Eddy Planckaert: “Declassification is justified, Sagan allows himself too much” | Vive le Vélo

Of course, the declassification of Peter Sagan was also the topic of conversation at the table at Vive le Vélo. For Eddy Planckaert, an incident with the Slovak had been coming for a while. “Not only is things going wrong at Sagan today, it’s been going on for a few days.”

“Sagan is a top cyclist who does not win so easily anymore. He is the only one in the peloton with such driving skills and he squeezes between everything. But today he not only crawled in, he also gave a punching punch.”

“Fortunately, Van Aert is also a good driver. What if he wasn’t that ruthless and they hit the ground? There were also a lot of riders behind at 60 to 70 kilometers per hour. “

“I think the decision to declassify Sagan is justified. He allows himself too much. Not alone today, but also in the previous rides. ”

Ex-Tour winner Jan Janssen also believes that the competition jury has rightly intervened. “An example must be set. You should not allow such sprints. We have seen what happened to Groenewegen and Jakobsen. That has to stop. ”

“In the past you had 50 to 60 riders who went to the finish, then things go better. But now you have such a pack of riders with a few top sprinters who make each other’s lives miserable. “

“Sagan is also not as good as he used to be and then you see that he is still trying to stay ahead of the rest between hanging and strangling. I think the frustrations will take over.”

Walter Planckaert mainly saw a missed opportunity for Sagan. “We have to be honest: if the sprint goes correctly and Sagan can pass, then he wins.”

“But he tried to squeeze in somewhere where he couldn’t. If they allow this today, something worse will happen in the bunch sprints tomorrow and there will be falls again. They have set a good example.”

Eddy, nevertheless a big fan of Sagan, especially criticizes the Slovakian’s sprint technique in this Tour. “He is constantly chugging. He jumps from left to right. Sagan was knocked and then you have to stay put. Otherwise they better have a boxing match. “