The Sagan Thread

drogdub wrote: »

I think he is fantastic. Type of personality you could build a sport around, natural showman, ferocious will to win and Strad Di bianci and the fact he wins all year round shows he's a good pro with a proper work ethic. Also he explained his mates picked his tdf celebrations

I don't think you could build a sport around him, he's a bit like marmite, 50/50 either you love him or hate him.

furiousox wrote: »

This is a great photo but it's a spoiler so don't look until you know today's result.

Hmmmm, don't know if it's great. He looks a bit weird and rapey.

happytramp wrote: »

Hmmmm, don't know if it's great. He looks a bit weird and rapey.

I completely agree. It was a stupid and offensive thing to do, particularly for a professional who has become a leading light for the sport. It's just a shame there isn't a subsequent photo of the woman punching Sagan on the snot, but instead she showed some professionalism by ignoring him. She comes out it looking well, in the circumstances, Sagan comes out of looking like an idiot.

It'll be interesting to see what his team does in response, if anything.

furiousox wrote: »

I think he's hamming it up for the camera and that's it.
Maybe showing his immaturity but I wouldn't get too upset about it.

I find it no less offensive that he may be "hamming it up" (to the woman who was felt up I imagine his motivations don't make it feel any less demeaning), though I do agree that it may reflect his immaturity. How he responds to the public reaction to it will perhaps give an insight into his true character - if he is an arse he'll just ignore the complaints and not care, if this was an uncharacteristic "goof" then presumably he'll acknowledge his stupidity and apologise publicly to the woman concerned.

Darkglasses wrote: »

Well, he did sign a girl's boobs on camera too. Did you all think he was a saint?

If a women volunteers her boobs for him to sign then regardless of how silly I might consider it to be it's entirely her choice. Pinching the arse of a woman just because you feel like it is entirely different.

Darkglasses wrote: »

Well I'd have called it six of one, half dozen of the other. I think Sagan dives in first and she's cool with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq8rX75IwVs

I'd let him sign my moob.

macadam wrote: »

He is a crowd pleaser, and a fun guy something every sport needs.

What sport needs 'fun guys' who think publicly groping and harassing women is amusing?

Darkglasses wrote: »

Well I'd have called it six of one, half dozen of the other. I think Sagan dives in first and she's cool with it.

I hadn't seen that video, just the still photo, but from the video it's certainly clear that he instigated it. You may interpret her reaction as being cool with it, personally I see her as being so taken by surprise that she doesn't know how to react and being surrounded by a crowd that seems to find it amusing must make it even more difficult for her. "Celebrities" have been getting away with overstepping the bounds of what is morally acceptable probably for as long as they have existed, and many people just laugh it off as being a moment of madness (or worse, some form of acceptable entertainment from someone who is "a character"), but take away the celebrity aspect of it all and what you have is sexual assault, as already mentioned. That video puts Sagan in a very bad light, in my view, and the podium photo serves to compound the likelihood that he is an idiot, he just happens to be an idiot that excels at riding a bike. Pity, I like his riding style, it's a shame that his personality is proving quite repulsive to me.

The suggestion in some of the posts that he is a "crowd pleaser" and that this makes such behaviour okay is nonsense. There also seems to be an implication that the woman he groped was somehow okay with it, which I find bizarre. She was there to do a job (which is to look good to appeal to the spectators/public, which is a dubious aspect of podium celebrations to start with), and she was doing her job. Sagan took an opportunity to grope her, leaving her with the choice of either trying to brush it off and get on with her job, or risk the anger of her employers by making what would become a very public issue of it on camera. It's not unlike the stereotypical scenario of the boss/manager taking an opportunity to perve over, and demean, someone in a less powerful role such as his secretary since he knows that she might feel unable to do anything about it in the context of the work environment. I thought it was generally accepted that as a society we'd moved on from that offensive and predatory mindset, but obviously we have a long way to go yet.

I know it's wrong, but I still can't look at the pic without smiling.

Can we ban Diet Coke commercials too? I mean seriously, so far I have seen a window cleaner, an elevator repairman and now a gardener all being sexually harassed by gangs of women deliberately agitating cans of Diet Coke so that the poor (probably minimum wage workers) are forced to strip their clothes off and bare their perfect torsos.

I know what Peter did was wrong, but has anyone thought to ask the Podium Girls if they are actually that miserable doing what they do?