Pascal Ackermann SNUBBED for Peter Sagan Green Jersey Goal at Tour de France 2021

What it do, Pascal Ackermann got some bad news on Tuesday morning when Ralph Denk informed him that he would not be journeying to fair weather France this July, despite Ackermann's belief that Denk had promised him a trip to the Tour de France at some point during his current contract with Bora-Hansgrohe. Lanterne Rouge discusses why Bora-Hansgrohe made this decision from a sporting and business perspective, particularly with reference to Peter Sagan going for his 100th green jersey.

Credits:
Race Footage | licensed from Amaury Sport Organisation, UAE Tour Press Office and Infront Sports
Photos | licensed from Cor Vos (unless stated otherwise)
Profiles | La Flamme Rouge

Follow me on social media:

For more in-depth professional cycling analysis, check out my podcast, the Lanterne Rouge Cycling Podcast on:

[dewithistlewood]

It’s no surprise really, Ackermann has really been below par in 2021, whereas Sagan has taken wins this year, has a huge following and is a big asset for the sponsors.

[junkandcrapamen]

Sagan has rarely needed a lead out train. That's one of his strengths.

[endofthelinex]

Excellent video, and even as an Ackermann fan I agree with Bora's decision

[erich]

As your examples show, Ackermann seems to be off his game mentally/tactically more than anything. If Bora management sees this too, it doesn't matter what his physical form is.

[chrisko]

This promptness is awesome and most professional, thx!

[miljanstojiljkovic]

I would have been 10x more surprised if it was the other way round. This isn't really news

[djconnel]

OMG -- how long did you spend on this video? Incredible analysis. Just editing it and putting in all of those rider labels... Then the review of sprint power history....

[ChanLieu]

Great analysis and what a set up by LR—showing that Ackerman has the numbers to be competitive, but then revealing that tactically he's a mess and makes poor decisions in the final sectors leading to the start of the sprint. This didn't seem to be a difficult decision for BH management

[vincentkrause]

Highly apreciate this video. Interesting that you also read the Radsport news articles, because this is only a german Platform but publish like 3-5 Articles per Day and a report from every pro race even if not world Tour

[janbregar]

Loving the content lately Lanterne! Would love to see more content here, I love the quality on this channel. I would've prefferd the highlights of Tour of Slovenia here over the LRCP highlights/review.

Keep up the good work!

[marshallman]

You've really done your homework to bring us insightful analysis backed up by data files and results. Who else does this with the fit and finish of LR? No one

[paddydunne]

Come on man share the Cav video!
🎣
You know, you want to 😎🍀

[fabiolous]

Again, a uniquely detailed and competent analysis. I think the decision is the only reasonable one from a performance perspective. It was not surprising as Denk said in a podcast some days ago that Ackermann has to deliver at tour of Belgium otherwise its difficult for the Tour. I personally think that there is not one problem here. At the beginning of the season I guess he was not in a great form. Then he sometimes for sure was, but then his lead-out was not good. The problem with the lead-out seems to be that because of Selige' injury he was lead-out by different guys all the time, sometimes Laas, sometimes Meeus, sometimes Schwarzmann etc. Yet in other races, lead-out was good, form was good but positioning of him was bad. Sprints are complex situations and small, wrong decisions might lead to failure. Eventually, I guess all of this became psychological in the end, he so eagerly wanted to win a race that he was not free in his had and tried too hard.

Whether it is a wise decision to promise a rider something of which you know you might not keep it, is another thing. Denk could have used this in the past as a bargaining "Joker" in contract negotiations but it fires back now maybe a little bit. And he probably can never use it again now, because he lost credibility. Overall, Ackermann considers Bora his home, he started his career there. So its sort of a drama, but I expect him to leave now.

WIth respect to Sagan's role. Well, I expect that he stays at Bora because Denk also said that there might be an announcement regarding Sagan's future even before the tour. If Bennett is really not going to the Tour his chances for green are there, but if Van Aert is going for green it will be very difficult for him and competition is very tough in anycase. But, I think he can win one or two stages. In general I think the hillier/classic-like stages will be good opportunities for Politt, Sagan and Schelling to go for stage wins.

About Bennett returning to Bora. Yes, I think that most teams only have a slot for one Sprinter (at least if they want to avoid trouble). Although Sagan is not only a Sprinter but also a kind of classics guy, and could maybe shift his focus (doubt it). So you are right, Bennett should not go back if Sagan stays. Denk himself sees it like this somehow. He said on the podcast that they will only consider resigning Bennett if Ackermann is not in the team anymore (he did not mention Sagan though). 

Will be interesting how things develop. The three climing/GC guys there are also an interesting conundrum. It might end like Movistar, /DQS in utter chaos and maybe civil war, but I hope they will try more an aggressive tactic like Bahrain recently and successfully pursued. Emu for sure will help whoever is clearly better than him. Konrad seems to have an attitude where he considers himself to be a leader and not a helper (do not know whether I am wrong on this). Yet, Emu is ambitious too and if he is better in the mountains than Kellermann he might end up as leader. Denk said that, like Konrad, Emu has a "free role" and he does not go for GC but does also not rule out that he ends-up going for GC---so he will try to maintain his chances. I understand this as something like he can go for stage wins, and he should help Kellerman, but if Kellermann cracks and loses minutes, Emu is not ordered back to pace him up the mountain.

Lets see how this will work. Denk said maybe this strategy with more freedom and more aggressive riding will bring them further than they expect. I am not sure but, but thrilled to find it out.

[sharpyt]

One of the best bits of sprint analysis I've ever seen, chapeau LR!

[TheCanadianroots]

This was a brilliant analysis, a much deeper understanding of what was happening which I hadn't seen and really liked the breakdown of numbers vs positioning vs leadout to dissect the reasoning. This is inrng quality!

[matthewk]

Thank you for the content! Hopefully you can find more topics to cover.

[holymolyitsbroly]

0:14 Wilco is no laughing matter. If he stays on his bike, which is like 17.2% chance of happening, then he is guaranteed top 7.
But yeah, probably DNF in stage 12.

[adamdickinson]

11:04 LOVE the tag that says "Just passed 300m... Oh dear", fully cracked me up 😂😂😂😂

[timcahill]

The Giro is the best for racing, but there's nothing that compares to The Tour when it comes to high drama. It's boiling over on multiple fronts already, laying the foundations for some decent scandal in France, maybe a punch up in the peloton or even (if we are really lucky) a vintage dead of night hotel raid by the French police.

[MrEast-qfhk]

Awesome analysis. Thanks! That preseason crash at the training camp (when a car hit Selig, Keldermann and Schillinger) basically cast a shadow over Ackermann's whole season. If I'm not mistaken it's Selig who's finally lead out most of his wins. He's crucial to his train, and with Selig missing out on the start of the season and the resulting changes in the sprint preparation, they never got their lead out train dialled in, I reckon. That's what Lanterne pointed out perfectly: Why take Ackermann who needs a working sprint train to win, if you know this option is not really working atm? Again, content is fantastic. TdF coming up