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DTFP3 t1_j63y2ql wrote

As a massive fan of Mark Cavendish, I cannot tell you how much I irrationally hated this man when I was younger, which is a testament to how fantastic of a racer he is. Dominant, exciting, consistent, it’ll be a big loss to the cycling world when he retires

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modularmaniac420 t1_j64znaz wrote

Same, and to think when Sagan emerged in 2010, he was right in Cav’s wheelhouse, as a pure sprinter who could make it over a lumpy course. But by 2012 there was no real competition anymore: Sagan could make it over any climb save the high mountains and would usually make it on to the podium. It’s hard to overstate how versatile the man was. They had to change the green jersey rules at the Tour in order to keep it competitive. He won three consecutive World Championships on totally different terrains. I’d rate him the best overall Classics rider of the 2010s. One of the all time greats, just a step below Merckx IMO.

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Hill_Reps_For_Jesus t1_j65amiv wrote

Cav is my favourite rider of all time - but I wouldn’t compare him to Sagan when it comes to getting over climbs. Cav needs 3 guys to get him over a mountain, Sagan attacks off the front on the same climb.

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tec_tec_tec t1_j65jr5c wrote

My absolute favorite bit of cycling writing was along these lines:

>Sprinter Mark Cavendish showed great form in the challenging stage today. For those of you who continually question his ability in the mountains, he had so much energy that he was even helping repair the team car's wing mirror at various times!

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nalc t1_j64exiq wrote

Not super surprising, but definitely the end of an area.

If you're not following cycling closely, Sagan was The Guy from 2012-2018 and also managed to singlehandedly form a team around him (Bora Hansgrohe, which was a second-tier team he joined, brought in a bunch of new riders and sponsors, and got promoted to the top tier of pro cycling). By 2020 he was no longer the best rider on his own team, let alone the world, and he has been quietly fading out by signing with a different second-tier team. It's important to be on a top tier team because they get automatic invites to all the big races, whereas the second tier teams only sometimes get invited (and yes, that's a rabbithole of controversy with accusations that race organizers are biased towards second-tier teams, or that second-tier teams will sign declining superstars just to try to get invites)

Hopefully it will be an exciting Olympics and a way for him to go out on top.

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fluteofski- t1_j64l31k wrote

r/boneappletea, i think you mean “End of an era”

Yeah. At one point it becomes near impossible to continue climbing, and the only way left is down. Even if his power numbers were consistent, other teams and riders would actively work against him in the final sprints. To where it was no longer a contest of strength but rather Sagan vs the rest of the entire field. When you become a marked rider like that, it’s fuckin tough to continue climbing. He also made a fuckton of money along the way, so retiring probably ain’t a bad idea at all.

I used to race at a domestic pro level, and I can simply say that strength is only a small component to winning. The rest is “strategy” or math. Imo cycling has just become too predictable. The only fun part to watch is the last 5 min. I don’t endorse drugs, but I will say that watching Armstrong back in the day was just wild.

As for Sagan, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he comes back outa retirement in 5 years or so. By then a lot of people he races with now will have moved on, and they’ll forget who he was and he could have a Cav style comeback.

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nalc t1_j64m855 wrote

It was wild watching World Champs back in the mid 2010s just knowing Sagan was going to find a way to do it. I think in 2017 in Norway there were some issues with the camera feeds and it blanked out near the end. Went from "there's a group and it's anyone's race" to "and it's Sagan with the three-peat" like when low budget action movies cut out the violence to save special effects budget and maintain a PG-13 rating.

He did have a knack for being able to get in the right place with the right time and it was fun back in the day watching Quickstep set up a big leadout train for Kittel, only for Sagan to ride it too and pop him at the line.

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BasvanS t1_j68xbah wrote

Yeah, if you’re talking about strategy, Sagan had both the power and the strategic insight to read the race and not waste too much power along the way.

While he wasn’t my favorite rider, I respected his qualities and he grew on me a bit.

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Fildok12 t1_j65f5bd wrote

I remember watching during the past couple seasons and it seemed like every race commentators were saying he was just getting over another bout of Covid. Wonder if it had a lasting effect but it’s not unheard of for people to just simply fall off at his age as well.

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rdcpro t1_j63s8cd wrote

I wonder if he'll still compete in mountain bike events. His antics in road events have been very entertaining, and I for one will miss him.

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minimal_gainz t1_j648ri7 wrote

I’m pretty sure he’s said he’s targeting MTB at the Olympics. So no more road after this year then MTB till 2024.

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Iagut070 t1_j64aglm wrote

At a glance, I read this as "Peter Sagal" and was very confused. I think I need my second cup of coffee this morning.

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van-dame t1_j64temy wrote

Same but my brain associated him with "Carl" Sagan. Very confusing moment.

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Speedracer666 t1_j64vo2r wrote

May go down as the best bike handler in history.

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Kgeezy91 t1_j65gagd wrote

It was a great era. One of the most electrifying riders of all time.

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regardermoi t1_j656amm wrote

I am not surprised but am sad to see my favorite cyclist retire.

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bombardemang t1_j65lwpf wrote

Remember watching him at the Tour of California 10+ years ago and realizing he was going to be something really special. Hope he gets a nice send off.

Chapeau and thanks for all the memories!

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VanillaIcedTea t1_j661ue2 wrote

There were a good few years where Sagan could blitz anyone in a bunch sprint, and still hold his own with the GC guys up all but the biggest of climbs.

I mean time has taken its toll and he's clearly no longer that guy, but the world of cycling is gonna be sad to see him go, and worse off for his retirement.

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Matiabcx t1_j67n9i8 wrote

I’d say it was covid taking its toll

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TibotPhinaut t1_j67wfzy wrote

I think it was more of a mental thing. He never loved road cycling and his divorce clearly didn't put him in a good space to perform

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Matiabcx t1_j67wi4w wrote

Yeah that is definitely factor as well, combined with that he pretty much achieved what he could in road cycling

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atomicgoat t1_j664fta wrote

Remember when he was leading the Olympic mtb race, but then had a puncture?

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arlmwl t1_j66mkde wrote

My Dad and I were on the finish line in Richmond when he won the worlds there. We narrowly missed getting his gloves when threw them into the crowd right after winning. He was so happy!

What a brutally fast race that was. It was amazing to see just how FAST European pros are. Mind boggling.

I’ll miss Sagan in the pro peloton. I really liked seeing him race. And win green in Le Tour.

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ccwhere t1_j673we5 wrote

To folks who don’t follow cycling: Sagan will go down as one of the best cyclists in history. In the 900+ races he been a part of, he’s finished in the top 10 almost 500 times. He has 124 wins to his name since 2007. The man is a living legend and he’s not even in his mid 30s. A true icon.

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Suiblade t1_j666rup wrote

🇸🇰 🇸🇰 🇸🇰

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brainproxy t1_j66oipu wrote

For about 15 seconds I thought this was about Peter Sagal, host of the NPR news quiz, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!

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changrbanger t1_j667yz8 wrote

EPO supplier went out of business huh? Tragic.

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Narrow_Ad2264 t1_j64q2oe wrote

Don’t follow this sport, so headline sux. 1- thought he’d actively stop all road races, 2- 🎯Olympics to stop or disrupt.

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JPAnalyst t1_j64y124 wrote

This headline reads 10X better than your comment. I read your mess three times and still don’t know what you’re saying.

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jcv999 t1_j6411or wrote

Chance to crank up the steroids and then get clean enough to pass a drug test for the olympics

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aquiyomando88 t1_j646iu3 wrote

Hopefully. If you are a professional athlete at the highest level with no college and minimal high school and you are not taking performance enhancing drugs, than you probably don’t take your job or your health very seriously.

Also…what a random thing for you to comment with what seems like a lot of vitriol.

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kremdog12 t1_j64gcy7 wrote

I get where you're coming from but cycling isn't and won't be clean. As a cycling fan I'd argue cycling has never been "clean"

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BsPkg t1_j64j6bt wrote

I agree but other sports fans acting holier than thou to cycling fans does annoy me because they have the wool pulled over their eyes big time

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andooet t1_j64qbl0 wrote

I suspect that by now cycling is cleaner than many other endurance sports now because of all the scandals and scrutiny that follows. If I remember it right there was that one doctor for Contador who never faced charges. He was also coincidentally the doctor for half the Spanish football team as well

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Pontypool t1_j64qh1k wrote

Hey bro I don’t know if you know anything about professional cycling but doping has been around forever. Just looking at the top 10 finishers of the TDF from 1997-2015 there are only around 30 riders who weren’t banned/tested positive/admitted to/failed tests for doping of some sort. That’s 30 of 180 top ten riders over 18 years in one of the major races.

Maybe you don’t remember a team Festina in 1998. The French police found them in possession of EPO, testosterone, amphetamines, etc. that police investigation kept on going searching more and more teams to the point that the riders themselves boycotted the 17th stage and the UCI had to ask the police to back off. only 11 riders finished the 17th stage.

Only one rider (Fernando Escartin) between 1999 and 2005 that finished on the podium in one of the top three spots has not been busted for doping.

Have you even heard of lance Armstrong or Operation Puerto? Floyd Landis? Contador? Basso? Ulrich?

Professional cycling has always abused performance enhancing drugs.

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aquiyomando88 t1_j654b4a wrote

I raced road bikes full time as a cat 1 for 10 years. I know plenty about the relationship between PEDs and Cycling.

Someone below commented on how other sports act holier than thou like there isn’t PED use there too.

Doping is part of cycling. It’s also part of track, marathon, boxing, baseball, football, cross country skiing, weight lifting, etc…and the way I feel about it is that if you are a pro athlete and you don’t take PEDs, you must not take the job seriously enough.

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Pontypool t1_j66dlng wrote

I understood you but I don’t think you understood me. All those athletes did use PEDs in a sport that has never taken PEDs seriously. And most people of the ones who got caught/banned/lost their records deserved to be punished. Being pro doping is a pretty shot take dude. “if you’re a pro athlete and you don’t take PEDs you must not take your job seriously enough” is the dumbest shit I’ve heard today.

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aquiyomando88 t1_j67gg8x wrote

Alright. That’s your take.

I take no moral high ground when it comes to professional sports. I don’t see people who dope as violating any moral code. Their achievements are just as inspirational to me.

And I stand by what I said about taking your job seriously. If you’re in the NFL and you aren’t on something, good luck. You must not take it seriously, cause you’re not gonna have a job very long and you’re gonna get steamrolled by every other MF who is.

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