Pro-cycling thread

I think he's aiming to WIN.

And falling short.

Maybe he's saving himself for looking after Bert at the Tour...

lol, thats true.

Hes probably just a bit fat and maybe not quite the rider his early career promised that he might be

Otherwise known as the curse of EBH.

Sagan does look fat.

Great ride from Geraint Thomas. I thought he got a bit of help from the motorbikes when he attacked, but I don't think it influenced the outcome. I'm excited to see what he can do at RVV.

with almost twice as many victories, in two years less, I don't think he's as cursed. hope he'll bounce back (with less fat)

Thing is we've been blaming Sagan's inability to turn seconds and thirds into firsts on the fact he's a bit thick, and lacks tactical nous. Now he just looks a couple of levels below what we're used to. Watching him come over the line behind the chasing pack reminded me of a puppy lost in the rain. All those rampaging rides and those daft victory salutes seem a long time ago.

He'll probably still win green come July though.

anyone got a non stop-motion stream for Catalunya? this one is erratic
http://cyclinghub.tv/livestream.php

in other news: Valverde will be sucking wheels in Flanders next Sunday

Re. Fat Peter...

I bet his fitness metrics are as good as ever.

When he first appeared he was in a class of his own as a versatile sprinter. A sort-of Green Jersey god.

Degenkolb and Kristoff have emerged, along with a new generation of strong roulers like Kwiatkowski and Stybar that have a decent sprint and decend bloody quickly. Then there are the anomalies like Matthews and Colbrelli that sprint uphill for the lols.

It's tough times for a Terminator.

I think this is right. Everyone else has caught up. Whereas before he was the one rider able to pick up points on a variety of finishes he's now got to fight for it.

I also think perhaps he's come into this season believing his own hype a bit.

and people now know how to mark him now - he could just as well ride around with a rotating blink on his helmet.

I wonder whether he's bulked up to try to win bunch sprints but it's taken too much out of him overall.

When Sagan first burst onto the scene he had quickly showed that he was far more versatile than a sprinter who could survive smaller climbs. He won a stage of Paris-Nice by attacking 3kms out and holding off a reduced bunch. The following year he won a mountain stage of the Tour de Suisse, which included the climb of the Grosse Scheidegg, which is a hors categorie climb. It looked like he could turn his hand to pretty much anything and made it all look so easy.

That might be the route cause of his current malaise, now it's not so easy and it might be that he's not been as professional as he should've been over the winter with both his training and his diet. He wouldn't be the first rider to land a big contract and then suffer a drop off in performance either.

http://www.tour-magazin.de/wie-hart-ist-paris-roubaix-rennanalyse-mit-leistungsdaten/a35595.html

I don't think Sagan's fat, it's just everyone else has miraculously lost 5kg.

I wouldn't say that Sagan looks 'fat' but he sure doesn't look hungry - in either sense of the word - anymore.. He said he ran out of power on Friday but, to me, it looked like he ran out of ambition.

It could be a slow build-up of lots of things - a reverse aggregation of marginal gains if you like.. The wins, the hype, the adulation, the salary, the girls. Then the multitude of second places, the dulling sense of 'inevitable greatness', the change of workplace, the renewed expectation, the same old second places, the discontent from the boss, the loss of the self belief, the slow acceptance that 'it might never happen..'

Just you watch him win RVV, PR and LBL now, just to spit in MY soup..

He's not going to win in the Ardennes at his current weight.

In the same way that he came along and out-EBH'ed EBH, plenty of riders like Matthews, Degenkolb and Kristoff have come along and do exactly what he does: ie can climb and mix it in bunch sprints.

Except they're all tactically more canny.

He'll have to find another way to win.

On the plus side at least his performance's are believable. I'd like to think he might bag Ghent Whevelgem or RVV as I hope he's clean and deserves a monument.

Re the the fat chat ; he'd always carried a bit of beef, makes him what he is. With Cancellara and Boonen out the game it his best chance of bagging Paris Roubaix or RVV.

Tactcal nous; got to hope he's listening to his radio no?

Tactcal nous; got to hope he's listening to his radio no?

But who's shouting into it now?!

At least its not vinoukourov #dirtybastard
Hold on, his DS is a dirtybastard too. :(

It'll still be James Hetfield I'd imagine.

Gent Wevelgem is going to be brutal today. Wind and rain all 239km long, with a chance of echelons in the final

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Ha, I came on to post about echelons too having just heard it's gonna be gusty down in Belgium today. If there aren't a hefty pile of the blighters I'm going to write strongly worded letter to the EQS team.