In reply to Herdwickmatt:
> Why would Sagan be the best physically? Grand tour/classic fit and xc race are different specialisations.
Regrettably the disparity in money on offer means the best talent will always be lured to the road - Cadel Evans is another example, and it's even more the case in cyclocross.
Sagan proved me wrong by getting up to 3rd at the start, but you wonder how much that took out of him, although he kept up on the first lap. Do you reckon the punctures were just bad luck or at least partly down to inferior technique. Obviously waiting for the neutral service car didn't help
Apparently he was back up to 11th before his 2nd puncture, so who knows what could have happened.
> worth a watch
Juggling on a Swiss ball - I do that! Hasn't stopped me crashing on easy bits. I think with the punctures it could have been an interesting test between "simple" fitness and "specific" fitness, with a technical course favouring the latter. In contrast you have the Leadville 100, more fire roads and has been "won" by Armstrong and Leipheimer, and this year Jo Dombrowski was second. And of course any MTB race of less than 100 miles is merely a trivial sprint!