Greig Leach

The standing adage is that there are no gifts in professional cycling. But today the riders in the break away provided the exception that proves the rule. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Saxo) looked to yesterday and today to use the intermediate sprints to solidify his hold on the Maillot Vert. Perhaps it was his hard stare down of his fellow escapees yesterday that left this group (some of the same riders) intimidated to even look like they wanted to contest the sprint. Sagan, now with the support of his teammate, Mick Rodgers was led to the sprint line to take the maximum points in the race for the Green Jersey. The pair kept checking behind them just to make sure that no one was going to try and nip them at the line. Instead it appears that the rest of the break away gave Sagan a gift of crossing the intermediate sprint line in first place.

Of course the other possible understanding of this title, is that Peter Sagan possess a very rare gift indeed when it comes to being a professional cyclist. He is a fast man who can claim stage wins, but he rides equally well in time trials, and has the power to weight ratio to go well on the big climbs. It should come as no surprise that he is closing in on winning his fourth consecutive Maillot Vert in the Tour de France.