan's movement. Cavendish lost Demare's wheel, because Demare left his line! Sagan reacted immediately, as he moved at the same time as Demare, to get into his slipstream. As a result Demare's and Sagan's lines united in one.
4 - Here are some bad luck factors for Cavendish: drain hole and spectators. Probably he would survive without crash, if they weren't there (despite he didn't brake, when he couldn't follow Demare's move to the left and additionally his space got even tighter as Sagan jumped into Demare's wheel).
5 - If not already earlier, here is clearly visible contact between Sagan and Cavendish. Further Sagan's action was strongly influenced by this contact as he was regaining balance and control over his bike...

 

[AQETUYIOI]

Previously I was thinking, that Sagan has blocked Cavensdish, but after I have rewatched crash videos, I have changed my mind...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXwZczGqWls

 

[armchairclimber]

For those with facebook. Holy guacamole.
https://www.facebook.com/PeterSagan/videos/10156201461214467/

 

[sprints n stones]

Think 2018 season up to TDF is as follows. JANUARY- Tour down Under 16th-21st , FEBRUARY- Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 24th, K-B-K 25th, MARCH- Strade Bianche 3rd, Tirreno-Adriatic 7-13th, Milan-San Remo 17th, E3 Harelbeke 23rd, Ghent- Wevelgem 25th APRIL - Tour of Flanders( RvV) 1st, Paris- Roubaix 8th, JUNE - Tour of Switzerland 9th-16th, JULY- Tour de France 7th- 29th.
Lots to look forward this year and with Oss helping in the team hoping for more good results.

 

[tobydawq]

Tour of California is of course also on the list and perhaps Amstel Gold Race according to today's article on CN.

 

[portugal11]

now he has the team to do even more damage in milan san remo and flanders. now he has the r
team to win roubaix. last year he was robbered in roubaix, he just need to avoid punctures and crashes

 

[sprints n stones]

Yes, would be strange if he didn't do them but not listed yet on information I found.

 

[Leinster]

Re:

now he has the team to do even more damage in milan san remo and flanders. now he has the r
team to win roubaix. last year he was robbered in roubaix, he just need to avoid punctures and crashes

By which you mean now he has Daniel Oss.

He wasn’t robbed in Roubaix. There are punctures and crashes every year there, you just have to hope the other guy gets them worse than you.

 

[Valv.Piti]

It will be exactly the same schedule as in 2017 which honestly also is a very good one apart from no Amstel which he can win. I hope he finally participates.

 

[portugal11]

Re:

It will be exactly the same schedule as in 2017 which honestly also is a very good one apart from no Amstel which he can win. I hope he finally participates.

he can win liege too (the current liege bastogne liege...)

 

[Leinster]

Re: Re:

It will be exactly the same schedule as in 2017 which honestly also is a very good one apart from no Amstel which he can win. I hope he finally participates.

he can win liege too (the current liege bastogne liege...)

Is the finish still in Ans this year, or is it moving back to Liege?

I’d love to see Sagan contend in the Ardennes, but I think he seems to be focused on winning Roubaix and/or MSR first in his career, and he doesn’t think he can carry that form all the way through. Ultimately there’s nothing in the UCI calendar he can’t win, but he would need to be a bit lighter for the more mountainous events.

 

[Valv.Piti]

No, Sagan can't win Liege, even when raced conservatively. Too much elevation gain and too late in the spring for him, Amstel is much, much more suitable for him. Peak Valverde and Alaphilippe will smash him in Ans (if he gets that far). I think Ans has 1 year left (2018) and thats it, it will be good for the race with a new finish.

 

[exub]

I don't think Sagan will ride Omloop and Kuurne this year.

 

[Leinster]

2017 Sagan can’t win Liege. But 2012 Sagan won Brabantse Pijl and came 2nd in Amstel, and at various times in his career he has shown that when the mood takes him he can get over some very tough climbs with or near the best climbers; I think if he just adapted his training and lost a couple kgs he’d be well up there close to the finish.

And also, Simon Gerrans won in Ans in 2014; I cant believe that there’s a race that Gerrans can win that Sagan can’t.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

2017 Sagan can’t win Liege. But 2012 Sagan won Brabantse Pijl and came 2nd in Amstel, and at various times in his career he has shown that when the mood takes him he can get over some very tough climbs with or near the best climbers; I think if he just adapted his training and lost a couple kgs he’d be well up there close to the finish.

And also, Simon Gerrans won in Ans in 2014; I cant believe that there’s a race that Gerrans can win that Sagan can’t.

Much of the reason why Sagan can't win Liege is due to the placement of the race, at the end of a huge and probably Sagan's most important block of racing. Riders are bound to fade under those circumstances, just look at GVA last year in a very conservative edition. No chance.

All he had to do was to shred a couple of kgs and focus on the Ardennes, then he would obviously be up there, but its easier said than done to win against Valverde when he is in this kind of mood:
2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOQfbtV58go Relatively hard edition, his finish after spending all that energy on the front catching Moreno is incredible.
2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03qO-fOMFuM Easy as it gets to look in a monument finishing a race.

 

[Tonton]

Sagan can win anything. He's that good.

 

[Jancouver]

Sagan can win anything. He's that good.

Amen!

 

[Nirvana]

I still think that he has more chance in Liege than in Roubaix even with the extra kilos he put on in the last two years, he always seems to suffer the flat cobbles and fade in the finale whereas last year won the murito stage of Tirreno in an impressive way (Majka made the race hard in the finale for him) against the climbers and Liege is usually raced in a more soft way nowadays.

Anyway in the interview pubblished by Gazzetta some days ago the interviewer hinted that the team want him to ride at least Amstel.

 

[Netserk]

I think Roubaix is more tactically than physically difficult for Sagan. If it was ridden like Liège, I think he'd be the favourite for Roubaix (thankfully it is not). The opposite is the case for Liège, and even if he was fresh at the start of the race (which he'll never be being in peak condition from MSR), I think RaF and SN take too much out of him before Ans.

If he was patient enough like Greg and didn't feel responsible to make the selection earlier in the race, I think he'd have enough gas left at the end of the race.

 

[Blanco]

Re: Re:

It will be exactly the same schedule as in 2017 which honestly also is a very good one apart from no Amstel which he can win. I hope he finally participates.

he can win liege too (the current liege bastogne liege...)

With his current physique and race program he can't.