Richie Porte, Nairo Quintana and Peter Sagan have all enjoyed success in season 2015, but for the trio its also question of "what if" as all three have also missed out on a bigger prize.
Porte started the season in storming form, winning the Australian national time trial title and finishing runner-up at Tour Down Under before claiming overall wins at Paris-Nice, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and Giro del Trentino, but it fell apart at the Giro d'Italia for the Australian and while the 30-year-old showed glimpses of his best at the Tour de France, the early-season seems like a distant memory.
Sagan started his Tinkoff-Saxo tenure with expectations matching his four million euro annual salary so when it took till mid-March for Sagan to open his 2015 account, alarm bells were ringing. A modest classics campaign by his high standards had team boss Oleg Tinkov calling out Sagan over twitter to which the 25-year-old responded to in style with overall victory at the Tour of California. Five second place finishes at the Tour suggested Sagan was the strongest rider in the Tour while a fourth straight green jersey was a sign of his consistency but it was a matter of what could have been for the Slovakian.
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Quintana's season started with third place in the defence of his Tour de San Luis crown before a crash at the Colombian nationals set back the Colombian's racing schedule. An epic win in the snow at Terminillo set up Tirreno-Adriatico victory with his early-season preparation for the Tour looking good. Second place overall behind Chris Froome was the same result on paper as the 2013 Tour but the Colombian missed out on a stage win and took home the best young rider's jersey as sole consolation. This year's Tour was one that suited Quintana but with time on his side, its more likely a matter of time before when Quintana claims overall victory.
Watch the video below to see what out inCycle panellists make of the trio and how their seasons have played out.
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