"Now THAT'S a bike racer!" It's not a phrase uttered lightly in Italian racing circles, but in this case, it's 100% true.
Peter Sagan won his first pro race today! After taking 5th in the TT and second by a hair yesterday, the 20-year-old finally struck gold. Reacting to a late move, Sagan joined up in a six man break that included Alberto Contador and Jens Voigt. He then outsprinted the remaining two riders to take an emphatic win, the green jersey for Best Young Rider, and second place overall!
Why am I so big on Sagan? He's one of the quietest guys you could ever meet, and also very polite. When I recently visited the team at a Tuscan training camp, I was greeted by the typical ball-breaking that Italians are so good at. Sagan was the only one to rise from the lunch table and come around to shake my hand with a big smile. I'm always telling him that when he's ready to return to the dirt, we'll have a spot, a bike, and everything else ready for him. Remember, he raced for us on CFR last year and did fairly well, even when saddled with poor starting positions.
At the Tour Down Under, the day before joining in that famous "Lance Break," Peter was getting stitched up by the race doctor after a pretty serious crash. In his rusty, quiet english... "Doctor. Tomorrow. Race!"
And one final reason... the guy is hard on equipment! He puts a bike through its paces like few others.
There's a couple of other phrases you hear around Italian teams:
Tuo corridore - used in a similar manner as when the dog has an accident inside, your wife may specifically refer to 'your dog'. This is reserved for those racers who tend to be a pain in the butt on occasion.
Mio corridore - to be used proudly as I do when referring to someone like Francesco Chicchi... "MY racer".
As it relates to Peter Sagan, 'questo e' mio corridore'!
They don't let you drive the big green bus, do they? :) Hope you're doing well!
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