Defending Tour de France green jersey champion Peter Sagan will not face charges after sneaking into a butcher’s cold room on first rest day, but legends of the sport voice concerns his controversial new training techniques are affecting his performances on the road.
By JAN DIRT
The Slovakian was cautioned by police who attended the meatworks on Île d’Oléron, after Sagan and his new coach, the legendary Philadelphia trainer Mickey Goldmill, tripped a silent alarm.
When police arrived, they found Sagan (Bora Hansgrohe) in the midst of an intense workout session.
“He was really punching the bejesus out of those carcasses – blood and bones were flying everywhere,” said a gendarme familiar with the investigation.
“You should’ve seen him, he was going to eat lightning and crap thunder.”
Speaking exclusively to the Gruppetto Gazette upon his return to the Tour “bubble,” Sagan explained how he came to incorporate the unusual exercise into his training.
“Well, uh, my friend, the guy over there, he let me in one day and I hit the beef here and I kinda liked it.”
When asked whether any other riders pound raw meat, Sagan said “No, I think I invented it.”
And while the famed puncheur believes the training adds a certain, indefinable element to his riding, former green jersey winner Robbie McEwan led a chorus of ex-pros urging Sagan not to get too swept up in his new trainer’s methods.
“I’ve seen the footage on social media of him running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and like everyone else I got a chuckle seeing him chasing that chicken around the empty lot, but Mickey Goldmill’s approach to cycling can verge on inappropriate, or at least out-moded,” said McEwan.
McEwan’s comments follow fan reports of Goldmill’s over-enthusiastic support for Sagan during the Stage 11 sprint.
“Go for the ribs, don’t let that bastard breathe,” Goldmill was heard shouting hoarsely from the barriers of the final run into Poitiers on Wednesday.
The Gruppetto Gazette 