Thus far the dominant rider in California with two stage wins, the overall lead and the points and youth classifications, Peter Sagan has set himself a high target for what will be his debut Tour.
“The Amgen Tour of California helps me prepare for the Tour de France,” he said after yesterday’s second stage. “Hopefully it will help me win that green jersey in the Tour.”
Sagan has yet to show he can beat the winner of the 2011 Maillot Vert, Mark Cavendish, but he has greater versatility than the Manxman and can triumph on tougher terrain.
That should in theory enable him to pick up points on a wider range of stages; in addition to that, Cavendish’s Sky Procycling team will be focusing a lot of effort on trying to help Bradley Wiggins win the race.
Whether that will give Sagan the edge against Cavendish's pure speed remains to be seen, but few would bet against him having a strong showing in the Tour.
Still just 22 years of age, Sagan made his Grand Tour debut last year when he rode the Vuelta a Espana. He clocked up three stage wins there, and this season has continued the momentum with his California victories, stage wins in Tirreno-Adriatico, the Three Days of De Panne and the Tour of Oman, plus strong Classics performances in Gent-Wevelgem (2nd), Amstel Gold Race (3rd), Milan-Sanremo (4th) and the Tour of Flanders (5th).
He’s gaining in confidence all that time, too, as reflected by his answer yesterday when asked what would take for him to stop winning stages.
“I don’t know, maybe it takes a natural disaster,” he smiled. “I am feeling good. I will see tomorrow (about taking three in a row).”
What’s impressed as much as his sprinting has been his ability to deal with pressure. On Sunday’s first stage he punctured inside the final ten kilometres, and received a slow wheel change. Rather than panicking, he calmly waited for the mechanic to get the job done, chased back to the peloton, moved up through the stretched-out riders, then easily won the gallop.
He had another problem yesterday, stopping on the final descent to change his front wheel. Again, he remained calm; again, he won the stage.
He’s kept that unflappable approach when discussing his approach to stage three. “I don’t want to think about tomorrow yet,” he said. “Tomorrow morning I will look in my stage book and start thinking about the race.”
Unable to match him thus far, his rivals are unlikely to be so relaxed about things.