BRATISLAVA. The sports world is slowly returning to normal. Most of the competitions took place without any problems, there are more and more fans in the stadiums and Peter Sagan once again dominated the scoring competition in the Grand Tour.
On Sunday, he sealed the gain of a cyclamen jersey at the Giro d’Italia, which will brighten up his collection of seven green jerseys from the Tour de France.
He has won the points tournament on the Grand Tour for the eighth time, thanks to which he has compared the legendary Irishman Sean Kelly in the historical tables.
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Two days from the record
Kelly is one of the most successful cyclists of all time. His overall victory at the Vuelta in 1988 or nine monumental triumphs speak for themselves.
He holds several records, but one of them will be in jeopardy in a few days. And no one but the three-time world champion from Slovakia can overcome him.
Peter Sagan has been leading the Grand Tour scoring competition for 149 days, losing only two days to recorder Kelly.
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Peter Sagan in a cyclamen jersey. (Author: TASR / AP)
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“This record is a measure of how consistent the best racers have been year after year in the toughest races in all terrains. The top 10 of this ranking are only legends of the sport,” said stickybottle.com.
Kelly set a record over the course of eleven years, Sagan rides his twelfth professional season. The record, which has been in force for 22 years, can be improved by the Slovak at the Tour de France (June 26 – July 18).
He is currently the only cyclist who has won at least one stage on the Grand Tour in the last 7 years. It’s a consistency that his opponents can do envy.
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Opponents had other ambitions
At this year’s Gire, Sagan put on a cyclamen jersey after his victory in the 10th stage and no one was able to take it off.
Objectively, it could be said that in the competition of Caleb Ewan or Tim Merlier he was not the fastest racer in the peloton, which is nothing new.
Unlike them, however, he was also able to cope with difficult ascents.
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In addition, among all his potential opponents, Sagan was the only one who really talked about the ambition to get a cyclamen jersey.
Ewan wants to win a stage on each of the three Grand Toures in one year, Merlier wanted to win the stage on his debut, and home team Giacomo Nizzolo wanted to break the series of second places. He succeeded on the 13th attempt.
In the end, however, none of these three finished the Giro.
He had more points last year
The fact that the Deceunick Quick-Step came to the Giro with ambitions for the overall ranking, and therefore without a sprinter, also played a role in the carat of the Žilina native. Last year’s winner Arnaud Démare from the Groupama – FDJ team was also missing.
It is interesting that last year 184 points were not enough for Sagan’s cyclamen jersey, now he secured him the first place with 48 points less.
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In cycling history, he is only the seventh cyclist who managed to master the scoring competition at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
Sagan has joined legends such as Eddy Merckx, Laurent Jalabert and other still-active cyclist Mark Cavendish.
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It was enough to control the situation
From the point of view of winning a valuable jersey, two stages were key for the Slovak cyclist. In the tenth he took the lead and managed the important thirteenth stage.
It awarded 50 points in the goal, took a solid third place and maintained its leading position. In the remaining eight, mostly mountain stages, he did not have to attack and jump into the escapes. It was enough to guard their main opponents.
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In 2020, at the Tour de France, Sagan was convinced that it was not easy to escape without having an opponent on the back wheel that he wanted to beat. And just as Sam Bennett did on the Tour, so did the Slovak on the Gire.
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