Tour de France on TV

Tag: Peter Sagan

  • Peter Sagan again after Tony Martin again

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    The peloton sustained an outrageous speed in the opening hours of racing. This was because it was pursuing Tony Martin. Martin does this fairly regularly, usually as a kind of unofficial training ride. The finest example was in the 2013 Vuelta when he rode alone all day and almost won. It seems to be how…

  • Sagan! Crosswinds! Echelons! Magic!

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Echelons! Was ever there a finer spanner flung gleefully into the works of a predictable bike race? Crosswinds are always fun. When a race splits into pieces on flat roads, all bets are off. It happened in 2013 and it was magical. This year, the insanity wasn’t quite so prolonged, but it was every bit…

  • Michael Matthews conserves his power – Peter Sagan doesn’t

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    What an odd stage. The hill near the end suggested that we might have the likes of Peter Sagan, Michael Matthews, Edvald Boasson-Hagen and Greg Van Avermaet contesting a bunch sprint rather than the out-and-out sprinters. In the end, all four got in the day’s break, which made for some intriguing racing. Maybe they should…

  • Peter Sagan’s luxury wardrobe

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Peter Sagan is some kind of deluxe onion. Peel back his layers and his appearance will barely diminish. His stage two victory has put him into the yellow jersey, but when someone overhauls his lead and pulls that off his back, he’ll still be wearing the green jersey as he’s also leading the points competition.…

  • Green jersey contenders in 2016

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    I’ve been putting off writing this points competition preview for a few days now and presumed there was some reason for this – nothing conscious, just some mystic message from the cosmos saying: “No, don’t bother yet. Play Civilization or go to the pub or something.” Turns out the cosmos was right. Everyone else is…

  • Peter Sagan drinking two Duvels at the same time

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Over on the continent, they’ve never truly mastered the finer points of loutishness. Either that or they’re REALLY good at it. Here’s a video of Peter Sagan celebrating his Tour of Flanders win by drinking two 8.5% Duvels at the same time. And what’s the guy front of shot doing? Is he quaffing red from…

  • Peter Sagan and the possibly fictitious baton-passing pee stop

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Ahead of the Tour of Flanders, FDJ manager Marc Madiot came out with the most outstandingly French quote to describe what it must be like to be Peter Sagan. “Sagan has the enormous freedom of not being obliged to win in order to exist,” he said. Until September, Peter Sagan’s record didn’t really match his…

  • Peter Sagan wins a bike race

    —

    by

    Alex
    in ,

    It shouldn’t really be headline news. I mean he is the world champion. The Slovak quickly put Friday’s disappointment aside by winning Gent-Wevelgem, the Belgian one-day race that doesn’t visit Gent. The Belgians really aren’t slaves to logic when it comes to naming their races. Perhaps it’s all that 12% beer. Sagan won a crappy…

  • Peter Sagan is the second-best cyclist on the planet

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Second to anyone. No-one in particular. Think there’s some sort of rota system in operation, to be honest. E3 Harelbeke (the race named after a motorway it doesn’t use – a road which isn’t even called the E3 any more) saw him finish second to Michal Kwiatkowski. I make this Sagan’s fifth second-place this season…

  • Peter Sagan did NOT come second

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    He’s only the world champion. If ever a season had a satisfying narrative, it was this year. In 2013, Peter Sagan notched four second places in the Tour de France. In 2014, he got another four. This year, he lost to Andre Greipel (twice), Zdenek Stybar, Ruben Plaza and even Greg Van Avermaet, of all…