Le Tour de Carnage this year! so many stacks...
I Follow cycling pretty religiously all year round, and am not surprised at all by the riding of Sagan.. He has won alot of races this year, and he is just a genuine all around beast.. His nickname from his mountain biking days was The Terminator and the wattage he puts out on a bike is astronomical... Soon the team will shift its focus to Nibali/Basso, so he will have to be creative to get stage wins, but should be able to pick up lots of points when it matters..
Also, i disagree on Sagan's performance in grand tours.. he is not going for the overall YET, but in last seasons vuelta he won 3 stages (came 4th in the points ranking), and already has 2 in the Tour this year.. 5 stage wins in what 26 GT stages competed in? That is phenomenal!(for a 22 year old...) On the flat he wont beat the pure sprinters, but give the finish line just a hint of uphill and he will blow past them..
The biggest concern for Gripel, is can he hold on in the mountains? There is every chance on 1 of the mountain stages he finishes outside the cutoff time and has to abandon.. Hell, even Cav last year finished outside the cutoff twice i think it was, but was in a group of 20 so they were allowed to stay in.(a rule i dont like...) Also, the team is not dedicated to him, once they start climbing, he will be left to his own devices, and the team will be focusing on Van den Broeck and getting him a podium finish if not better.
Cadel and Wiggins are getting all the press, but with the amount of time trialling this year, i wouldnt be surprised if a dark horse got over the line.. My dark horse at the moment : Dennis Menchov. He is already a 3 time GT winner, and has focused this season solely on the TDF and is in great form at the moment.
Cancellara is a guy i would love to see win the overall... With all the TT this year he can make up some serious time, but unfortunately, he will fall out the back as soon as we get into the mountains :D
It was disappointing to see Kittel struggle and have to retire in stage 5 due to illnesss.. i was really looking to see how he would go 1 on 1 after his early season form. Just a damn shame :(
honestly would not be surprised after looking at the profiles, if sagan wins both stages on the weekend..
It wont be until wednesday-thursday next week, until we know who the real contenders are, and the pretenders!
So far, the racing has been great.. hopefully once we get into the business end of things, it will get even better :D
Go Cadel!