2014 Tour De France

[hboli4]

Oi..

 

No didn’t hear, just saw some unhappy body language.

 

Yip, a big German tuning you in English, I would also have ridden away from him...

[jcza]

I see Trentin was fined and relegated for blocking Degenkolb in the sprint.

[tombeej]

Today is going to be a cracker. Here's a summary of the last 64 km, which includes the two key climbs of the day.

 

Col de Palaquit (1154 m): The full length of this Cat 1 climb is 14.1 km with an average gradient of 6.1%. The first 3 km are toughest, with average gradients of 10.5% between km 2 and 3.

 

After a high speed descent down the other side of the mountain the riders have some time to catch their breath before the final part of the day, the climb to the ski resort of Chamroussel (1730 m).

 

The real ascent starts in Uriage-les-Bains, at 413 m. The first 7 km are the hardest with the total climb being 18.2 km long with average gradients of 7.3%.

[jcza]

Km 24.0 – Col de la Croix de Montvieux, 8 kilometre-long climb at 4.1% – category 3

Km 152.0 – Col de Palaquit (1 154 m), 14.1 kilometre-long climb at 6.1% – category 1

Km 197.5 – Montée de Chamrousse (1 730 m), 18.2 kilometre-long climb at 7.3% – category HC

Climbs for today

[jcza]

Another near miss in St Etienne on Thursday sparked further talk of Peter Sagan’s “crisis”. But is he really the tactical halfwit that some believe, or just cursed by a unique repertoire of talents?

 

If he couldn’t laugh you suspect that he would have to cry – yet you also suspect that Peter Sagan doesn’t do tears. Sagan was smiling, he said in Oyonnax, because it was his girlfriend’s birthday. He was also now resigned; he had tried everything, here, in Sheffield and in Nancy, yet still his cupboard was bare except for the green jersey that, these days, might as well be stitched to his skin.

 

In truth, Sagan had known that this was coming. Not just yesterday morning but way back at the start of the season. At a training camp in Tuscany in March, he told me that the biggest obstacle to him making a further breakthrough in 2014 – winning a Monument, snaffling multiple Tour stages – wasn’t ambition, fitness, his team, the skill of strength of any opponent, but the way rivals now raced against him.

 

It was frustrating, he said, but a fact of bike racing: “It’s hard when no one will work with you, but I have to thank God for the talent I have. There aren’t a lot of riders like me. I get compared to Cavendish, to Kittel, to Greipel, but then I also get compared to Gilbert, Cancellara, to climbers. Last year it was sometimes annoying when guys seemed to ride more to make me lose than to win themselves, but it’s normal. As time goes by, I realise that it doesn’t get easier because you’re successful; it actually gets a lot harder.”

 

There was no finer illustration than on Wednesday in Oyonnax. As Tony Gallopin swept under the red kite and towards victory, one hundred metres or so behind him, Sagan could be seen raising an arm in dismay and turning to glare at Michal Kwiatkowski and Michael Rogers. By this point they, too, knew that they were about to spurn a glorious opportunity. Yet the frustration of seeing Gallopin stay away somehow seemed more palatable than the formality of a Sagan victory if they helped him. Anyone who knew Kwiatkowski and Sagan when they were juniors must have chuckled; in those days, the Pole was comfortably the superior sprinter.

 

Was there anything that Sagan could have done to ensure a different outcome? We asked ourselves the same question after the stages to Sheffield and Nancy, then put it to his directeurs sportifs at Cannondale. “The cemetery is full of hindsight,” said one of them, Mario Scirea, throwing up his arms. Scirea went on to make some valid points. He argued, for example, that Alberto Contador and Chris Froome should both “logically” have chased Nibali at Sheffield. Froome should at least have ordered Porte and Mikel Nieve to the front. Instead he, like everyone else, looked towards Sagan. “And then Contador – all of that fuss on the first day in the Vosges, flogging his team on the front, all to gain two seconds over Nibali. With a two-kilometre effort in Sheffield he could have saved ten seconds,” Scirea sighed.

 

Five days later, en route to Nancy, six men went down the road and Cannondale appealed to all of the likely suspects to assist the chase: Orica-GreenEDGE (for Simon Gerrans) and Omega Pharma-Quick Step (Trentin, Kwiatkowski, Bakelants), most notably, both refused. Back in March both Sagan and another Cannondale directeur, Stefano Zanatta, had stressed that it was pointless getting het up in such scenarios, that mental and physical energy was better expended on what they could control. And so, in Nancy, Sagan’s disciples got on with the job of reeling in the escapees. It proved a long and expensive pursuit, one which left Sagan isolated when his last man, Alessandro De Marchi, pulled to one side on the Côte de Boufflers, 15km from the finish.

 

Now Sagan found himself in a familiar bind: stick or twist, mark every move or gamble on riders like Gerrans and Trentin coming to his aid. As usual, he decided that attack was the best form of defence, darting onto Greg Van Avermaet’s back wheel and immediately committing to a two-man getaway. Again, his rationale was hard to fault: Van Avermaet was one of the few riders who might fancy himself in a sprint against the Slovak and therefore be prepared to share the pacemaking. Sagan had also already glanced left and right, seen shrugging shoulders and shaking heads, and recognised an all-too-familiar theme.

 

It was easy, a quarter of an hour later, to suggest that Sagan had fumbled the ball in the endzone yet again. It was much harder to clearly set out what he could have done differently to win the race. He and Van Avermaet had been caught inside the last two kilometres, and yet Sagan still came within centimetres of pipping Trentin over the line in a 27-man sprint. If only he had rationed his efforts a little better; if only he hadn’t taken those two big pulls …. Like Scirea said, it was all easy with hindsight.

 

The reality was that every strategy followed a logic that would look like inspiration in success and incompetence in failure. Above all, every different action also provoked a reaction; Isaac Newton knew that without ever driving a team car. Had Sagan watched Van Avermaet disappear down the road, who is to say that Gerrans, Trentin et al would eventually have cooperated? Had he sat on Van Avermaet’s wheel, who would have countered, and who if not Sagan would have been expected to chase? There are few if any certainties in pro cycling – except perhaps that there is one rule for Peter Sagan and one rule, nowadays, for everyone else.

 

The only truly valid reproach throughout the Tour and indeed the season is that Sagan needs to learn to bluff a little. Or if not bluff then a least make himself a bit less conspicuous. Even when not bombing down the road, Sagan patrols the front of the bunch like a burly nightclub bouncer. Rolf Aldag, the Omega Pharma-Quickstep technical director, gave Sagan this advice on Thursday: “Be invisible. Be in 25th position in the group. Everyone looks at Sagan because he tries to dictate the finale. It doesn’t work. He’s tried it four times.”

 

Cannondale don’t disagree but also made another reasonable observation: Sagan’s brilliance lies precisely in his refusal to take a passive role, a back-seat in a literal or figurative sense. On countless occasions over the past five years he has indeed won races because his default position is on the front, ready to dominate. Anyone who doubts this needs to go back and watch replays of last year’s Gent-Wevelgem, Brabantse Pijl and GP Montreal.

 

Zanatta said earlier this year that, when he watched Sagan, he was reminded of Bernard Hinault. “He has the same sense of play. He makes it look like a game.”

 

And I, when I heard this, was reminded of something that Hinault once said to me (and Richard Moore, in an interview for his book, Slaying The Badger): “When you ride in the first 30 positions of the peloton, nothing can happen without you letting it happen… Sport, ultimately, is a game. You mustn’t forget that. It’s not a job. So, if you know how to play, you can do fantastic things. You have fun. I’ve always compared an elite

sportsman with a tiger, a feline. He’s there, he waits, and as soon as he can pounce on something, he does [imitating clawing motion]. If you know how to play like that, nothing can beat it.”

 

Perhaps this was also why Sagan was so philosophical yesterday. He knows no other way – and he also realises that a more pragmatic, calculated approach will never bring him the same satisfaction, the same sense of “play”, as Zanatta calls it. “He just can’t help himself,” said one member of Cannondale staff on Thursday morning. This, it bears remembering, is a rider who almost gave up road cycling in his teens because he found it “boring” compared to other favoured pursuits like motocross and mountain biking.

 

At this point, six months before he pulls on his new Tinkoff-Saxo Bank jersey, he has probably also accepted that lamenting his Cannondale team’s brittleness will achieve absolutely nothing. The point about his lack of support is, though, a fair one – but one that should be raised with his Cannonade team management. Zanatta said earlier this year that other teams’ and riders’ spoiling tactics put the pressure very much on him and the other Cannondale directeurs sportifs to pick the right mix of men for the right courses. If that is so, even accounting for their limited budget and resources, they haven’t exactly excelled themselves in France. What Elia Viviani, a sprinter, is doing here at the Tour, no one has quite figured out. Damiano Caruso, meanwhile, could have given Sagan crucial support on hilly finales like the ones in Sheffield, Nancy and Oyonnax, but was left at home. The only conceivable explanation: Caruso is joining BMC at the end of the year.

 

Last year, Sagan’s victory in Albi was hailed as a collective Cannondale masterpiece. But there was one mid-stage climb to overcome that day; on this year’s Tour parcours, there are two or three stings in the tail on nearly every stage.

 

Sagan, at least, will remain sanguine. He has another green jersey coming his way and a contract worth nearly €4million a year.

 

But most importantly, to him, at the Tour or anywhere else, he can win, lose or draw and bike riding is still only a game.

 

From "The Cycling Podcast"

[DIPSLICK]

SAGAN NEEDS A STRONGER LEAD OUT TRAIN /TEAM yes he is not a pure sprinter, but yesterday when his number 1 and 2 were talking to each other about who was more spent the pelleton recovered nicely and all the work they done IN FRONT PACING was wasted, i still think he is doing flippen well for a green jersey holder

[Spoke101]

I see Trentin was fined and relegated for blocking Degenkolb in the sprint.

Interesting, thought there might be a fuss.

[Wyatt Earp]

SAGAN NEEDS A STRONGER LEAD OUTTRAIN /TEAM yes he is not a pure sprinter, but yesterday when his number 1 and 2 were talking to each other about who was more spent the pelleton recovered nicely and all the work they done IN FRONT PACING was wasted, i still think he is doing flippen well for a green jersey holder

 

His green jersey performance is nothing short of spectacular.

It takes skill, hunger and tenacity to be consistent enough to earn something like that.

The lead out train story, yes I find this an interesting comment that always gets made on the webs and on telly.

 

The lead out train does nothing more than to secure their rider stays to the front of the peleton, most of the time they dictate the pace depending on how their rider feels, if he is having a good day, the pace becomes intense, if he is having a half baked day, the pace slows down.

The lead out train tends to dictate what they want to hopefully allow their best rider a CHANCE at the line.

 

Personally I think at this tour Sagan is being outclassed, taking the wrong line or too late to attack are all rookie mistakes for a guy at his level, he wants to win then he should make no mistakes and make sure he places himself exactly where he should be for the win.

I think we all become too fixated on one or twi riders and miss out on a plethora of other great riders out there.

Look at Quintana as the example of that.

 

I will say a little less show boating and a little more power boating and he could take a stage.

I always say this and I will repeat this my entire life, never underestimate anyone else in anything in life, I also believe that the underestimation springs from over-estimation.

[Gen]

Sagan is too good for his own good

 

Yes he has been around for ages.. but he is still only 24.. some things perhaps still to be learnt.

 

Also because he is so good we kinda forget that he isn't a pure sprinter.

 

But shees he really is something special.

 

 

[tombeej]

Doesn't matter how good you are, if you are on your own and you are in a group of riders all riding negatively against you, you stand little chance of coming out on top.

 

Those of us who are mere mortals know that at the end of a race, we might have enough in the tank for one or maybe two shots at responding to an attack. If we've been racing hard enough, there's nothing more left to respond to a third attack.

 

While guys like Cancellara and Sagan are something special (only come round once in a generation), they must face this issue every time they find themselves out front. The other riders are not stupid. They know exactly what tactics to use in order to nullify these guys talents. They will refuse to do anything to allow Sagan near the line in a position to win. They know that he is under so much pressure to win that he has to close the gap each time, so all they have to do is wait for him to go and hitch a free ride. Why must they do all the work and then watch him win every time? No ways will they let that happen.

 

All they need to do have one of them attack - and force Sagan to respond. Doesn't have to be a big one, and it's not intended to stick. Then the next guy goes, and forces Sagan to respond. When that guy is done, the next guy attacks. And so it goes, one body blow after another until the guy goes down. Not once will anyone else in the group close the gap. They will force him to close if he really wants the win. Because he is expected to win so all the pressure is on him.

 

Cancellara has spoken about this many times in his career, and Sagan will see it many times more. The only way he can counter this is if he's got a team of guys like BMC/OPQ have, guys who can push big watts, who can power up moderate humps, who can be on the front to help counter at least a couple of the body shots and close the gaps for Sagan until it's time for him to go. He just needs one teammate there in the final selection. Two would be more than enough.

 

Watch OPQ in the classics. They have so many options in the finale because they've got a couple of guys there at the end to counter negative tactics. They're not a lead out train and they don't try and drive the peloton to close the break. But they do have the tactical nous (and the power and ability) to be in the final selection almost every time.

 

This is what Sagan needs. A team of puncheurs who can be there for him when it really matters.

[Slowbee]

Sagan is too good for his own good

 

Yes he has been around for ages.. but he is still only 24.. some things perhaps still to be learnt.

 

Also because he is so good we kinda forget that he isn't a pure sprinter.

 

But shees he really is something special.

I am with Wyatt on this one. He has the jersey, but just needs that something else, that power to just get him a win. But make no mistake he is great on the consistency.

[Frosty]

Oi, now I may be scarred for life looking at that sexy photo

[Wyatt Earp]

Sagan is too good for his own good

 

Yes he has been around for ages.. but he is still only 24.. some things perhaps still to be learnt.

 

Also because he is so good we kinda forget that he isn't a pure sprinter.

 

But shees he really is something special.

 

Errrm no.

Also no.

He is good but not that good.

People have elevated him to a very high level, and they fail to see many other great riders out there .

[tombeej]

I think we all become too fixated on one or twi riders and miss out on a plethora of other great riders out there.

 

... never underestimate anyone else in anything in life, I also believe that the underestimation springs from over-estimation.

 

Notwithstanding what I've said above, I agree. And point taken.

[FrankTank]

TdF 2014 "The Big Picture": http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2014/07/tour_de_france_101st_edition.html

 

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/tdf2014a/bp22.jpg

[Escapee..]

Lot of posts about negative riding etc etc that doesnt give Sagan a fair chance, I find this quite amusing as they aren't there to make friends or give someone else the win.

 

BUT

 

He has been in the front 5 going into the last 100meters numerous times and not once has he been able to get the win.

 

I still like the guy though