Who is better Sagan or Cavendish?

Sagan and Cavendish are not built like elite climbers. They’re sprinters (though Sagan occasionally excels on hills, as well) who create value in flat races, where they ride with a group for most of a race and then attempt to finish first by accelerating at the end of a stage.

Due to rules that grant the same time to riders whose wheels are immediately behind those of others, most of the field generally finishes in the same overall time on flat stages. So Sagan and Cavendish’s skills often don’t help build a time gap, which they would need to compete for the general classification.

Instead, they compete for the cash prizes that come with top finishes, placement in the points classification (the leader of which wears the green jersey in the Tour), and, of course, glory.

Sagan, who is only 26, has won the green jersey at the Tour de France each of the past five years, putting him just one win away from tying the overall record for most finishes atop the points classification.

He’s fast enough to finish in the top three of most sprints on flat stages, but also versatile enough to pick up points on hillier stages and even mountains, on occasion.

 

Who is better Sagan or Cavendish?

Sagan isn’t renowned because he’s the absolute fastest rider on the course, but because he has no clear weaknesses. Climbers generally can’t sprint and sprinters generally can’t climb, but Sagan can do a bit of both.

Cavendish is the absolute fastest rider in cycling, full stop. But he has many weaknesses. Cav can’t climb mountains well and is a mediocre-at-best time trialist.

But he won four stages in this year’s Tour, bringing his total to 30 — just four short of the great Eddy Merckx for the most all-time. (Cavendish skipped the last four mountain stages and gave up a chance to compete in the final flat stage in Paris, the greatest prize in cycling for sprinters, to prepare for Rio).

On mountain stages, Cavendish probably has the worst fame-to-finish ratio of any cyclist in the world, but on flat roads, there is no one else like him.