Originally Posted by
kc0bbq
As the TT length increases he starts to drop off a bit, 2014 TdF's ITT he was middle of the pack, but it was 54km, IIRC. Not a knock on him, he's a beast at classics and shorter format tours. He's doing something right, he's got his rainbow stripes.
The other thing to keep in mind is rider goals. The TT specialists will be going full gas for a stage win. On a long ITT, Sagan's goal is typically a mid-pack finish. He knows he can't win, conserving effort for stage wins and green jersey points is more important than a top 20 result. For the GC contenders the ITT is a major place to win or lose time on rivals so they're trying hard, but they're really only competing against each other, since most lack the raw power to really contend for an ITT podium spot.
If you look at ITT's where Sagan actually has a good reason to try, he's competitive with the best, and a beast in the TTT.