Peter Sagan has been consistently unable to improve upon a string of second place sprint finishes since his last Tour de France victory in 2013, and stage 13 to Rodez on Friday was no different. The Tinkoff-Saxo rider was thwarted this time by himself, making a 'mistake' on the uphill drag sprint finish into Rodez by sitting down on his saddle rather than accelerating at the decisive moment when he caught Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), allowing the Belgian to celebrate his victory by a bike length.
It might be Sagan's 15th career runner-up finish, but this time he was more frustrated than ever, and his 24 point lead in the green jersey classification was no consolation.
"I'm not upset, I'm pissed. It's different," Sagan said.
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The three remnants of the day's 198.5km stage, Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Cyril Gautier (Europcar), started the final climb of the day into Rodez just seconds ahead of the chasing peloton. On the Côte Saint-Pierre, Arnaud Démare was the first of the fast men to jump with Van Avermaet then Sagan following the FDJ rider before the duo surged clear.
Where Sagan has triumphed in similar finishes in a dominating fashion, a lapse of judgement perhaps brought on by the 38-degree heat, left the 25-year-old still fuming in the mix zone after collecting his green jersey.
"I lost the race for my mistake," he added, "I don't like if I lose due to my legs. I can accept that. But today I waited too long. I got on Greg's wheel and sat down and then I ran out of legs. It's not bad luck. That was my mistake because I needed to carry on pushing so that I could win."
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