Peter Sagan Thread 2011

[Cobblestoned]

Unbelievable !
I think the others just gave up at todays STARTline

 

[Jukebox]

Side note - That is a badass leaders jersey.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

So..where will it end with Sagan?

mass sprints and uphill sprints ok.
Probably also hilly classics up till 200km soon
And in Paris Roubaix he did well until 200km also.

Cobbles, sprints, hills... he also did good prologues... Would probably not do bad in hilly time trials either.
So, now we just have to wait 3/4 years and see if he has anything to say in mountain stages. If he does...then where will it end?

 

[Barrus]

So..where will it end with Sagan?

mass sprints and uphill sprints ok.
Probably also hilly classics up till 200km soon
And in Paris Roubaix he did well until 200km also.

Cobbles, sprints, hills... he also did good prologues... Would probably not do bad in hilly time trials either.
So, now we just have to wait 3/4 years and see if he has anything to say in mountain stages. If he does...then where will it end?

I think we got another Valverde in the future, quite well at everything and can win everywhere

 

[skidmark]

I think we got another Valverde in the future, quite well at everything and can win everywhere

yeah, he was impressive enough in the TDU last year (at Stirling, I think?) as a 19 year old, and then after the 2nd Paris-Nice win (and third high placing) it was pretty astounding. Still, could have been luck... but this week at Sardegna, it just shows that those were no flukes, or rash of rare form... this kid's for real, he looks consistent, and consistently dangerous. Unbelievable.

Can't wait to see him develop to be able to take in the real classics. The only question is, will it be as soon as this year?

 

[The Hitch]

I dont think hell be able to gt anywhere near valverdes level.

Will be better at cobbles though.

More like Gilbert with a better sprint but less on climbs. Any monument a possibility but GTs, pfff, fugetaboutit

Piti remains one of a kind.

 

[Barrus]

I dont think hell be able to gt anywhere near valverdes level.

Will be better at cobbles though.

More like Gilbert with a better sprint but less on climbs. Any monument a possibility but GTs, pfff, fugetaboutit

But piti remains one of a kind.

The problem is that we don't know how consistent he can be in a gt, I hope we might get to see that this year, but until that point we can't really know

 

[Angliru]

I dont think hell be able to gt anywhere near valverdes level.

Will be better at cobbles though.

More like Gilbert with a better sprint but less on climbs. Any monument a possibility but GTs, pfff, fugetaboutit

Piti remains one of a kind.

I agree. Sagan is a bit too beefy to be able to endure the long climbs of a grand tour versus the featherweight climber specialists. Look at his calves!
He'll be more like Bettini, who had a helluva sprint at the end of long races like LBL.

Valverde is truly an exceptional specimen, virtually unmatched in today's peloton in his range of talent.

 

[Jamsque]

It's definitely too early to talk about Sagan riding GTs for anything other than stage wins.

 

[flicker]

I agree. Sagan is a bit too beefy to be able to endure the long climbs of a grand tour versus the featherweight climber specialists. Look at his calves!
He'll be more like Bettini, who had a helluva sprint at the end of long races like LBL.

Valverde is truly an exceptional specimen, virtually unmatched in today's peloton in his range of talent.

Wasn't Sagan climbing well with Dave Z., Leipheimer and Mick Rogers in the Tour of California?

 

[maltiv]

Wasn't Sagan climbing well with Dave Z., Leipheimer and Mick Rogers in the Tour of California?

Yes, along with the other 50 guys in the main group.

Sagan is currently an excellent puncheur, but he is not a climber for the big mountains and I don't think he will become one, although he is yet young and anything could happen.

 

[The Hitch]

It's definitely too early to talk about Sagan riding GTs for anything other than stage wins.

Not necessarily. TP is even younger than Pistol Pete and we can convidently rule him out of gt contention in the future.

Sagan is more of a power rider. As Angirilu said hes a bit big as well and its difficult to imagine him dragging that up hc mountains day after day the way featherweight climbers can.

He also has a big gap between his performance in short prologues and long tts (Super at prologues, mediocre at longer tts) which suggest he might be weaker once the climbs start hitting hc level and require 35 minutes + of solid effort to complete.

It is highly unlikely that he will become a gt rider. We hear again and again those with potential being talked up as gc riders but sometimes, they are just born for something else.

 

[flicker]

It seems to me like he is young, very young. I was at the Tour of California,and the people there said he was the next big thing, he could be a Merckx, or a LeMond.

 

[Barrus]

Not necessarily. TP is even younger than Pistol Pete and we can convidently rule him out of gt contention in the future.

Sagan is more of a power rider. As Angirilu said hes a bit big as well and its difficult to imagine him dragging that up hc mountains day after day the way featherweight climbers can.

He also has a big gap between his performance in short prologues and long tts (Super at prologues, mediocre at longer tts) which suggest he might be weaker once the climbs start hitting hc level and require 35 minutes + of solid effort to complete.

It is highly unlikely that he will become a gt rider. We hear again and again those with potential being talked up as gc riders but sometimes, they are just born for something else.

Maybe it's just my hope of another Valverde

 

[Lanark]

In the stage that Cunego won he was clearly suffering on that long climb, and it was hardly a difficult climb, or impressive competition.

Considering how extremely talented he is in some areas (his uphill sprint is probably unmatched, maybe a good Valverde or Gilbert can beat him), he has shown a surprising lack of talent in longer climbs and time trials. I think he should just focus on what he does best, and try to increase his endurance so he can handle the 250k classics.

Or, in other words, he has to improve a lot to become a decent GC rider. He only has to improve a little to be a great classic rider.

 

[Angliru]

Wasn't Sagan climbing well with Dave Z., Leipheimer and Mick Rogers in the Tour of California?

Well, on the particular stage that he won, if memory serves me, it was the first mountain top finish for the ToC, although there was a less than uphill section leading to the finish of several km's. It was nice size group that Sagan won the stage from. I hope you know that climbing with Dave Z. isn't really any badge of honor.

 

[Michele]

In the stage that Cunego won he was clearly suffering on that long climb, and it was hardly a difficult climb, or impressive competition.

Considering how extremely talented he is in some areas (his uphill sprint is probably unmatched, maybe a good Valverde or Gilbert can beat him), he has shown a surprising lack of talent in longer climbs and time trials. I think he should just focus on what he does best, and try to increase his endurance so he can handle the 250k classics.

Or, in other words, he has to improve a lot to become a decent GC rider. He only has to improve a little to be a great classic rider.

I dont think he cares at GC at all.
He just try to win as much as he can, and if he keeps progressing like this he will be one of the biggest contender for many one day races.

 

[Polish]

maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan i been on the sagan hype train since paris nice 2010!....
a little suspicious though that cobblestoned and polish are so in love with him... so i can only hope that he sticks to one day races and doesn't become a GT hog

The thing about Sagan I love the most is being able to use the line "billions and billions and billions" of wins. Oh, I crack myself up sometimes lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKFPMRNxIfE
.
.
.

 

[flicker]

Well, on the particular stage that he won, if memory serves me, it was the first mountain top finish for the ToC, although there was a less than uphill section leading to the finish of several km's. It was nice size group that Sagan won the stage from. I hope you know that climbing with Dave Z. isn't really any badge of honor.

I think it was a 3 man break, Dave Z., Leipheimer ,and Sagan. They did distance the field and the 3 climbs were short, I think the toughest was 2000 vertical feet, with 2 miles of 10 percent grade.
I know Leipheimer wanted that stage, and they did distance the field....

 

[jaylew]

Sagan won 2 stages, both from a decent sized group.

 

[Cobblestoned]

In the stage that Cunego won he was clearly suffering on that long climb, and it was hardly a difficult climb, or impressive competition.

Considering how extremely talented he is in some areas (his uphill sprint is probably unmatched, maybe a good Valverde or Gilbert can beat him), he has shown a surprising lack of talent in longer climbs and time trials. I think he should just focus on what he does best, and try to increase his endurance so he can handle the 250k classics.

Or, in other words, he has to improve a lot to become a decent GC rider. He only has to improve a little to be a great classic rider.

Yes, look how I am suffering and then boooom.

He just did a little mistake there in the finish I think, and I even think he had a problem with his shifters. It looked a little bit strange.
Perhaps I have to look it again.

btw, wasn't that big bear lake stage a mountainstage and doesn't P-N have climbs ?
He crushed them with finger in nose there.
If he would climb like AC or AS, or would win MTFs, this would surely be too much right now.

 

[jaylew]

btw, wasn't that big bear lake stage a mountainstage and doesn't P-N have climbs ?
He crushed them with finger in nose there.

He certainly did, but Big Bear wasn't a real mountaintop finish and didn't appear to be raced particularly hard. There were 20+ guys left for the finish of that stage.

 

[flicker]

He certainly did, but Big Bear wasn't a real mountaintop finish and didn't appear to be raced particularly hard. There were 20+ guys left for the finish of that stage.

I think they were kind of scared of it. Everyone knows cyclists from Europe don't race to hard in the States, it is more about the girls and the scenery.

 

[jaylew]

Good news is, there's no way there will be a repeat on Mount Baldy this year.

 

[Cobblestoned]

He certainly did, but Big Bear wasn't a real mountaintop finish and didn't appear to be raced particularly hard. There were 20+ guys left for the finish of that stage.

I saw it. And Peter won.
Of course this stage was a bit hyped, but it was hard anyway and he didn't ride against newbies, and there were even american riders who especially prepared for that race.

He was talking about "surprising lack of talent in longer climbs".
I don't see any lack at Peters abilities and he is very, very, very young.