If you had the choice of riding away from the Tour de France with either the green jersey on your back or a swag of stage wins under your belt, which would you choose?
Would you prefer to be Marcel Kittel or Peter Sagan?
Kittel visited the top step of the podium on four occasions this year, while Sagan claimed the green points jersey with consistent – but winless – riding.
I know which I would prefer – a stage win every time!
While Sagan will be pleased to have his name go down in the record books as the 2014 points winner, he is bound to be disappointed that he couldn’t snag a stage. The Slovakian showman came ever so close, with nine top-five finishes, including four second placings, but as they say in the classics, no one ever remembers who came second.
The only time Kittel featured in the top five was for each of his four victories, and yet you would get little argument about who had the better Tour. Despite Sagan smashing his nearest rival in the points competition by 149 points, there is a feeling that the Cannondale rider underachieved. No such sentiments exist about Kittel.
A stage win at the Tour is a powerful indication of a rider’s success. Win four in one go and you are fated as a cycling monolith. But finishing top five on numerous occasions without a win is a bit like a football team winning the minor premiership. Yep, it’s a great effort, but there is still unfinished business ahead. The job is not complete.
The ease with which Sagan won the green jersey didn’t do him any favours in the memorability stakes either. He was top five for the first seven stages and in that time amassed 259 of his eventual 431 points. Bryan Coquard was spirited in trying to provide some opposition to Sagan early on, but he was little more than nuisance value. The horse had already bolted.
And Sagan knew that he couldn’t be caught.
In the end he barely fought for the intermediate points on offer (the ones on the flat stages anyway) and was content to ride across the line in the minor places just to keep his points tally kicking over.
Such was his dominance that the whole battle for the green jersey became uninteresting.
This is not Sagan’s fault of course. He rode perfectly for the classification and it truly reflected who was the most consistent rider in the bike race, but perhaps it is time to tweak the rules once again, just to bring some life back into the contest.
Three years ago the organisers reduced the number of intermediate sprints to one, while at the same time dramatically increasing the number of points on offer. For a while it worked, as the sprinters and their teams actually treated it like a sprint. Their trains would begin organising a few kilometres out and the peloton would hit the last kilometre at top speed.
It was exciting stuff.
But who wants to waste that energy mid-race when somebody like Sagan has the competition stitched up just a third of the way into the Tour? Best to put the cue in the rack and wait for line honours at the end of the stage.
Perhaps we should go back to the old days when there were a couple of intermediate sprints but less points on offer? Would this bring Sagan back to the field and allow the pure sprinters a chance at once again donning themselves in green? With the majority of the points on offer for the finishing sprint, the benefits for riders such as Kittel – now a proven stage winner – are obvious.
But then again, should we be penalising Sagan just because he is better at racking up huge points tallies than anyone else? Probably not, but it would make for a closer, harder fought competition if we did, bringing in other, serious contenders.
It may just restore some of the prestige that seems to have ebbed away from the green jersey.
What do my fellow Roarers think?
Verona
Guest
Very well said, WEST! Sagan had little bit of bad luck, coming so close to a win in one stage that the winner actually thought that Peter won :) What some fans do not realize is that while Peter was coming 5th or 3rd or 9th in some stages, Kittel was coming 159th or so. I am not criticizing Kittel, I am just saying he had hard time over the mountains and over the cobbles. In one flat stage suited perfectly for Kittel and his train, Sahan finished 3rd alone, while Kittel finished 11th, because his train derailed. What I am saying is that Sagan deserved the Green jersey also because overall he was the most active rider and sprinter in the tour. Some tried to challenge the green jersey but didn't have enough power. It will be interesting to see next year when Sagan rides for his new team. Kittel also said that he might try to go for the green jersey sometimes in the future.
West
Guest
I don't agree at all. Changing the rules only because others can't do it..pfff ..are you kidding me?? So it's like..let's make climbing less steeper, TT shorter so others not so good specialist can win overall classification too... Sagan have stage wins in previous TDF's and it's not like he was miles away from wins in this year TDF...just a little bit of bad luck.. It's time for others to train they climbing a little bit if they want to stay competitive..not to make easier for them.. It's easy to criticize someone at front of TV with cold beer and saying that was too easy for him... show this guy some respect, he deserved!
Kurt Decker
Roar Pro
I'd take a stage win over green any day. The thrill and prestige of a Tour stage win must be one of the best feelings in the world. I'm not denying the prestige of the green but the points competition in this Tour became too one-sided and the look on Peter Sagan's face at the jersey pressos said it all - he looked bored. It seemed like he was playing a dead rubber day after day and it wasn't from a lack of trying. As you point out 9 top 5 stage finishes is nothing to sneeze at but the likes of Marcel Kittel and Alexander Kristoff had the fire power when it counted on the line. If we're going to have a more exciting contest I'm all in favour of going back to more intermediate sprints with fewer points up for grabs so the sprinters really have to work for the green.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Good article - agree 100% though. In the words of Robbie McCewen, some green jerseys are greener than others. This of course means it's no good winning a sprint jersey if you cant win a sprint!
Tony M
Guest
OK Aaron,but Sagan didn't win once let win alone.I deliberately said " a format that brings sprinters back into the equation" rather than which a sprinter will win. The competition lacked competition,thats the point.There was MORE competition for the Lanterne rouge.
Aaron
Guest
"Get back to a format"? cavendish would've won 3 greens in the pre-2011 system if this was the case. he won in 2011 with the current system which favours a pure sprinter like him even less. historically, the green rewards those who can haul their bodies over the hills, and with the tour being as hilly as it was this year kittel or cavendish would have had no chance even if they had gone for the intermediates; between his wins on stage 4 and paris kittel was rarely in the picture at the finish. if he wasn't winning, he was saving energy and finishing in the last group. taking nothing away he won 4 stages, which is fantastic, but that's not consistency. he doesn't deserve green. sagan however used an awful lot of energy getting into breaks, for that he is a worthy winner i would rather see someone win alone once than 4 sprints.
Kathleen Casey
Guest
Winning a stage in the TOU - important to Cadel! What an effort... patience, persistence, effort and strategy ... Way to go Cadel
Tony M
Guest
You're making an interesting point re the Green Jersey. For my money it was the least interesting category race of the Tour ,and by a long way.While the Kom and Young Rider jerseys remained in doubt pretty well to the last mountain stages. Evn the Yellow Jersey held some intrigue with just a possibility that Nibali could have a bad day, a mechanical or a tactical brain failure.The Green on the other hand held no interest ,it was over and done early days. No criticism of Sagan,he simple collected points in his inimitable style with virtually no challengers. This and Sagan' previous Green wins do not compare with the Greens of Cavendish or Hushovd which remained exiting because a stage win by a competitor whilst the wearer failed to get a top 5 could change the order.I see the point of the organisers in that stage winners have their days of glory and the Green Jersey becomes a separate and distinct competition within the Tour. However if that competition holds no public interest it is valueless. Lets get back to a format that brings sprinters back into the equation.