Tag: Peter Sagan

  • Peter Sagan taken out by a motorbike

    Peter Sagan had 7km to go. He’d got over the two climbs and there weren’t any particularly strong sprinters left in the front group. He should have been confident of finishing one place higher than usual. But then a support motorbike cleaned him out. Sagan was displeased by this. Standing around in the road immediately…

  • Peter Sagan elbows his way to a Grand Tour stage win (finally)

    After somewhat inexplicably being awarded the green jersey after stage one, Peter Sagan said that it was like he was still in the Tour de France. If he wanted evidence that this wasn’t actually the case, it came when he won stage three. During the Tour de France, Sagan’s bridesmaidery was such that he could…

  • Peter Sagan finishes second to… Ruben Plaza?

    No, me neither. Ruben Plaza won a stage of the Vuelta a Espana a decade ago and he’s been Spanish national champion a couple of times, but I’d have had him down for break fodder; one of those faceless riders who makes up the numbers and ultimately gets dropped. He didn’t though. He waved goodbye…

  • Peter Sagan can even finish second to Greg Van Avermaet

    There are a handful of riders who I characterise as perennial bridesmaids, but Jesus Christ, if you’re coming second to Greg Van Avermaet you’ve entered a league of your own. For a long time I thought Greg’s full surname was Van Avermaet Narrowly Missed Out On Victory. So the Peter Sagan runner-up story rumbles on.…

  • Alexis Vuillermoz forces people to learn his vowels

    Alexis Vuillermoz is the kind of cyclist I’m happy to see finishing sixth in La Fleche Wallonne. This is because I don’t have to write about the guy who comes sixth and therefore don’t have to try and wrap my brain around the typically vague, meandering French vowel sound that results from ‘uiller’ in the…

  • Eight pairs to watch in the 2014 Vuelta a Espana

    There aren’t enough race previews binding riders together into twos. Let’s be honest, all the best things come in pairs. Also Twixes. The Chrises – Chris Horner and Chris Froome Horner won last year. Froome’s one of the big favourites to win this year. What more do you need to know? Horner’s age, maybe? He’s…

  • Best of the 2014 Tour de France

    As I said when I did the same thing last year, everyone loves a ‘best of’. Best viewing option – mute What is it about cycling that attracts such mediocre commentary? Sean Kelly’s emotionless analysis on Eurosport is usually interesting and informative, but while his partner, Carlton Kirby, can have his moments, when he starts…

  • Alexander Kristoff’s turn to aggravate the Slovak

    Maybe they could bring in a bridesmaid’s jersey for the rider with most second-placed finishes. It could be a garish pink with stupid puffy sleeves. Peter Sagan would be delighted. Alexander Kristoff was the latest beneficiary of Sagan’s extraordinary run of near-misses. Kristoff won Milan-San Remo this year, you know. His usual thing is winning…

  • Gallopin’ Tony the latest to deny Peter Sagan

    It was indeed a stage suited to Peter Sagan. What this apparently means is that everyone in the peloton becomes so monomaniacal about him that they effectively gang up on him. It’s about 170 against one. They’re not good odds. Gallopin’ Tony was the man to benefit today but it would be disrespectful to say…

  • Peter Sagan is getting really rather annoyed

    Matteo Trentin is a rider so anonymous that I’d actually forgotten that he won a stage of the Tour last year, even though I wrote about it at the time. If you watch a lot of cycling, you’ll know his name, but you’d never have him down for the win. He’s one of Mark Cavendish’s…