Teams & Riders Peter Sagan discussion thread.

[Screecher]

I knew Sagan was doomed when I saw him in the 1st position going into that sprint. It's a horrible position to be in because if you don't get the timing absolutely perfect, which Sagan failed to do, you get overtaken by riders with more momentum and after 290 km's of racing it's very difficult to have the acceleration to recover it. Perhaps a better decision would have been to start the sprint early but he most likely wouldn't have won anyway, just look at what happened in 2017. He's looking very good for next races though. Hopefully he gets some of them right.

 

[Keram]

If somebody told me in 2013 that Sagan wont win San Remo at lest to 2020 (if ever) I would told him he is nuts. It is unreal how he allways can lose the race which suits him most on the paper. Always there never won.

 

[Red Rick]

The days of "you can win Sanremo at 90%" are over.

Sagan was better than I anticipated today based on his Tirreno. He should be compeltely fine on the cobbles.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

The days of "you can win Sanremo at 90%" are over.

Sagan was better than I anticipated today based on his Tirreno. He should be compeltely fine on the cobbles.

Nibz 2018?

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

The days of "you can win Sanremo at 90%" are over.

Sagan was better than I anticipated today based on his Tirreno. He should be compeltely fine on the cobbles.

Nibz 2018?

Special circumstances.

Rain made 90% Nibs go to 95% while the rest got a 10% nerf.

Nibali is OP in rain and needs nerfing, but I won't complain.

 

[SafeBet]

He looked much better than I expected, especially on the Poggio. Took too many turns in the descent though and probably paid for the efforts in the end.

Looking on track for the Ronde-Roubaix-Liegi treble.

 

[The Chicken]

He did one of the worst sprints I've ever seen. What's wrong with him?

 

[Screecher]

Re:

He did one of the worst sprints I've ever seen. What's wrong with him?

You haven't seen many sprints then. It was a sprint from a slow speed and Sagan has historically done pretty poorly in those.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

He did one of the worst sprints I've ever seen. What's wrong with him?

He lost momentum twice. First, he reacted too late, when he reacted, he got squeezed between Valverde and Kwiatkowski and had to accelerate again. It took a while to get going.

I don't think anything is wrong with him. He followed Alaphilippe on the Poggio as not many people believed he would be able to do.

 

[Blanco]

I think this race is some sort of psychological problem for him, and that's why he always make mistakes. He's racing under huge pressure here, he knows he can win it any day of the week, yet he fails to do it every year.

 

[The Chicken]

Re:

I think this race is some sort of psychological problem for him, and that's why he always make mistakes. He's racing under huge pressure here, he knows he can win it any day of the week, yet he fails to do it every year.

I can only agree with this.

 

[Bardamu]

He messed up. He should've been in the wheel of Ala at all cost.

 

[glowder]

The weight of that bike he's riding can't help in getting up to speed in a slow sprint.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

I think this race is some sort of psychological problem for him, and that's why he always make mistakes. He's racing under huge pressure here, he knows he can win it any day of the week, yet he fails to do it every year.

The psychological problem is simply that he's not very good tactically, and never has been. He wins races through his physical attributes - by having a significant power advantage over his rivals, not by out-thinking them. And at MSR you need to do both.

 

[laughingcavalier]

So disappointed for Sagan. It looked like he had the legs - he was going fastest as they crossed the line - but got caught out tactically in the final. He was stuck in the front, then missed a moment when Allaphillipe made his jump.

 

[THEORYY]

No worries about Sagan, he is gonna be good on cobbles.

 

[spalco]

Re: Re:

The psychological problem is simply that he's not very good tactically, and never has been. He wins races through his physical attributes - by having a significant power advantage over his rivals, not by out-thinking them. And at MSR you need to do both.

It's not even about being "good" tactically. The M-SR problem is not difficult to solve for a rider of Sagan's caliber, he just has a confidence problem - too much confidence.

From here on out he must approach M-SR as full-on wheelsucker-leech and gamble. Try to grab the right wheel on the Poggio, but not go into the wind whatsoever. If the main bunch catches up, so be it, but be 100% opportunistic.

Once he has that box ticked off he can continue trying to win in style again. But it would be ridiculous if he never wins that race during his career, however long it may be.

 

[Leinster]

Re: Re:

The psychological problem is simply that he's not very good tactically, and never has been. He wins races through his physical attributes - by having a significant power advantage over his rivals, not by out-thinking them. And at MSR you need to do both.

It's not even about being "good" tactically. The M-SR problem is not difficult to solve for a rider of Sagan's caliber, he just has a confidence problem - too much confidence.

From here on out he must approach M-SR as full-on wheelsucker-leech and gamble. Try to grab the right wheel on the Poggio, but not go into the wind whatsoever. If the main bunch catches up, so be it, but be 100% opportunistic.

Once he has that box ticked off he can continue trying to win in style again. But it would be ridiculous if he never wins that race during his career, however long it may be.

I think "too much confidence" was valid in 2013, when he clearly didn't think there was anyone in the group who could outsprint him (and ignored that Ciolek had been wheelsucking the whole way), and maybe a bit in 2017 (when he opened the sprint a little too early).

But if anything I think this time around he was maybe a little under-agressive, unwilling to take control as if he'd been burned one too may times here. It was as if he allowed himself to be put on the front, instead of asserting himself onto the front. And then once there, he let the speed die, when he says himself he doesn't do well with a sprint starting from a slow speed. And then he drifted to the right, like he was nervous about Valverde, allowing the avenue to his left for Mohorric to lead Alaf, Kwiat and Naessen (ie, the whole podium) through.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

The psychological problem is simply that he's not very good tactically, and never has been. He wins races through his physical attributes - by having a significant power advantage over his rivals, not by out-thinking them. And at MSR you need to do both.

It's not even about being "good" tactically. The M-SR problem is not difficult to solve for a rider of Sagan's caliber, he just has a confidence problem - too much confidence.

From here on out he must approach M-SR as full-on wheelsucker-leech and gamble. Try to grab the right wheel on the Poggio, but not go into the wind whatsoever. If the main bunch catches up, so be it, but be 100% opportunistic.

Once he has that box ticked off he can continue trying to win in style again. But it would be ridiculous if he never wins that race during his career, however long it may be.

So, in summary, he needs to be better tactically then.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Re: Re:

The psychological problem is simply that he's not very good tactically, and never has been. He wins races through his physical attributes - by having a significant power advantage over his rivals, not by out-thinking them. And at MSR you need to do both.

It's not even about being "good" tactically. The M-SR problem is not difficult to solve for a rider of Sagan's caliber, he just has a confidence problem - too much confidence.

From here on out he must approach M-SR as full-on wheelsucker-leech and gamble. Try to grab the right wheel on the Poggio, but not go into the wind whatsoever. If the main bunch catches up, so be it, but be 100% opportunistic.

Once he has that box ticked off he can continue trying to win in style again. But it would be ridiculous if he never wins that race during his career, however long it may be.

Cance did the same after Gerrans win. It did not work out though in Sagans case he is a good sprinter but going against Gaviria and other sprinters is difficult

 

[Screecher]

So... I don't know what to think of his E3 performance. The last time he was actually competitive here was 2016. Is he too heavy ? Is it because this race generally splits up earlier than other races like Tour of Flanders? Also, why does he keep working in groups when he's clearly not feeling well? It's like he feels obliged to do so. And then he seems to fake a mechanical. I really don't get it.

 

[Salvarani]

Re:

So... I don't know what to think of his E3 performance. The last time he was actually competitive here was 2016. Is he too heavy ? Is it because this race generally splits up earlier than other races like Ronde van Vlaanderen? Also, why does he keep working in groups when he's clearly not feeling well? It's like he feels obliged to do so. And then he seems to fake a mechanical. I really don't get it.

You hate on him in every post you make about him... just look above on this page. And you did in another thread the other day. Cool if you dont like him, but you can stay mad.

 

[Screecher]

Re: Re:

So... I don't know what to think of his E3 performance. The last time he was actually competitive here was 2016. Is he too heavy ? Is it because this race generally splits up earlier than other races like Ronde van Vlaanderen? Also, why does he keep working in groups when he's clearly not feeling well? It's like he feels obliged to do so. And then he seems to fake a mechanical. I really don't get it.

You hate on him in every post you make about him... just look above on this page. And you did in another thread the other day. Cool if you dont like him, but you can stay mad.

I don't hate. I'm being critical because i want him to do well and i know he can do better. I'm from the same country as him and he's the reason why i started watching cycling.

 

[Salvarani]

Re: Re:

So... I don't know what to think of his E3 performance. The last time he was actually competitive here was 2016. Is he too heavy ? Is it because this race generally splits up earlier than other races like Ronde van Vlaanderen? Also, why does he keep working in groups when he's clearly not feeling well? It's like he feels obliged to do so. And then he seems to fake a mechanical. I really don't get it.

You hate on him in every post you make about him... just look above on this page. And you did in another thread the other day. Cool if you dont like him, but you can stay mad.

I don't hate. I'm being critical because i want him to do well and i know he can do better. I'm from the same country as him and he's the reason why i started watching cycling.

You are being over-critical, and if what you said is true, you should have a little more faith than what you are showing him.

 

[Keram]

Why on earth he would fake mechanical? He admitted he is not in good shape yet AND had mechanical issues with gearrings. I guess we never know how strong or weak he would be in final. Anyway last three editions his results at this race are p*** poor and that really annoys me.