Not the victory of Caleb Ewan, but the declassification of Peter Sagan was the topic of discussion in the Tour on Wednesday. The Slovak handed out a thrust to Wout van Aert in full sprint and was punished for it. Away second place in the stage result, and a new hit in the battle for green. Three former sprinters give their opinion on Sagan’s push and agree wholeheartedly. “It was pure frustration”
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Frank Hoste (green 1984):“Fortunately Van Aert is a gentleman”
“I am a Sagan supporter. I’m not going to hate him if I don’t have to. But what Peter did today was over again. That is something that cannot be done. Life-threatening. Like Cavendish in the Toursprint of Vittel or Fabio Jakobsen in Poland, he tried to pass where it is actually impossible. Sagan is especially lucky that Wout van Aert is a gentleman and not a pure sprinter in the first place. If he does that with Dylan Groenewegen, you will get a different reflex. Now Wout is avoiding. If he was a real sprinter, he would put his shoulder there and they all lay on the ground. The decision the jury made is the right one. You put him back to last place in the stand. Let’s say Van Aert saves him today. Now he gets the least punishment. If it came to a crash, the room would have been too small. I also understand Sagan’s reasoning when he barked back to Van Aert. He must have told him: What are you worried about here, it’s between Bennett and me. Once you dive into such a hole as a sprinter, you cannot go back. ”
Eric Vanderaerden (green 1986): “Sagan’s reaction is pure frustration”
“The jury’s decision is correct. He felt someone coming, went to the right and so left his line and did all kinds of things there with Wout van Aert. Does he have to leave the Tour for that? No, because sprinting always involves risks. So it was in my time, so it is now. We also dared to deviate from our line, but we did not hand out headbutts. He tried to squeeze through a hole he can’t get through. Those elbows and that pounding against Van Aert can be traced to a reaction out of pure frustration. The regulations say that a rider must sprint straight ahead, but on the other hand Caleb Ewan would never win a sprint in that case. He dives through all the little holes.He comes from all over, but the big difference is that, unlike Sagan, he doesn’t bother anyone. ”
Willy Planckaert (green 1966): “He even takes Van Aert victory”
“This has to stop. It is not the first time that Sagan has behaved unsportsmanlike. Look at what happened to Cavendish after Vittel. His career is ruined. It is high time for the sprinters to start sprinting correctly again. We have to stay serious. If Van Aert had been a small man, they would again be on the ground. He does not one, but two movements towards him. Sagan wanted to crawl through a hole that wasn’t there, hoping that Wout would open the door. Moreover, because of those dirty tricks, he takes the victory from Van Aert today. I have never been able to stand it: those guys who come from behind and then force a gap with competitors who have been racing with their noses in the wind for a while. That is not work. And then they take leader Alaphilippe out of the yellow because he took a drinking bottle three kilometers too far without making a sporty profit from it. This was much heavier. Sagan should be happy that they didn’t fall. ”
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