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Yes that was one for the history books. Best ‘til this day.Will always love this race, but particularly because of 2021. MVDP, WVA, Pidcock, Pogacar, Bernal, Alaphillipe. A perfect lead group of superstars at different trajectories of their careers. ... and Michael Gogl.
Not racing.Simon Yates to win by 6 minutes
Sagan never winning this race is another one of those weird holes in his palmares. The guy was super successful, yet there are so many races tailor made for him he could never win.
Even though the season has already started awhile ago, this feels the first big race of the season and the wet roads should make it an epic.
Pogačar is the favourite but it won't be a wlk in the park given the amount of talent for hilly classics at the start line. Last year's winner Pidcock is the most likely to match him but I also the chances of Mohorič for this race, he is the gravel world champion after all.
So teams can also use their numbers to put UAE in trouble, Groupama especially have a really good team with Madouas, Martinez and Grègoire and Jumbo also have a really strong trio Valter, Kuss and Laporte. Daniel Martinez will also be one to watch after his performance in Algarve.
UAE also have a few alternatives to Pogačar with Wellens, Hirschi and Del Toro who I will follow closely here.
My condolences.This is the day I became a Wout fan.
View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1763669128714297846Wouldn't it be time for the organisers to give names to other sectors than Monte Sante Marie and Le Tolfe?
It's funny, in an easy race I think the uphill finish would suit him to a T, but in a harder race where he has to respond to others' attacks, it'd be easier for him to win in a flat sprint.I think calling Strade Bianche tailor made for Sagan is a huge stretch.
The only 2 big races I'd consider super well suited to Sagan that he never won would be Sanremo and Amstel
This is from 2021. At that time Lenny was indeed not yet in their team, but he was part of their structure. Despite not having an official junior team, FDJ often sponsors juniors with gear and equipment. Lenny Martinez, Eddy Le Huitouze and Titouan Fontaine in the past, Baptiste Gregoire (younger brother of Romain) now. You can even find Vlad Van Mechelen in FDJ gear, despite obviously never making it to an official FDJ team.When is that picture from? Quite an old kit - from before he even joined the conti-team - kit he's wearing.
The ultimate "Hey, guys. Let me join your team! See... I already got the (older) kit!" move?
Sagan's palmares is actually quite underwhelming considering how dominant he was perceived to be. He never won Strade Bianche. He never won Amstel. He never won Milan Sanremo. He only one Flanders and Roubaix once each (ok this is still very impressive.) 'Only' winning 2 monuments is not enough for a rider of his talent. Van der Poel has already won 4 and I suspect this will increase. Arguably, MVDP already has a better palmares than Sagan especially if you include cyclocross. Boonen and Cancellara won 7 monuments eachSagan never winning this race is another one of those weird holes in his palmares. The guy was super successful, yet there are so many races tailor made for him he could never win.
Yeah, but nobody of them won three worlds and 7 (?) Green Jerseys.Sagan's palmares is actually quite underwhelming considering how dominant he was perceived to be. He never won Strade Bianche. He never won Amstel. He never won Milan Sanremo. He only one Flanders and Roubaix once each (ok this is still very impressive.) 'Only' winning 2 monuments is not enough for a rider of his talent. Van der Poel has already won 4 and I suspect this will increase. Arguably, MVDP already has a better palmares than Sagan especially if you include cyclocross. Boonen and Cancellara won 7 monuments each
Well if he was so great then why didn't he have more big wins? 3 world titles is amazing but in total, that's 5 big wins same as MVDP has now. It sounds a lot like wasted talent. He picked the team he rode for so I don't think that's an excuse. He could have ridden for any team in the world but he picked a weak team because of his own arrogance thinking that he could win on his own with just his brother and best friends to help, and that is his own fault. His God complex and ego of wanting to be the only star in his team held him backYeah, but nobody of them won three worlds and 7 (?) Green Jerseys.
Sagan often had the worst team for long a time and everybody rode against him.
If you saw the races and how good he was in his prime, you would know how great he was.
Thats why simply looking at a list of palmares sometimes leads to undermining posts like this.