Sagan, to be or not to be, that is the question.

[bobswire]

http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/06/news/sagan-races-to-tour-de-france-under-team-pressure_373441

I look at Sagan and see a free spirit much like I viewed Oscar Freire who use their natural handling abilities to take advantage in certain situations. It seems to me he has been shackled within a structured protective system and given instruction instead of flying by the seat of his pants, at which he was so successful.

[45K10]

Yeah I agree in some ways Sagan reminds me a lot of Freire, although I think Freire had more tactical sense than Sagan has shown so far.

[MattTuck]

Not to turn this into another Oleg thread, but... perhaps you should focus the team around Contador completing the Giro/Tour double instead.

Now you want Sagan to win the prologue and put that extra burden on the team? Geeze.


As for Sagan, he came on really fast. I think other teams are wise to his tactics now, so I'm not sure he can win in the same way he did previously.

[ik2280]

“When the cyclists win, they want more money, but we don’t see the reverse of that. If I find some legal way, I want to reduce his pay. Riders should have raises with good results and cuts if they don’t, you don’t sign a three-year deal and then don’t bring in results.”

This is ridiculous. It happens all the time in sports - you sign someone to a big contract, they don't quite perform at the level you expect. That's the risk of signing athletes to big contracts. That being said, it's not like Sagan has been that awful - his ToC was impressive.

[Bstone]

Looking at his efforts in the spring races, it certainly looked like he was putting in the work.

But at the end of races, he rarely had any teammates left. Not sure if that is because they had burned themselves up keeping him out of the wind or what.

And, it is certainly different when you are famous versus young and unheralded.

Who wants to work with you just so you can crush them in a final sprint?

Being more of a rouleur/sprinter than the typical rouleurs who are left in a winning position at the end of a classic means that he is very much a marked man.

Conversely, maybe he just didn't have it on the day. Still a likable kid.

[fogrider]

Looking at his efforts in the spring races, it certainly looked like he was putting in the work.

But at the end of races, he rarely had any teammates left. Not sure if that is because they had burned themselves up keeping him out of the wind or what.

And, it is certainly different when you are famous versus young and unheralded.

Who wants to work with you just so you can crush them in a final sprint?

Being more of a rouleur/sprinter than the typical rouleurs who are left in a winning position at the end of a classic means that he is very much a marked man.

Conversely, maybe he just didn't have it on the day. Still a likable kid.

Good points, when a team is racing in the states and the giro, the team is split. even AC had no teammates at the end of a race. and it's really important to have a strong leadout in sprint and it's really important to have teammates on big climbs for pace and chasing down attacks. and MC and many others have worked hard to improve their sprinting, PS has to step it up.

As for the contracts, if you want to structure it with bonuses, go ahead, but don't cry afterwards when things don't go your way. and these guys know that their career is short, they have to ask the big bucks when they can. if you don't want to pay it, don't they will get signed by someone else. don't be a rich cry baby!

[cmg]

tinkov isn't as strong a team as the owner thinks. Blaming a poor showing on a single high paid rider is just deflecting the lack of talent on the team. he didn't buy enough of riders of equal caliber like Sky did. tinkov is going to be disappointed. he's going to burn the talent out before they get to the tour.

[jimoots]

Looking at his efforts in the spring races, it certainly looked like he was putting in the work.

But at the end of races, he rarely had any teammates left. Not sure if that is because they had burned themselves up keeping him out of the wind or what.

And, it is certainly different when you are famous versus young and unheralded.

Who wants to work with you just so you can crush them in a final sprint?

Being more of a rouleur/sprinter than the typical rouleurs who are left in a winning position at the end of a classic means that he is very much a marked man.

Conversely, maybe he just didn't have it on the day. Still a likable kid.

Don't disagree but I felt like Sagan was a bit out of shape, at least in appearance, at the classics. Certainly not as lean as I recall him in previous years. Happy to be corrected though, memory can be hazy.

[stephenmarklay]

Hard for me to feel bad for the team when Sagan won the TofCA.

Tinkov is an a**hole. That’s my take. As a business person to go to the press to say your overpaying your staff is just stupid.

[oldpotatoe]

Hard for me to feel bad for the team when Sagan won the TofCA.

Tinkov is an a**hole. That’s my take. As a business person to go to the press to say your overpaying your staff is just stupid.

Yup, don't expect Sagan and others to put up with this knucklehead next year. I predict Sagan and others will be hooked to a team..run by Riis..Mr 60% isn't done yet.

[bewheels]

I have a slightly different take...
Sponsoring a team and hiring riders is about generating publicity for a company.
The most straight forward is example is - win a race, get publicity. Another example is - have your name in the news all the time (Sagan), get publicity. Or - have your crazy boss bad mouth you in the press, get publicity.

We should never lose track of why any company would sponsor a team/rider.

There are many pro riders in the peloton that I have never heard of and certainly do not have consistent media coverage of threads on forums about them.

Sagan is not going away not do I think he is going to start making less money.

[alessandro]

I have a slightly different take...
Sponsoring a team and hiring riders is about generating publicity for a company.
The most straight forward is example is - win a race, get publicity. Another example is - have your name in the news all the time (Sagan), get publicity. Or - have your crazy boss bad mouth you in the press, get publicity.

We should never lose track of why any company would sponsor a team/rider.

There are many pro riders in the peloton that I have never heard of and certainly do not have consistent media coverage of threads on forums about them.

Sagan is not going away not do I think he is going to start making less money.

I was going to disagree with you--that for Oleg it's more of a platform to get attention for himself--the team is his plaything, and he's said so publicly--but I'm wrong. Garnering publicity for himself and for his company seems to be indistinguishable with this guy.
http://tinkov.com/images/tinkov.jpg

I like Sagan and think he still has big things to come. Especially when he parts ways with Oleg.

and MC and many others have worked hard to improve their sprinting, PS has to step it up.

Who is MC?
http://media1.fdncms.com/sfweekly/imager/finally-a-search-engine-with-moves-like/u/blog/2613061/mc_1hammer_wiredoo.jpg?cb=1432853791

[fogrider]

Mark Cavendish

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

[45K10]

Man, Sagan had a sweet move in the last meters of today's stage in the Tour De Suisse: Spoiler Alert
http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/19229

[denapista]

Damn that finish was suhweet! Love seeing my fellow BMX shredders shoing bike handling skills. No way Pinot was getting around Sagan in those last few turns. Was like carving a berm for him.

[efaust_o]

Find myself rooting for him. We'll see in the days & weeks to come, but it is a glimmer of hope if you are a fan...:)

[oldpotatoe]

Find myself rooting for him. We'll see in the days & weeks to come, but it is a glimmer of hope if you are a fan...:)

Looks like he's coming into form(which means he has lost some weight..not so 'Ullrich-ness'), porky...I'm guessing his displeasure about his knuckleheaded boss helps motivate him..he'll need results to get a better contract and team.

[Raffy]

I think that as PS ages and knowing what we know now on how he can put on weight and how that negatively affects him, I think he should consider not targeting too many races, in particular Roubaix and maybe, just maybe Flanders. At least this point in his career.

As good as he is, he's not 23 anymore and I think that he is more of a hybrid sprinter/puncheur who can climb but only when he's on a good weight vs. someone who should carry a little heft just to be able to face off with the "hard men" in brutal cobbled races, especially Roubaix. And I don't think he was too "fat" early in the season, it was more the extra heft necessary for the hard cobbled races didn't suit him like some like Kristoff, Wiggins, etc.

My thinking is that he should target MSR early on and really be in shape for that. Secondary target but not really a deal breaker would be Flanders just to keep the cobble fans happy. Then maybe shed a little bit more of the pre-season weight and go to stage races such as TOC, Tour de Suisse and similar races where he can win stages and possibly steal a GC podium or even win. And the obvious, going for the Green jersey in the Tour de France and maybe even consider doing the Vuelta (or part of it) to prep for the Worlds.

I think that we're trying to make this guy too many things at the same time. I think he's such a good climber for someone who can finish and he should take advantage of that unique quality vs. turning him into a brute, power guy.

[efaust_o]

but first loser. He is looking better...