Breaking news! Sagan joins Tinkoff-Saxo

According to the BBC Sports breaking news feed.

Sagan switches to Tinkoff-Saxo team
Cycling
Posted at 10:24
Denmark-based team Tinkoff-Saxo sign Slovakian sprinter Peter Sagan on a three-year contract from Cannondale.
Sagan, 24, has won the Tour de France green jersey for the points classification winner three times, and will join twice Tour winner Alberto Contador at the team owned by Russian entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov.

Seems quite a strange decision from him ?

Well, signing a belting sprinter alongside a GC contender worked superbly for Team Sky…

Hmmmm… Can’t help but feel this is a bit Cav-to-Sky.

could they contest all three jerseys next TdF or too big an ask for one team?

Sagan won the Green without a stage win this year IIRC

Sagan isn’t a sprinter. He’s a fantastic all rounder.

Anyway this is more about Oleg Tinkoff throwing his cash about to build a super team, isn’t it?

Man with lots of cash (and possibly questionable position over doping in general unfortunately – let’s say ambivalent at best) who loves cycling (because that’s unquestionable) buys new toys, basically.

Correct, and his lead out was pretty rubbish, but then he’s not an all out sprinter anyway.

Agree it seems a little odd, agree with the ‘Cav to Sky’ comparisons – he could just be left to flounder.

Sagan isn’t a sprinter. He’s a fantastic all rounder.

But still one who needs his team to work for him at times when a GC team would normally be tucked in having a quiet day.

Agree he’s a fantastic all rounder, but I wouldn’t say he’s not a sprinter.

Odd move that. I suspect, contrary to what Oleg is saying, he was planning on going to Alonso’s team but with no news coming from that he signed at Tinkoff. Unless they’ve signed him to win some classics and drop the green jersey chasing.

He can sprint. He’s not a sprinter.

But as stated, at times he needs a team to support him, lead him out, give him assistance. If they’re too busy sorting Contador out or resting up after working too hard for 4-5 days in the mountains, then Sagan is on his own so to speak ?

I wonder why this agreement has been made. Is it for Sagan to bring the green jersey to TS ? Or because TS think they can develop Sagan, help him to improve ?

While, obviously, he’ll be paid for his services, I hope someone works with Sagan to get the best out of him. I think theres more to come from Sagan, besides podium hijinx.

I genuinely think it’s because Oleg can’t resist signing good riders – kid in a sweet shop syndrome…

See his joke on Twitter a while back to Vaughers about signing Talansky

he seems to be a good cnntender for the spring classics no?
RvV / Paris Roubaix / MSR etc

very good in that environment generally & you know he can floor anyone in a sprint that is still in touch at the end of those races.

Tinkoff Saxo were nowhere during the spring

Didn’t Oleg tweet only yesterday that he’d failed to sign him and assumed he was off to Alonso’s team?!

Good move for Sagan though for the spring classics. Got a strong team there to support him. As for the GT’s, he can pretty much with the green jersey single handed so doubt he’s too bothered about the focus being on Contador.

Oleg will probably buy some support from another team on the odd stage that Sagan really needs it (and arguably he doesn’t really given the margin he keeps winning the Green Jersey with).

Spring classics & green jersey seem sensible enough reasons. There are teams like OPQS, Giant Shimano and Lotto Bellisol happy to do the chasing on the flat stages of the GTs chasing stage wins, Cannondale didn’t do that much this year. On the more intermediate stages TST will be interested enough and he just has to follow the boss and clean up the sprint.

I think Sagan prefers not to have a lead out.

Marge – Member
he seems to be a good cnntender for the spring classics no?
RvV / Paris Roubaix / MSR etc

This, perfect for one day classics and week long Paris-Nice type stuff..

Perfect fit IMO.

he uses bar ends.

A little piece of me dies every time a rider I like signs to Saxo Tinkoff.

[edit]

Same goes for Astana too.

Last year there were rumours he’d join Alonso, in recent months it was Tinkoff-Saxo, so think Oleg was just having some fun with that.

Cannondale were working very hard at times for Sagan to chase down breaks which Tinkoff-Saxo won’t do, assumption is he doesn’t need to win stages to win the points jersey but he does want stage wins so maybe he accepts he’ll just have to fight for those as best he can – often does that on the hillier stages.

It is a few days old the news, must be a slow day for BBC Sport, the following has a good list of changes:
Cycling Fever

Will be interesting to see how a change to a new team pads out, hopefully they will look after him in the classics, he appears to be one of the few entertainers in the peleton.

What Marge and Bikebouy said, he’s a strong rider who never seems to have a Cannondale rider in support at the sharp end of the classics.

Maybe there was just nowhere else to go*, Cannondale’s effectively folding at the end of the year aren’t they?

Certainly on this year’s TdF Sagan was a bit of a lone wolf – didn’t seem to get any particular support from the team when it counted. If he’s happy riding for a team knowing that the domestiques will be focussed on a GC contender then fair play to him, he may be able to contribute to the team effort with maverick breakaways to upset rival teams?

I wonder how his salary compares to Bertie’s – they must be amongst the highest paid pros.

A little piece of me dies every time a rider I like signs to Saxo Tinkoff.

This too 😕