Clever Boys
Tough Day but a win
It was the end of the 1981 season and the great Belgian racer Roger De Vlaeminck hadn’t won a Classic. He’d been second to Bernard Hinault at Paris-Roubaix and again second to arch-rival Jan Raas at Gent-Wevelgm, on top of second at Milano-Sanremo. The thing was, Roger De Vlaeminck’s contract guaranteed a major Classic win and at 34-years of age, and now in the month of September, time was running out.
De Vlaeminck had broken away with Dutchman Jan Raas (this was the Wout van Aert – Mathieu van der Poel rivalry of the day) at the end of Paris- Brussels and the two of them were in the last kilometer with the field not far behind. De Vlaeminck stopped working and Raas, in front, slowed as well, setting up the match sprint. The field was bearing down on them and the tension was incredible. De Vlaeminck absolutely needed to win, the younger Raas already had five big wins in the pocket that year, yet the Belgian just sat behind the Dutchman, refusing to budge and making it crystal clear that he was willing to let the field catch them. Raas finally cracked, launched his sprint, and De Vlaeminck sailed around for the win just before being enveloped by the sprinting field. I always loved this story for the great lesson it teaches: you’ve got to be willing to lose in order to win. Moreover, any rider who exhibits a desperation to win becomes a mark for the rest of the field to play off of. Which is what we’re seeing with Peter Sagan and – although his first week of the Tour could not have been better with a stage win and the Yellow Jersey – Julian Alaphilippe. The young Sunweb boys are playing the two veterans to perfection.
Alaphilippe was all over the breakaway on Thursday’s Stage 12 into Sarran, attacking left and right, riding the front like a maniac. The Sunweb’s, and one must speak of them as a collective, sat, watched, calculated, then struck with surgical precision to launch Marc Hirschi into stardom. It’s been even more so for Peter Sagan who has been exhibiting his frustrations in both physical and tactical ways. He’s been riding his Bora-Hansgrohe team like the cruelest mule skinner on earth, setting them on the front of the peloton and making the riders empty themselves out for him, only to come up with a pair of 13th places to reward their efforts. Yesterday was no different. Sagan, in a good tactic, had his team fly over the early hills of the race in order to eliminate Green Jersey Sam Bennett, a poor climber, from contention. But then he kept whipping them for the rest of the race, not seeming to realize that there were other fast riders such as Matteo Trentin being carried along in the Bora-Hansgrohe wake.
When the race entered Lyon, to an incredible public reception it should be noted as the new mayor had been very negative about hosting the Tour, Sagan and Alaphilippe threw everything they had at the race. Yet in a replay of Thursday and with a reshuffling of their aces, the Sunweb kids – they are the youngest team in the race – emerged victorious. This new generation, raised on data, comfortable with training intensity, devoutly studying Youtube replays and who are completely fluent in all the latest technology, are absolutely shaking up this sport. We’ve got a wonderful decade of racing ahead of us as we watch these 21 and 22-year old’s develop even more, and, like Alaphilippe and Sagan, one day begin to in turn look over their shoulders at a spectacular new generation coming up.