jyl

Tinkov leaving cycling at the end of 2016. I'm not surprised, his financial situation has deteriorated dramatically since he bought the team. Not that I've seen his bankbook, but looking at his stock price ($17 to $2.70) and the ruble (30 to the US dollar to 70 to the dollar).

Exclusive: Tinkov to leave cycling after 2016 season | Cyclingnews.com

Contador is done in 2016 anyway. Sagan's contract runs through 2017, I guess he'll get bought out. I am hard pressed to name any other rider on the team.

hueyhoolihan

i'm sure you know this guy. i think he winked at the camera during his stage win at the TDF this year.

alathIN

Don't know enough about how pro cycling to know if he's right about the problems. Dude does not come across like a coalition-builder even if he is right.

"Only Peter Sagan and Rafa Majka have contracts for 2017." This sounds like he is/was thinking ahead to holding sellable contracts in hopes of another team buying them when he folds.

What kind of team will land Sagan? Seems like he is not the kind of GC contender that anyone is going to build a top team around; not a true sprinter that could be the leader of a green jersey team either; too much of a distractor for a big team that's got another big time GC contender. He's kind of a strange shaped peg; wonder where he will land? Hope somewhere good, because he is a lot of fun to watch.

hokie cycler

You realize he's won the green jersey four years in a row at the TDF. He's also won it while supporting Contador for the GC. He's a contender in the classics as well. He'll have no problems finding a job.

alathIN

Sure, he'll get a job. I'm just wondering what kind.

Didn't realize that Sky was Murdoch's toy. Obviously pro cycling is another one of those activities dominated by eccentric kajillionaires.

jyl

Sagan's focus, for the time being, is on the classics. So any team with a classics focus would want him, as would teams that don't currently have a classics contender but would like one. Which is almost every team. Budget permitting, of course.

As for Grand Tours, he can win the green jersey while still supporting a GC leader, as shown this year when he shepherded Contador through the first week. So he's not a distraction for a GC team, instead he's an added weapon - if your GC guy falters, maybe Sagan can bring you green.

Add his popularity, in the US and in Europe, which would make the sponsors swoon. In either 2016 or 2017, Sagan will be one of the hottest free agents in cycling.

I was thinking that his contract must have a provision that if the team ceases to exist, Sagan is no longer bound by the contract. So I doubt Tinkov can "sell" Sagan's last contract year after he folds the team in 2016. I think Sagan will be a free agent for 2017.

jyl

Ah, right.

Pemetic2006

Turn Sagan into a grand tour contender. I want that too happen.

jyl

The talk I've read is that he will concentrate on classics for a while, then may try to slim down and try for GC. Right now, his climbing is way deficient. I recall Alaphillipe took minutes off him in one mountain stage of the ToC. The TdF has almost two weeks of mountain stages . . .