Peter Sagan Thread 2011

[royalpig180]

Sagan took his first win of the season today in Sardinia. As someone in that race's thread observed, the hype train is leaving the station, and I for one do not want to be left behind... We can use this thread to track his progress and hype throughout the season.

What do you think he's capable of this year? He's already said that MSR is a race he's targeting. I think that he'll probably win another stage or two this week in Sardinia. MSR seems like a lofty goal to me, but he could definitely factor into some major one day races later in the year.


Not even close...

 

[will10]

Another season of taking wins on exactly that kind of finish against good opposition but struggling over 200km+. No big classics wins this season is my 2c

 

[Polish]

Old Man DiLuca was just a few seconds behind young Peter....
Nice Victory!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-di-sardegna-2-1/stage-1/photos/159735

 

[hfer07]

Peter is going to be a huge force in cycling to reckon with in years to come-he needs to start getting focused on what "kind" of rider he wants to become, since the power & the talent is there-is just matter of polishing the diamond.

Best wishes for him in a successful career.

 

[ansimi]

What's his program for this year?

I'm sure he'll get some great wins but I doubt a classic yet. It makes sense for him to target MSR and be in the best possible shape for it though because he might be able to win it in the future and he needs to see how he compares against the best.

Hopefully he'll be doing a lot of work on his time trial. He seems like he might be able to develop into a good prologue or short ITT rider and maybe get some great GC placings in one-week races.

I assume he'll be targeting the Worlds. Will he start the Vuelta or do the Canadian races again?

 

[ingsve]

Could FW be something for Sagan this year perhaps. The finish may be a bit too long and steep perhaps. It's hard otherwise to find this type of finish in a top race. Strade Bianche might suit him too perhaps. Or even Worlds in Copenhagen.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Flawless victory and cool finishing-move again.
The day will come when he pulls off his mask and burns the 2nd like a dragon.

He has the elegance and timing of Valverde and power like the badger.
Sagan is by far one the greatest talents coming.

It was so sad that he was ill during the worlds.

 

[Ryaguas]

Oh here we go... More hype... I was more used to EBH hype...

 

[roundabout]

What's his program for this year?

I'm sure he'll get some great wins but I doubt a classic yet. It makes sense for him to target MSR and be in the best possible shape for it though because he might be able to win it in the future and he needs to see how he compares against the best.

Hopefully he'll be doing a lot of work on his time trial. He seems like he might be able to develop into a good prologue or short ITT rider and maybe get some great GC placings in one-week races.

I assume he'll be targeting the Worlds. Will he start the Vuelta or do the Canadian races again?

It was mentioned somewhere that he will do the Flandrian classics.

 

[Jamsque]

It cannot BE that I am late for boarding on the Peter Sagan Hype Train 2011!

Hard not to like the kid, he wins with style and celebrates like a boss. I'd rather he stuck to being a puncheur than started chasing one week stage races.

I don't think FW is a possibility this year, the Mur is still too long and steep for him, and more importantly he lacks experience riding it. Last year Cuddles showed Contador the value of knowing how to ride the Mur.

I've no idea where, but Sagan's definitely going to keep getting wins as long as he keeps riding aggressively.

 

[Cobblestoned]

Oh here we go... More hype... I was more used to EBH hype...

But EBH is not cool. He is just cool from nature.

 

[roundabout]

Could FW be something for Sagan this year perhaps. The finish may be a bit too long and steep perhaps. It's hard otherwise to find this type of finish in a top race. Strade Bianche might suit him too perhaps. Or even Worlds in Copenhagen.

Amstel, Brabantse Pijl (shorter term, if Sagan is interested), Quebec.

As long as there's at least a speed bump close to the finish Sagan is a threat.

 

[Jamsque]

Eddy Boss is cool but he seems kinda shy, Sagan has swagger.

 

[ansimi]

I agree Sagan looks cool in those pictures of his wins but I'm reminded of how confused and uncool he looked when he won that guitar at ATOC last year

 

[royalpig180]

Eddy Boss is cool but he seems kinda shy, Sagan has swagger.

I agree. I think that Sagan's problem at the moment is that the type of finish he's best suited to (a climb near the finish or a short, steep finishing climb) is only found at the end of very long one day races like Worlds (some years), LBL, MSR, etc. At his current young age, he's not yet proven he can win in a race that long. So for the time being, his best targets are stages of stages races, where he can find finishes that suit him but the stages aren't as long as the one day races mentioned above. I think the Canadian races could once again be a good target for him later this season, but it's also a possibility he could do the Vuelta to gain some GT experience (note: I have no proof for that, I'm merely speculating that Liquigas could send him there with no pressure).

 

[ericthesportsman6]

Don't think Sagan has the experience to win FW, and I still think MSR might be a little out of his reach. But he has already surprised me many times, so who knows.

 

[mombus]

I'm really happy for the guy. I like him. He's one of the few riders left on Liguigas I admire... ever since Kreuziger left

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Sagan will be good in races until 200km this year, but I don't see him winning any big classics yet.

But in races like Brabantse Pijl eg. he'll have little competition

 

[Jancouver]

I agree Sagan looks cool in those pictures of his wins but I'm reminded of how confused and uncool he looked when he won that guitar at ATOC last year

Not sure why some of you think that he is not able to win some longer races. The Big Bear stage at the ToC was 214K long, 10K feet of climbing and took over 6 hours to finish .... and he won it too

 

[battery89]

Not sure why some of you think that he is not able to win some longer races. The Big Bear stage at the ToC was 214K long, 10K feet of climbing and took over 6 hours to finish .... and he won it too

With ease also. Along with Matthews, these two are absolute freaks. Both only turned 20 last year also. WTF.

 

[euanli]

But EBH is not cool. He is just cool from nature.

Actually EBH is too cool to pull off wheelies. He can do them just he doesn't need to show off.

Well except for pulling one on the cross country ski belt thing while it was at a 4%+ incline...

 

[xmoonx]

Yes a super raw talent to be sure and definitely exciting to watch. Seems like he could have a lot of options open to him in the future. I wish him luck, longevity and no injuries.

One thing i never fully understood is why Quick Step passed on him. It seems Sagan joined a Pro Tour team Quick Step for road testing but he failed to get a contract. Meanwhile Liquigas scarfed him up and apparently Liquigas doctors and managers were stunned by results of Sagan's medical tests saying they have never ever seen a rider of 19 years of age so physically strong and capable as Sagan.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sagan

 

[Martin]

FB fanclub

In case you're interested, this is official FB fanclub of Peter and his brother Juraj ( mostly slovak, but pictures don't need translation ):
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Juraj-a-Peter-Saganovci/144978128881227

 

[royalpig180]

I was very impressed by Sagan in today's stage, even though he didn't win in the end. I was sure he'd get dropped on the last climb and drop out of the GC picture, but he hung on right until the end.

IMO, here's why he didn't win the stage:
1. The climb was simply too long and too hard for him, favoring someone more like Cunego. Sagan doesn't have top speed right at the top of a climb like that.
2. Capecchi took off without him. He was trying to lead him out, and Sagan wasn't on his wheel. With that said, he may not even have been able to hold the wheel if he was there. Capecchi launched super quick, and may have even been able to win the stage himself if he hadn't gone early to lead out Sagan.

Anyway, it seems to me that with the hardest stage of the race out of the way, Sagan has a solid chance of winning the overall. He's only 2 seconds down on Cunego, and should be able to get some high stage placings/wins to pick up the time he needs in bonuses. Should be an exciting few days...

 

[Ryaguas]

Snip...

Nah... This finish was tailor made for Cunego, also Scarponi and Cunego bossed that finish pretty much... is really hard beat him in a finish like this one... Sagan was suffering, I almost dare to say that He was in red, but chapeau to him cuz He defended the GC with guts...