Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) has had two weeks to dwell and reflect on his 2017 Classics campaign. A win at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and second in Milan-San Remo whetted the appetite. However, a crash and a mechanical would keep him from contesting the finish at either of the two subsequent monuments, and Gent-Wevelgem would be his only other podium finish.
Sagan admitted immediately after Paris-Roubaix that it was not a Classics campaign he could be happy with when he looked back at the results sheet. However, looking back is not something that Sagan likes to do, particularly when things have not gone to plan. Speaking to Cyclingnews at a motorsport event at the Salzburgring put on by Bora-Hansgrohe's car supplier Auto Eder, he is keen to keep the Classics firmly where they belong: in the past.
"You can't change what has already happened. That's just the way it is," said Sagan. "There are different kinds of things that could be frustrating - not a bicycle race. It's ok. One year is good and one year maybe worse, but this is life, there's nothing that you can do. Still, we have another eight months of the season, and there is no time to think a lot about history.
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"I am ok. My performance was good. There has been, you know, some bad luck with what happened in the races; it was always something different. You can see that it wasn't about the performance that was good."
It was not necessarily all bad luck that saw him isolated. Sagan has built up a reputation for being a dab hand at almost anything and, knowing that they stood little chance of success if they brought him to the line, there was a concerted effort from several teams to shake the tree early to see if Sagan and the in-form Greg Van Avermaet would fall out. This was never more apparent than at the Tour of Flanders, where Quick-Step Floors put the hammer down with more than 90 kilometres still to run.
"No, it could be worse," Sagan replied when asked if he felt as if teams had been racing against him rather than riding their own race, despite comments made by Quick-Step Floors DS Wilfried Peeters ahead of the Tour of Flanders.
Going for Green
Bedding in at Bora
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