Peter Sagan continued a strong start to the classics season, taking fourth place in the 176km Strade Bianche in Italy. The World Champion was in contention at the race’s finish in Siena until the last few hundred metres, having forced the race winning move late in the day to set up a nail-biting finish.
Peter was positive about his early form. “It is the start of the season and we try our best. I’m satisfied I was able to give all I had. Finishing first, third or fourth is part of the sport of cycling.”
Patxi Vila, Sport Director, summed up the outcome. “It was a really hard race today, with 3200m of climbing it’s nearly a mountain stage, and together with all the unpaved sectors it’s a hard day out. We saw last week Peter was riding well so we rode to bring him into the best position for the final.”
The action got underway with an early break of eight riders, pulling clear under threatening skies but without the rainfall that was previewed. They worked hard to build up their advantage but the peloton was keeping a watchful eye and with 76km remaining normality was restored at the front of the race.
Four riders then took their turn to break clear, building over a minute’s gap with 40km to go. As the race headed into the final 30km a big injection of pace from behind saw their advantage fall to just 20 seconds.
The race to the finish started on the Colle Pinzuto sector with 19km to go, where the World Champion attacked to bridge the gap the last remaining breakaway rider, taking two others with him for company. A strong chase group formed behind but the leaders worked well to stretch their advantage, completing the final sector of the day with around 30 seconds to play with.
As the race approached Siena, it became clear the four-man breakaway was going to be able to hold the main group away, but with a tough climb to the finish and attacks flying, the outcome of the race was completely open until the last few hundred metres. A big move from Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) saw Peter distanced, eventually coming home in fourth, but showing strong form at this early stage of the season.
Vila continued, “Peter was looking good and made the big move on the penultimate sector to form the lead group but lacked a little something at the end. Overall the performance of the team was good, with five guys in the first main group of around 40 heading into the final, so it was a good situation.
“There were lots of crashes and punctures as you would expect in a race like this, but we managed it quite well today, despite losing Trusov. But he’s OK and is back in the bus with no real problems. So overall we are happy. Obviously we wanted to win and thought we could today, but Cancellara was the strongest at the end. We are on the right line and will keep fighting for the win in the coming races.”
“I’m happy with today’s race.” Sagan said at the finish. “Weather conditions were good and it didn’t rain. I was in the front group but in the finale I didn’t have the legs to go.”
