CLASSICS SPRINTERS
SAGAN , KRISTOFF, DEG ENKOLB & DÉM ARE
Though Peter Sagan, Alexander Kristoff, John Degenkolb and Arnaud Démare can win bunch sprints, with Sagan and Kristoff even having won them at the Tour, they are more versatile riders. What they lack in the top end speed of Kittel, Cavendish and Greipel, they make up for in their ability to survive hard terrain. They sprint well because they are so strong, but what these riders also have in common is that all have won a Monument. Sagan has won Flanders, Kristoff has won Flanders and San Remo, Démare has won San Remo, and Degenkolb has won San Remo and Roubaix.
McEwen explains that Sagan has probably the best chance of a straight bunch sprint win of these four riders.
“You never know at the Tour. Sometimes you get these slightly false flat downhill sprints with a headwind where you can come out of the wheels and go over the top. That’s something for Sagan. But otherwise, these guys have got to wait for the harder stages where there is a climb to get over,” says McEwen. “Maybe a second-cat climb in the last 30k, or a hill closer to the line. Or a finish that drags up just a bit too long. Take Limoges last year, for example, where Kittel won. That was 600 or 700 metres. Make that a bit longer and Kittel wouldn’t have been there any more. That’s where you see Degenkolb or Sagan. On a 2km uphill Sagan is still there.
“Kristoff is not, to me, a pure sprinter. He’s like Tom Boonen – fast and strong, and can mix with the sprinters, but as time goes on, he’ll get stronger and become less of a sprinter. Démare is due a win, but he doesn’t have enough team support to get him in the right spot without wasting energy. He could win a stage up against Sagan, Degenkolb and Kristoff, but he’s not a guy for the sprints against Kittel. Like Kristoff, I think he’ll become more of a Classics guy, but when he gets to the finish in a smaller group, he’ll be unbeatable.”
Degenkolb, like Démare, is still on a duck at the Tour de France. He’s been second on five occasions, and frustratingly for him, three of those have been when he’s actually won the sprint behind an escapee. At the Vuelta he has 10 stage wins, including five in 2012 alone.
“The Vuelta is a different ballpark,” says McEwen. “The best guys go to the Tour, and they often don’t go to the Vuelta because it’s not that sprinter-friendly.”