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Sagan the Lion of Flanders in 2013?

Roar Guru
27th March, 2013
4

In the lead up to the Tour of Flanders all the talk surrounds the Slovakian Peter Sagan.

Since his breakout Tour de France, where he not only won three stages in his maiden appearance but also took home the green jersey, the sky has been set as this prodigy’s limit.

Milan-San Remo was to be his first monument win but he was pipped on the line. At Flanders, he will line-up alongside Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen as the three favourites for the win.

The danger of Sagan is his versatility and ability to race from a plethora of situations with high end speed or a nasty kick on short steep ascents.

During the week, two cobbled classics were held in which Boonen was the odd one out by not winning either and, in doing so, he failed to defend his titles.

Cancellara won his first race of the year by breaking away to solo victory at E3 Harelbeke and Sagan pulled of a similar move at Gent-Wevelgem as he not only soloed to victory but celebrated by doing so with a wheelie over the finish line.

Boonen was subdued in both races and suffered a sore knee after crashing at Wevelgem when he tried taking on a gutter but unfortunately lost.

Whereas last year Boonen killed it on the cobbles and Cancellara was taken down by the cobbles, 2013 is far more open affair.

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Last season the cobbles belonged to Boonen as he held impeccable form throughout March and April. Since an elbow infection earlier in the year derailed his training, he has been slowly working his way back into form.

After he became the first rider to win all four Flemish cobbled classics last year by winning the two aforementioned races alongside his second Flanders/Paris-Roubaix double, it was always going to be difficult to match such lofty feats.

Just as Philippe Gilbert failed in his defence of the Ardennes triple, Boonen could be a favourite at Paris-Roubaix but the cobbles of Flanders look like being a Sagan-Cancellara showdown and the Belgian may just have to settle for podium places.

In 2011 Sagan rode his first Flanders but failed to finish the race. Last year he finished fifth at Flanders, in the group behind Boonen, showing his ability to still contest a sprint after six hours and 260kms.

Cancellara will try to break the Slovakian with endless attacks throughout the race, as a sprint will surely go to Sagan, even over Boonen.

The Koppenberg will surely be a pivotal scene in the battle between these three, as will the Paterberg and the triple ascent of the Oude Kwaremon.

Cancellara’s skill is his time trailing ability, Boonen’s is his sprint and strength, while Sagan is simply just a machine oozing talent and skill.

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A danger to both Cancellara and Sagan is if they mark each other too closely it will open up an advantage to an attack by a less favoured rider, or allow Boonen to skip away.

Boonen could capitalise upon these two watching each other and launch an attack – a la Roubaix last year – knowing his sprint is better than Cancellara and may be just slightly better than Sagan after six hours in the saddle.

Sagan will see this as his race to lose. Cancellara has already won the race back in 2010 and in 2011 was again the strongest rider but couldn’t find any allies. He will have two-time winner Stijn Devolder as support, while Boonen has two trusty lieutenants in Sylvain Chavanel and Niki Terpstra.

Sagan lacks the strong support of his rivals but his speed and skill could be seen as equivalent to two riders. Boonen on paper has the most support and this looks like his greatest strength as he chases his fourth win to match his four Roubaix victories.

With the length of the race always a factor, tactics will play a deciding role in who crosses the line in Oudenaarde first.

Sagan lost San Remo after thinking he had his rivals covered only for Gerald Ciolek to outsprint him. Cancellara and Boonen could work together to drop Sagan but surely neither of them would work with Sagan.

The inexperience yet raw talent of Sagan is tantalising on its own but add him into the mix of the cobbled rivalry of Cancellara and Boonen and Flanders looks like an instant classic.

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There will be plenty of sup-plots with Filippo Pozzato and the BMC team looking to spring a surprise, while the crowds animating the race add another level of excitement to the fare.

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