Peter Sagan can never quite fly under the radar, but his build-up to the Tour of Flanders has been decidedly quieter than it was twelve months ago, when he was widely tipped as the man most likely to break up the longstanding Fabian Cancellara-Tom Boonen duopoly.
On that occasion, Sagan’s pre-race press conference on the Friday evening before the race was a heavily-attended but decidedly terse affair, as he looked to downplay those lofty expectations. “It’s a race like another one, no?" he said, jadedly.
This time around, Sagan eschewed the formalities of a press conference altogether, limiting himself to an online statement and a couple of brief interviews at the Tinkoff-Saxo hotel near the train station in Kortijk.
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Friday had begun with the news that directeur sportif Steven de Jongh and general manager Stefano Feltrin would now divide the duties previously assumed by erstwhile team manager Bjarne Riis, whose contract with Oleg Tinkov’s team was terminated last week.
If changing manager mid-season seems to mirror the actions of a football club, then so too does Tinkov’s new structure, where Feltrin and De Jongh seem to serve as director of cycling and head coach, as it were. And, like a footballer, Sagan posted a carefully-prepared statement on his Facebook page shortly after the change was announced.
The prospect of working with Riis was described as “fundamental” in attracting Sagan to sign from Cannondale last summer, but the Slovak has played a straight bat in dealing with questions on the matter in recent weeks.
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