The cobbled finish is nothing like the cobbles awaiting at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but Peter Sagan still showed great form to win the stage ahead of Michal Kwiatkowski. Sagan, though not as fast a sprinter as the likes of Andre Greipel, Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel, seized his opportunity on the uphill finish with a stunning acceleration.
Dropped into perfect position by his Cannondale team-mates, Sagan took the wheel of former world champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) and burst beyond him to win the stage. Greipel was in the mix for the sprint, but Gilbert’s lead-out and Sagan’s final sprint were simply unstoppable. His goals for the spring are ambitious, but with two victories to his name now this season, his form is certainly in the right place.
