Teams & Riders Peter Sagan discussion thread.

[Screecher]

Dropped on the final climb today, on a sprint stage contested by Colbrelli (1st) and Ulissi (5th). In years past, those would be some of the guys that Sagan's team would be trying to drop on a hilly enough stage. I don't know what it is, but I've been saying for a while now that he really doesn't look like as comfortable a climber any more.

He very obviously isn't climbing as well as he used to. All you need to do is look at his results. He said yesterday that it was his only chance for a victory. Maybe him and his team overstimated the difficulty of today's stage and he possibly could've hung on but that would've changed the dynamic of the race imo as riders wouldn't want to sprint against Sagan and he would've had no teammates left to control attacks.

 

[yaco]

Doubt Sagan tried hard to stay in the peleton - His stage win at the 2020 Giro on a hilly route, shows he can climb on selected days - Reckon there are 2 or 3 hilly stages ( besides sprints ) in which he can feature.

 

[johnymax]

Dropped on the final climb today, on a sprint stage contested by Colbrelli (1st) and Ulissi (5th). In years past, those would be some of the guys that Sagan's team would be trying to drop on a hilly enough stage. I don't know what it is, but I've been saying for a while now that he really doesn't look like as comfortable a climber any more.

I don't think Ulissi is a good example here. He's been a way better climber than Sagan for his career so far. Actually is the other way around. Normally Ulissi is the one who'd try to drop Sagan on the climb, because he gets beaten 9 times out of 10 in a sprint.

But yeah, Sagan doesn't climb as well as he used to. But I agree with the two posters above. Maybe he didn't try hard enough to hang on today, because he overstimated the stage. But I think he can still climb better than most sprinters on selected days. We'll have a clearer picture in the Giro.

 

[Blanco]

His yesterday's win was 67th World Tour win, an all-time leader...

 

[johnymax]

His yesterday's win was 67th World Tour win, an all-time leader...

Did yesterday's win put him in the lead? Where can I find such statistics, PCS?

 

[Blanco]

No, he's in the lead comfortably. I did the counting, with a little help of PCS and Wikipedia... Cav is 2nd with 56, then Greipel 55, and Valverde 51

 

[Leinster]

No, he's in the lead comfortably. I did the counting, with a little help of PCS and Wikipedia... Cav is 2nd with 56, then Greipel 55, and Valverde 51

Did you account for changing rankings? Most of his Tour of California stage wins (and his GC win) were when it wasn't yet WT.

 

[hayneplane]

I think today he might have hung on had he been seriously hunting a win but with the pressure off from winning the opening road stage he is content not to go too deep prior to the Giro.

 

[roundabout]

Did you account for changing rankings? Most of his Tour of California stage wins (and his GC win) were when it wasn't yet WT.

I also get 67 using the race ranking at the time of victory

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Today he should be able to hang on if he's in any kind of shape.

 

[Keram]

His yesterday's win was 67th World Tour win, an all-time leader...

He basically racing mostly on wt races. But still impressive. From 2013 when he racked up bunch of wins in Canada and USA after Tour he had only few non wt wins and mostly California which is WT now. His last non WT and non WC,NC win is 2017 Kuurne.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

His yesterday's win was 67th World Tour win, an all-time leader...

It's only 64. His three wins in 2010 weren't on the World Tour, because it didn't exist yet.

 

[Blanco]

Did you account for changing rankings? Most of his Tour of California stage wins (and his GC win) were when it wasn't yet WT.

Yeah, I only counted WT or Pro Tour races of that particular year, that's why for example Cavendish has 6 wins less because Giro and Tour weren't included in the Pro Tour !!! Greipel has 1 Giro stage cut off, and Valverde has 4 wins less due to Liege, Tour and Vuelta weren't Pro Tour races...
Also Valverde's record could've been better if Pro/World had existed in 2003/04, he had 3 Vuelta and 2 Itzulia wins.
WC and Olympics RR and ITT also weren't included (except for WCRR in 2005?), biggest victims being Cancellara, Sagan and Tony Martin...

 

[Blanco]

It's only 64. His three wins in 2010 weren't on the World Tour, because it didn't exist yet.

Yeah but UCI World Tour Rankings existed from 2009, and both Paris-Nice and Romandie were part of it.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Yeah but UCI World Tour Rankings existed from 2009, and both Paris-Nice and Romandie were part of it.

It wasn't called the World Tour Ranking though, but only the World Ranking. I know I'm being quite pedantic here, and I'm not trying to take anything away from Sagan's accomplishments, cause those 67 wins are pretty impressive no matter what.

 

[Blanco]

It wasn't called the World Tour Ranking though, but only the World Ranking. I know I'm being quite pedantic here, and I'm not trying to take anything away from Sagan's accomplishments, cause those 67 wins are pretty impressive no matter what.

You're right, UCI World Ranking indeed. They later merged with Pro Tour in 2011, so results from races that were part of it were considered as WT level, or at least I understood it that way...

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Surprisingly good performance today. Expect for the positioning in the sprint.

 

[tobydawq]

It confirms the hypothesis that he didn't go all out yesterday. Of course, the short climbs made it easier for him as well, and he generally does well in bad weather even if he always says he doesn't like it.

But yes, very encouraging, and he seems ready for the Giro.

 

[Oldermanish]

Doubt Sagan tried hard to stay in the peleton - His stage win at the 2020 Giro on a hilly route, shows he can climb on selected days - Reckon there are 2 or 3 hilly stages ( besides sprints ) in which he can feature.

It's seriously cold and wet. He'd know in the first 20km if he could or wanted to contest the finish. There are bigger fish to fry.

 

[yaco]

It's seriously cold and wet. He'd know in the first 20km if he could or wanted to contest the finish. There are bigger fish to fry.

Which is exactly what I stated in my post.

 

[tobydawq]

Apparently, he is rumored to either stay for a year with Bora or move to Movistar.

Please, cycling gods, let me have one glorious year with Sagan and Valverde as teammates.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Apparently, he is rumored to either stay for a year with Bora or move to Movistar.

Please, cycling gods, let me have one glorious year with Sagan and Valverde as teammates.

How much support could Movistar realistically give him in any race? Unless the deal involves bringing in a bunch of big lumps with him

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Sagan is the Movistar of Milano - Sanremo, a strange but perfect move.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

How much support could Movistar realistically give him in any race? Unless the deal involves bringing in a bunch of big lumps with him

He probably takes with him Juraj and Bodi

 

[RedheadDane]

Please, cycling gods, let me have one glorious year with Sagan and Valverde as teammates.

Just wait for Koronin to come in and point out that this is Valverde's final year, and he's (supposed to be) doing a Spanish Races Only Goodbye Tour!