Sagan. Is the future bright for this son of the Cosmos?
Yellow Peril
Posts: 4,466
This was a new name to me having seen him in this week's ToR. I know some PTP's picked him for various stages and wondered how you saw his career progressing. Who is he in the mould of?
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He made a name for himself in the Tour Down Under, a break went with Evans, Valverde and he followed, a neo-pro going where the rest of the bunch couldn't.
Then he stormed Paris-Nice, a strong prologue, he blasted to the finish in Aurillac, going early on the hill but being able to match Contador. Then he won a stage two days later.
He's incredibly promising, seems to have huge power over one minute already, a bit like Boasson-Hagen does but arguably he's better, since we're seeing all this in his first few races as a pro. EBH had a gradual rise.0 -
Hard to say yet. All we know so far is he has an extremely explosive sprint when the finish is too difficult for regular sprinters, and he struggles in long time trials.
Mountains? He coped OK in Paris-Nice, but wasn't near the front on the mountain finish.
Compared to EBH, I think he'll turn out to be a better climber, but maybe EBH will be a better classics rider.0 -
I'm guessing he will do one of the Grand Tours he seems too good to leave out.
Any predictions on a stage win or will it be a matter of survival and experience?0 -
Yellow Peril wrote:I'm guessing he will do one of the Grand Tours he seems too good to leave out.
Any predictions on a stage win or will it be a matter of survival and experience?
IMO, 20 is too young to do a grand tour. Liquigas have enough talent elsewhere that they don't need to rely on him.0 -
Apparently Liquigas recruited his kid brother, despite an obvious lack of results in the amateurs - although he is useful. To me, it's clear they are pampering him, ensuring he is happy and planning for the long term with him. No rush for a Grand Tour.0
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Are Liquigas strong enough to hold on to him? It might seem a bit over the top but he seems a bit of a wunderkind. I wonder if he will get snaffled by a team like Saxo/Columbia/Radioshack?0
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Guiseppe Sarroni won three stages in his first Giro aged 20 in 1978. I'd say Sagan should ride one this year but pulled out like Armstrong 1993 TDF, 1994 TDF..avoid burnout. Sarroni was bushed by 1989 and retired at 310
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Yellow Peril wrote:Are Liquigas strong enough to hold on to him? It might seem a bit over the top but he seems a bit of a wunderkind. I wonder if he will get snaffled by a team like Saxo/Columbia/Radioshack?
liquigas can compete with no-sponsor Saxo, no-GC HTC and no-future Radioshack.
He's in the best place. Aside from the obvious re Italian teams.___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
A cert to appear in the worlds?0
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Yellow Peril wrote:A cert to appear in the worlds?
Dunno how many riders Slovakia get to enter, but probably. There's the Velits twins, and Sagan (and his bro), and that's pretty much it.0 -
Kléber wrote:Apparently Liquigas recruited his kid brother, despite an obvious lack of results in the amateurs - although he is useful. To me, it's clear they are pampering him, ensuring he is happy and planning for the long term with him. No rush for a Grand Tour.
Older brother, isn't it?
Liquigas are being sensible with him. They'd kept his program light this year - Ok, they put him into Paris-Roubaix rather than Tour of Turkey as originally scheduled but why not get the experience young. Also, at Liquigas seem GC heavy rather than smaller tours / stage hunter heavy. In a GC team, he'd be a good supporting rider as he's strong.
I think he reads a race very well and is strong. That's what sets him apart I would say.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
I guess he could really be with a shout in the U23's of a podium. seasonal burnout is an issue. The season is still quite young unless he gets a break during the GT's0
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iainf72 wrote:Kléber wrote:Apparently Liquigas recruited his kid brother, despite an obvious lack of results in the amateurs - although he is useful. To me, it's clear they are pampering him, ensuring he is happy and planning for the long term with him. No rush for a Grand Tour.
Older brother, isn't it?
Liquigas are being sensible with him. They'd kept his program light this year - Ok, they put him into Paris-Roubaix rather than Tour of Turkey as originally scheduled but why not get the experience young. Also, at Liquigas seem GC heavy rather than smaller tours / stage hunter heavy. In a GC team, he'd be a good supporting rider as he's strong.
I think he reads a race very well and is strong. That's what sets him apart I would say.
Liquigas are not short of super strong support riders either though, are they? Szymd, Agnoli and Quinziatio would walk into any GT team, not to mention the newer in-form guys like Oss, Santaromita and Kiserlovski. Liquigas is just crazily strong at the moment.0 -
Yellow Peril wrote:I guess he could really be with a shout in the U23's of a podium. seasonal burnout is an issue. The season is still quite young unless he gets a break during the GT's
Riders with Pro Tour contracts can't enter the U23 race.0 -
afx237vi wrote:Yellow Peril wrote:I guess he could really be with a shout in the U23's of a podium. seasonal burnout is an issue. The season is still quite young unless he gets a break during the GT's
Riders with Pro Tour contracts can't enter the U23 race.
That's a shame. Oh well.
On the subject of Liquigas, they don't seem to have performed particularfly well in the TdF for a couple of years yet they have a strong team or am I overlooking something?0 -
Yellow Peril wrote:
On the subject of Liquigas, they don't seem to have performed particularfly well in the TdF for a couple of years yet they have a strong team or am I overlooking something?
Que? King of mountains last year and 2 riders in the top 10?Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
iainf72 wrote:Yellow Peril wrote:
On the subject of Liquigas, they don't seem to have performed particularfly well in the TdF for a couple of years yet they have a strong team or am I overlooking something?
Que? King of mountains last year and 2 riders in the top 10?
Sorry I was thinking of Lampre not Liquigas0 -
Wasn't he a Mtb racer til recently?
Talent is Talent, whatever the discipline.0 -
Liquigas need to get him in a wind tunnel - his position in the TT was so upright it was unreal.afx237vi wrote:he struggles in long time trials.
Brian Smith reckoned he'd probably only been on the TT bike a handful of times......he needs to ride it a lot more to adapt to the lower position.0 -
Did a great ride yesterday too, but commentator thought, that he thought, he'd won.
Better get some new batteries from Radio Shack for their race radios... If they're using em.0 -
really like the guy so far but I think he needs to work out what is better for him. At the moment with his mountain abilities I need a GT as being beyond him.
He really is a talent though, anyone know where his home town is ? I've been to Slovakia a few times and it is a great country0 -
Born in Zilina on 26th Jan 1990 according to his Wiki entry0
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thanks for the info. Should have thought to check wiki0
