Milan-San Remo

[Frankwurst]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Petey needs to learn how to hold a line.

I'm sure he'd appreciate you pointing that out to him.

[MattTuck]

Degenkolb needs to man-up and not try to blame Colbrelli, who was on a continental team up until this year. I like Degenkolb, but sometimes you need to be honest. Did he really expect Colbrelli to be willing and able to close down a gap for him? Especially if you're a previous winner.

"We did a very good job," explained Degenkolb. "It did not work out 100 per cent as we wanted it, but still we were up front when it mattered. When it was really fast on the Cipressa, Jasper [Stuyven] did a phenomenal job to make sure we had a good position, and also for the descent. It was perfect.

"On the Poggio, Fabio [Felline] did the same for me, and when Sagan went, I was up there. The problem was [Sonny] Colbrelli was in between, and he blew up, and I could not close the gap anymore. That was unfortunate.”

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by nooneline

He could have done a LOT more to shut the door in MK and JA, while still being within the rules. The bike throw wasn't an issue of holding a line.

Everybody gets that you don't like him.

Sure. And he still came halfway across the road during the spring, and yet somehow in the bike throw Kwiatkowski didn't act like someone rising home after a couple bottles of wine too many.

If he's Mr Bike Handler then he should be able to, yanno, handle the thing.

[crankles]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

Degenkolb needs to man-up and not try to blame Colbrelli, who was on a continental team up until this year. I like Degenkolb, but sometimes you need to be honest. Did he really expect Colbrelli to be willing and able to close down a gap for him? Especially if you're a previous winner.

completely agree with this... Kristoff was far more honest.

although I prefer to see Sagan win it having initiated the move, he was really in a bind tactically....did as well as he could. Too bad Bora doesn't have a few dudes who can hang. They seem to be all spent just getting him to the last 60k of a race, then he's on his own. Sky looked like they had 5 or 6 guys at the base of the Poggio. I'm a fan of all three of those guys.

I think Sagan was smart to attack when he did and not try to save it for the bunch sprint. too much a crap shoot in MSR.

What a great finish.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Sure. And he still came halfway across the road during the spring, and yet somehow in the bike throw Kwiatkowski didn't act like someone rising home after a couple bottles of wine too many.

If he's Mr Bike Handler then he should be able to, yanno, handle the thing.

Yea there is a zero percent chance that he was simply beyond exhausted after the final 10km. Yea, he has no skills on a bike. He just sat in and got a free ride to the line.

I must say your take is sort of an #alternatesagan perspective.

[beeatnik]

Flash, no disrespect intended, but I must ask: have you ever been in the mix in the last 250m of a race, Tuesday Night Worlds or that online training thing (zwift)?

Go Bruins
Go Blue Devils

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

Yea there is a zero percent chance that he was simply beyond exhausted after the final 10km. Yea, he has no skills on a bike. He just sat in and got a free ride to the line.

I must say your take is sort of an #alternatesagan perspective.

Originally Posted by beeatnik

Flash, no disrespect intended, but I must ask: have you ever been in the mix in the last 250m of a race, Tuesday Night Worlds or that online training thing (zwift)?

Go Bruins
Go Blue Devils

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've never been many aspirations beyond pack fodder both on the road and track, but mixed it up in my share of sprints on both when I was young and dumber. And yeah, rule #1: Hold your line, even when you're breathing out of your eyeballs. Especially when that "I'm totally gassed" just happens to have you veering into your competitors' line. Weird how that happens.

It ain't too much to ask the world's greatest bike handler evar omg to hold his line, even at the end of MSR. Its a long race, I get it. But guys seem able to hold their line in those sprints all the time.

[ultraman6970]

Sagan has been winning races by himself since a few years already, the good about sagan is that apparently he is not blaming his team for the race he lost as other do because after all, eventhought cycling looks like a team sport at the end every man is there by themselves. At tinkoff the team did the same...help the dude till the last 30 km and pray he doesnt have a mechanical.

And honestly not many champions around that can win races by themselves, sagan, contador, valverde, cancelara, S/kelly and EM just to mention a few. But that can show the class sagan has, as i read this week, sagan might be the strongest and best rider ever, he might never win a GT but his palpares is stupidly amazing compared to tour winners, that after all need a team to win like ... yes... that one... I like the guy but w/o a team never seen him shine like the slovak does.

Originally Posted by crankles

completely agree with this... Kristoff was far more honest.

although I prefer to see Sagan win it having initiated the move, he was really in a bind tactically....did as well as he could. Too bad Bora doesn't have a few dudes who can hang. They seem to be all spent just getting him to the last 60k of a race, then he's on his own. Sky looked like they had 5 or 6 guys at the base of the Poggio. I'm a fan of all three of those guys.

I think Sagan was smart to attack when he did and not try to save it for the bunch sprint. too much a crap shoot in MSR.

What a great finish.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

Sagan has been winning races by himself since a few years already, the good about sagan is that apparently he is not blaming his team for the race he lost as other do because after all, eventhought cycling looks like a team sport at the end every man is there by themselves. At tinkoff the team did the same...help the dude till the last 30 km and pray he doesnt have a mechanical.

And honestly not many champions around that can win races by themselves, sagan, contador, valverde, cancelara, S/kelly and EM just to mention a few. But that can show the class sagan has, as i read this week, sagan might be the strongest and best rider ever, he might never win a GT but his palpares is stupidly amazing compared to tour winners, that after all need a team to win like ... yes... that one... I like the guy but w/o a team never seen him shine like the slovak does.

Errr, I think to be the 'best rider ever', winning a GT or even smaller stage race is essential. 'Best one day race winner', he has a shot at that.

imho and all that.

[r_mutt]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Errr, I think to be the 'best rider ever', winning a GT or even smaller stage race is essential. 'Best one day race winner', he has a shot at that.

imho and all that.

he did win the overall for the "4th grand tour" in 2015.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by weisan

Petey's edging into MK occurred way after the finish line. At the finish, he was clean. Look at the pic and see how far back the line is.

[notsew]

MK outplayed Sagan, but Sagan made the race exciting. He sure is fun to watch.

"I always believe I can beat anyone if you make things right," he explained carefully.

"I was really trying to focus on the sprint. For sure, I was gambling a bit with Sagan's mind and for sure, he was under big pressure. I know that wearing the rainbow jersey puts you in a hard situation.

"A bunch sprint and a one-to-one sprint are very different. I was 100 percent sure that Sagan has better acceleration and he's just a better sprinter. But he is beatable."

"I did my very best in the sprint. I left a little gap before the sprint, forcing him to lead out. He looked behind and I knew that when he saw the gap he'd start the sprint first. On the track, if you are directly behind the wheel, you will lose a couple of metres when a faster guy starts a sprint. I was trying to stay relaxed and have enough space to get up to a higher speed before the finish line. In the end, that worked out by a couple of centimetres. I'm happy how it went…."

[Mzilliox]

Say what you need to about Sagan, like him or envy him, whatever your dish.

But that sprint had Panache, guts, and brute power all in one. Im a bit surprised Kwiatkowski and Allaphilipe even managed to reel him back in, he may jumped a K too soon i guess.

Nobody is racing like this with nuts and guts anymore. Thats why people like Sagan, he just races, screw the team cars and radios and all the other stuff that has made the sport more boring. He will launch a surprise attack like the good old days.

[weisan]

Sagan said it in the interview, he went full gas on Poggio to distance himself from the peloton. That effort and the lack of cooperation from his breakaway mates in the last kilometers put him at the deficit in the finals. If you look at his sprint and compare it to the ones he did in other races, it's visibly less explosive. He's not superman as he often reminded us. Also, he's a realist, he understands how this works, he's not complaining about it.

[beeatnik]

Need to find some pro Stravas but no way the run up to the finish was flat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk