I really don’t know what to think about Peter Sagan as a cyclist. He sure is a different kind of bike rider than usual. A classics type rider who can sprint crazy good and sometimes climb with the best. But, this isn’t about his physical abilities, this is about how the guy can handle his bike. And he does that unbelievably well.
He can turn as well as anyone I’ve ever seen, at least on TV. I would like to ride a race with him to really see if he is as good in person as it looks through the media. I’d probably have to ride a bunch of races to actually make that call, but you know what I mean. He descends crazy good when he has to and obviously can corner at the end of a race much better than nearly everyone else. Below are some photos of the last stage in Alberta on Sunday. He comes from so far back, turns the corner much, much sharper than everyone else in the field and comes out of the corner with a winning margin. It is pretty amazing.
I remember him winning a stage a couple years ago, maybe last year, in the Tour of Switzerland or Romandie. It was a long descent and he railed the thing, caught the leader right before the finish and then easily won the sprint. It was beautiful.
Anyway, he is a pleasure to watch. I think he scared the shit out of Robert Förster, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team, turning so late. I bet Robert thought Sagan was going to t-bone him. Anyway, good stuff.
Check the angle at that Peter Sagan’s bike is at compared to the other riders.
And this is the top photo a couple seconds later. It is amazing how far ahead he already is. He comes out of the corner bike lengths ahead of the other riders. Click to enlarge.
After race show off, which is fine.
Here is the sprint above in real time.
I watched it live and thought “Wow” when he made that cut move.
I hope he stays in North America for another couple weeks and does the CrossVegas race! He started as a mountain bike racer. I am pretty sure he’d give the ‘crossers a run for their money. Maybe Cannondale can loan him to their ‘cross team for the event.
That corner was amazing! He has been a lot of fun to watch the last few years. It shows that riding all disciplines of the Sport will make you a better overall rider. Plus, he races a lot more than others, which keeps his skills in the Peleton on point. So many of the top pro’s don’t really race many days a year anymore. Thanks for the post!
exceptional talent, great showmanship, seems like a genuinely good guy. aside from the ass grabbing incident, what’s not too like?
He had an even more impressive corner at the Tour of California last year, and had an incredible move to avoid the crash in the TdF this year that nearly took out Tony Martin and Cav. Guy has insane handling skills
Whoa! Ass grabbing doesn’t make you a bad guy! Lax in judgment given the setting, perhaps, but definitely not a bad guy!
A bit of ‘cutting the corner’ payback to the United Health Team. I love the video of Sagan riding up on and parking his bike on the roof of a car.
Steve, here is the TdSuisse stage you are thinking of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgGcSXf4x04
It was the first race where I really remember thinking “This guy is special.” He went over the top of the climb right behind Cunego, who is not a terrible descender, and ran him down on rain-slick roads the size of golf cart paths.
Plus this is the Grindelwald stage, which is maybe the most beautiful backdrop for any bike race on earth.
He has fire in his eyes. I like it!
Looked like a Roger Young kind of move. (Who? Of course nobody remembers him)
I saw a sprint where he put a foot down in a corner and still won I think. Guy’s turning into the best showman since Cipo!
And he’s riding with the right team to become the modern day Cipo. We’ll see if he shows up to a sign-in wearing a toga.
I expect Mike Creed will be crying “foul” any minute now.
The second coming of Sean Kelly.
Made those guys look like Cat 5’s.
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The guy is right now the best rider in the world. No rider has “more tools in his belt” than Sagan. It’s amazing in this age of specialization in pro cycling. I hope with his next contract he is rewarded with the biggest one in cycling. I had to watch that corner he made in Calgary over and over and just scratch my head. He made them look silly.
Sounds like the pro peloton consensus is that he is that good. Every interview I’ve heard concerning Sagan seems to think he is an extremely rare talent. Great to hear such talented professionals compliment him like that. I look forward to many more years of watching him.
and i bet another drug user that will get caught eventually.
Given his consistent performances, the hope is he’s not doping.
The thing to watch for is ***amazing*** performances in one part of the race schedule followed by mid-pack performances the rest of the time. We see that with Sky riders. We don’t see it with Sagan.
Would doping help bike handling skills? I wouldn’t think it would make a biker’s cornering, or going downhill, or bunny hopping over trouble. Would it?
i’m just saying he,like EVERY PRO, eventually gets caught.. i have no idea what doping does for bike handeling skills and i could care less.. i really like the freedom of riding after hard farm work, and i do like to watch it on tv and the web, but all these guys you watch and admire,you see on the drug list a few years after their awsome performances.
He, “like every pro”, may dope. But you can’t possibly think that every pro (that dopes) will be caught, can you?
This is what he said about the corner: “When we came through the last left turn we were two on the front, but I went through there without braking and maybe [Forster] was braking. I don’t know, but after the turn I was alone.”
I had Roger Young put a move on me like that at the PAC during StupidWeek in 1980. Exactly who I thought of watching the Sagan video. Peter Sagan needs to look at the career of Sean Kelly. He was labeled as a sprinter but ended up being a very good GC rider.
What’s the feeling on Sagan turning to his right momentarily, forcing the rider to his right to change his line, just before the big left turn? If they crash, who’s fault is it? I didn’t see any criticism of this, but it seemed a bit reckless.
Looks like he also was going to the right a bit in prep for the turn, no?