If Lotto-Belisol’s sprint train has proved to be poetry in motion at times this season, the same can’t be said of Cannondale – and certainly not on the evidence in Qatar on stage five. The Green Machine is undoubtedly a hard-working unit in the bunch and their control of the peloton has certainly contributed to some of Peter Sagan’s biggest victories.
But there appears to be much work needed on their timing if they are to allow Elia Viviani and Sagan to consistently rival the likes of Lotto-Belisol and Omega Pharma-Quickstep on the flat stages. The train hit the front with five kilometres remaining on this stage, but with two to go they had gradually all dropped off, leaving Viviani a huge uphill task to win the stage. Team NetApp-Endura similarly peaked a little early with Sam Bennett in tow and had to redouble their efforts to lead out the Irish sprinter. Without a win so far in 2014, it is back to the drawing board for the Italian team.
