Peter Sagan on stage 15 of the 2015 Tour de France (Sunada)
(Image credit: Yuzuru SUNADA)
It's hard to ignore the fact that Peter Sagan has smashed most of this second week of the Tour de France, just as he did the first week. Admittedly he did take it reasonably easy on the Pyrenean stages, but stormed back to prominence as the race transitioned to the Alps.
Not that it's entirely fair to call stages 13 to 16 transition stages, because they certainly weren't a walk in the park.
Sagan stamped his authority on the green jersey competition by getting out in the breakaway on stages 14, 15 and 16 and hoovering up the intermediate sprint points. Once he'd done that piece of business he knuckled down and notched up more top-five finishes.
His team boss Oleg Tinkov told ITV4 that Sagan is the strongest rider in the race this year, not Chris Froome, and his 10 top-five finishes in 15 individual stages (plus fourth in the TTT) back that hypothesis up nicely.
Sagan will likely take it easy on the upcoming Alpine stages to save energy for an assault on stage 21, looking to win on the Champs-Elysees for the first time in his career and get his first Tour win since 2013.
Surprise of the week - Steve Cummings
Steve Cummings celebrates his win on stage 14 of the Tour de France (Sunada)
What made Cummings's ride on stage 14 even better was that he outduelled two Frenchmen, Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, in the final stages on the Mende airfield.
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He had worked hard to get in a breakaway all Tour, but Saturday's stage was when it finally came off. With the peloton happy to let the break go, it came down to the final climb up the Montée Laurent Jalabert.
Television pictures followed Pinot and Bardet as they summited the climb and started the sprint to the runway. To add to the drama the pictures only showed Cummings speeding into shot when he zoomed past the pair and won the sprint.
Winning a stage for Tour wildcards MTN-Qhubeka was massive enough, but doing it on Mandela day made it extra special.
Video of the week
Geraint Thomas ended up in a ditch on the descent of the Col de Manse on stage 16. Watch as Warren Barguil divebombs on the inside and smashes Thomas off the road.
Picture of the week
The peloton passes the bridge of Millau on stage fourteen of the 2015 Tour de France
(Image credit: Watson)
The Tour de France is well known for showing off the natural beauty of the country, but on stage 14 we witnessed some man-made magnificence as riders passed under the Millau Viaduct.
Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.
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