The 2012 Liquigas-Cannondale season saw Peter Sagan, the terminator, come to the fore as superstar of the sport while Vincenzo Nibali finished third in the Tour with Moreno Moser and Elia Viviani highlighted the depth of the Italian squad in a year of great success. Nibali moves onto Astana in 2013 and his loss will be felt but with Sagan remaining on the team’s books, there will be no lack of wins in 2013. Nibali has moved on as wanted a team which could guarantee total support in a tilt for Grand Tour success. Although Nibali finished third at the Tour this season the team had split loyalties with Sagan taking three stages and the points classification as well as team resources away from Nibali. Ivan Basso’s season objective was another Giro d’Italia win and would ride in support of Nibali at the Tour where he finished 25th riding as a super domestique but his season was largely disappointing with only one win. Besides the Nibali and Sagan show, Liquigas notched up wins with Viviani and Moser impressively winning stage races overall for the first time.
As a World Tour team Liquigas begun the season in Australia at the Tour Down Under but without any success. The first win of the season came at the Tour de San Luis as Elia Viviani won Stage 6. Viviani was successful again just a few days after flying home from Argentina taking out the overall at the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria. Along with the general classification he also won the young riders classification alongside the first two stages. In 2011 Peter Sagan made his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta de España and took home three stage wins to cap off a successful season. Sagan had won stages and points classifications at the Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse and at the Giro di Sardegna and the Tour de Pologne he added the overall classification to these achievements. His late season Vuelta wins marked Sagan as a rider to watch in 2012 and he did not disappoint. Sagan’s first win in 2012 came at the Tour of Oman where he won Stage 2 which meant another points classification was added his palmares. At the Tour of Oman the template for success in 2012 was made clear as Nibali won the queen stage of the race and finished second overall. This dual approach of Sagan and Nibali worked throughout the season for Liquigas and was at its most successful during the Tour.
While Nibali and Sagan where beginning their seasons with wins Moser and Eros Capecchi also nabbed their first wins of the season. Moser is the nephew of the 1984 Giro winner Francesco Moser and in his debut professional year looks like he could replicate his uncle’s feat of Giro success. Moser’s first professional win came in February at the Trofeo Laigueglia but it was the Tour de Pologne overall that was his most impressive victory in 2012. Moser won two stages in the race to set up his overall victory and would lead the race for the first two stages before losing the leaders jersey then taking it back after sprinting to victory on the penultimate stage. If the prospect of Sagan dominating one day classics and Grand Tour points classifications to come, add in Moser and possibly Viviani and Liquigas look like the team to beat over the next few years. Another rider to notch up a win 2012 was Eros Capecchi who will ride for Movistar next season after just one win in 2012 which was the Gran Premio di Lugano.
Viviani continued his February form into March with victory in on Stage 2a of the settimana internazionale Coppi e Bartali but wouldn’t win another race until October at the Tour of Beijing. One race which is traditionally seen as key stepping stone in Grand Tour preparation is the Tirreno-Adriatico, a race which Cadel Evans won on the way to overall victory at the 2011 Tour de France. With both Sagan and Nibali riding the race of the two seas this would also be another test of whether the two could ride harmoniously with different objectives. In the opening TTT Liquigas finished a lowly 15th and it wouldn’t be until Stage 4 when the team animated the race. Sagan took out the sprint ahead of Roman Kreuziger and wore the red points classification jersey for two stages after the win. Stage 5 was the queen stage, a 196km race from Martinscuro to Prati di Tivo where Nibali broke away on the final climb up the Tivo with 4kms to go and took the win by 16 seconds with Kreuziger again the runner up. The next stage saw Nibali end the day in the points classification jersey, taking it off teammate Sagan. The decisive stage would be the final day ITT where Nibali finished 9th but did enough to take the overall and points classification overall over Chris Horner.
Following the success of the two seas, Sagan and Nibali would next ride in Milan-San Remo with the team shifting focus from early season stage races to the one day Classics. Nibali found himself in a three man group in the final kilometres which succeeded in staying away till the finish line. Nibali made his first Monument podium but it would be in third place as he was unable to outfox 2008 winner Fabian Cancellara and Australian national road race champion Simon Gerrans. Sagan won the bunch sprint behind the breakaway just two seconds behind to finish fourth and was joined in the sprint by teammate Daniel Oss who made it three Liquigas riders in the top ten. Following on from the close call in San Remo was De Ronde Vlaanderen where Sagan was unable to match the power of Tom Boonen but finished fifth on his second appearance. Sagan will go into the early season Classics as a favourite for at least one win following on from his performances at Milan-San Remo, Flanders and his third placing at Amstel Gold Race in 2013. Nibali had wins in 2012 but his season was also one of podium finishes as he added a second place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège to his Milan-San Remo and Tour podium finishes. All in all March and April where a success but in 2013 the podium finishes and top ten results by Sagan could eventuate into big wins but he will find himself up against ex-teammates Nibali at Astana and Oss at BMC and many more rivals.
Moreno Moser added the Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop on May 1st to his palmares and was the only rider besides Sagan to win in that month. Sagan had won Stage 1 of Three Days of De Panne to warm up for the Tour of California. Sagan went onto win five of the eight stages as well as the points classification for the second consecutive year which elevated him to the most stage wins at the American race. On Stage 1 Sagan punctured with seven kilometres to go but with the help of Oss he made it back to the front of the field and took the win over Heinrich Haussler. There was similar drama the next day when Sagan crashed on the Empire Grade climb but came back to again beat Haussler in a sprint. The first four stages where Sagan first, Haussler second but Haussler could only manage fifth when Sagan won his fifth and the final stage of the race. By winning the first four stages, Sagan would led the points classification from beginning to end as well as leading the overall and youth classification for the first four stages. The dominance of Sagan in California raised questions over whether or not he could replicate this form in July at the Tour as it was announced he would be making his second Grand Tour appearance in the French race.
The next win for the team was again a Sagan victory as he took out Stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse in an unexpected ITT victory over Fabian Cancellara by four seconds. The next day Cayetano Sarmiento wrapped up the Critérium du Dauphiné mountains classification which was wedged between Sagan winning Stages 3, 4 and 6 and another points classification. Sagan has a habit of hanging onto the points classification once he picks it up as he once again led the competition in Switzerland from Stage 1 till the Stage 9 conclusion in Sörenberg. While Sagan was racking up the wins Kristijan Koren finished third overall at the Tour of Slovenia which included a win on the Stage 4 ITT and the points classification. It was a good race overall for the team it won the first of two teams classifications in 2012.
Ivan Basso finished fifth at the Giro but as this was his season objective it was a disappointing result. The season highlight for Basso was the very late Japan Cup victory which was held on the 21st October as he came very close to a winless season which would have been the first since 2008 when he returned from his doping suspension. As an Italian team the Giro is always a season goal for Liquigas and is a race where they demand success as a team accustom to Grand Tour wins. Danilo Di Luca won the Giro in 2007 and Basso in 2010 while Nibali has finished second and third at the Italian Grand Tour. It was rather an anonymous appearance by Liquigas but with Sagan’s Tour performance this was, to a degree, forgiven.
The Tour de France was set up at a battle royale between defending champion Cadel Evans and Briton Bradley Wiggins whose 2012 season was till July unblemished. Wiggins was in a prime position to become the first Brit to win the La Grand Boucle but Evans a second tier protagonist in the race the battle was between Wiggins and teammate Chris Froome fighting Nibali for the maillot jaune. Nibali has an enviable Grand Tour record as he hasn’t finished lower than seventh since the 2009 Tour. Nibali rode his first Grand Tour in 2007 at the Giro finishing 19th in the Grand Tour he has ridden the most in his career so far. In 2008 Nibali rode two Grand Tours where he improved his previous performances at the Giro as he finished 11th before posting his lowest Grand Tour finish of 20th at his first Tour. Since that Tour Nibali hasn’t strayed from top seven finishes and in that time he has finished on the podium four times. His 2010 Vuelta success on his debut in that race was validation of his GC talents particularly as he had finished third at the Giro earlier in the year. In 2012 Nibali had outlined the Tour as his season objective as it would be the only Grand Tour he would be participating in.
The Tour was dominated the Sky team and their relentless pressure on the mountain stages where they were fine to let riders go as they knew that in grinding out a consistent pace an attack would be bound to fail. Nibali made several attempts to breakaway and attack in the mountains where his strengths lay but it wasn’t enough. As Nibali is a competent but not an outstanding ITT rider he would need to put in as much time as possible to Wiggins on the climbs but with Evans his only potential ally, the opportunities to attack Sky were limited so as a result Nibali settled for a podium position. Nibali would finish over six minutes behind the first British winner of the race as he was blown away in the two ITT’s where Wiggins put on a master class. Although Nibali was struggling against the might of Sky, Sagan was dominating the first week of the Tour winning three of the first six stages and consolidating his hold over the green jersey by the day.
Sagan’s prologue performance as nothing spectacular as he finished 53rd but his lowly time allowed him freedom to ride away for the first road stage in the 2012 Tour. On the final climb of the day up the Côte de Seraing Cancellara in the yellow jersey attacked with Sagan the only rider able to go with him. Edvald Boasson Hagen caught the duo before Cancellara again made an attack but it wasn’t enough he soon saw Sagan surge past and become the youngest rider since Lance Armstrong in 1993 to win a Tour stage. There was to be no yellow jersey for Sagan but there was to be a maillot vert on Stage 2 as he was now second in the classification and Cancellara was wearing yellow. His sixth placing on Stage 2 gave Sagan enough points to lead the classification, a lead which he never relinquished all the way to Paris and in doing so won himself a Porsche due to a bet with Liquigas president Paolo Zani.
In the Tour Sagan had the support of several riders who were to be key domestiques in the mountains for Nibali. Although with Sagan winning three stages this support was justified even if Nibali felt his GC ambitions were being threatened by this division of support. Mark Cavendish signed for Sky knowing that his chances at the Tour would be limited as the team would be 100% focused on Wiggins taking home yellow. He wouldn’t be receiving the same protection and support that HTC-Highroad offered him in previous years. Although Cav won three stages in 2012 the lack of support and GC focus of Sky which looks set to continue in 2013 was enough for him to leave the team before his contract was up and join Omega Pharma-Quick Step which could offer support he could only dream off at Sky. Nibali has taken a similar route in his move to Astana where he expects no conflict of interest in GC ambitions that was apparent once Sagan won his stages and was wearing green. Although Nibali may feel that he is one of a select few GC men in the peloton, Sagan is also one of the most exciting and promising cyclists the sport has seen in recent years.
After the dual success of the green points classification jersey and third place to go with three stage wins the Italian gas and American bike company team wouldn’t reach such lofty heights in 2012 but there were still impressive results. While the Tour was running, Moser was in Poland winning his first overall classification victory to cap off an imposing first year in the professional ranks. After the Tour disappointment Nibali capped of his year and Liquigas career with his second overall victory of the season at the Giro di Padania. In doing so the Shark of Messina won Stage 4 as well as the points and mountains classification in almost complete dominance of the race. The points classification of the Tour was Sagan’s last win in 2012 as he reflected upon a highly successful year and prepares to blow apart the peloton across the entirely of the season in 2013. At the final World Tour race of the year Elia Viviani won Stage 1 at the Tour of Beijing and the teams classification of the race before Basso closed the season with his Japan Cup victory. As a result of the Tour of Beijing wins Liquigas-Cannondale were third highest ranked team in the World Tour standings with Nibali ranked fifth in the individual standings and Sagan was eighth.
Top five results
Tour de France Stages 1, 3 & 6/points classification Peter Sagan
Tirreno-Adriatico Overall/points classification Vincenzo Nibali
Tour of California Stages 1, 2, 3, 4 & 8/points classification Peter Sagan
Tour of Pologne Stages 1& 6/Overall Classification Moreno Moser
Critérium du Dauphiné mountains classification Cayetano Sarmiento
Breakout riders: Peter Sagan had shown his bike handling skills over the last two seasons and his victories as a junior at the 2008 MTB and Cyclo-Cross World Championships meant it was more when than if he was going to dominate. In 2012 he staked his claim to a plethora of future victories purely on his potential. A potential that in 2013 looks likely to claim the first of many monuments and Classics to come as well as Grand Tour stages. Alongside Sagan are the talented youngsters Moser and Viviani with the slightly elder Koren who look set to at least replicate their 2012 successes.
Disappointing riders: Ivan Basso has notched up some impressive rides and wins since his return from suspension. However in 2012 he was lacklustre as team leader who instead served his team as a super domestique who won only one race. Basso appears to left his best GC years behind as a repeat of his two Tour podiums and two Giro wins looks increasingly distant. Top ten Grand Tour finishes may not be over and the opportunity is still there for the odd stage win but don’t expect Basso to tear the peloton to shreds up the Stelvio, Alpe d’Huez or Monte Zoncolan anytime soon. As Liquigas is a team with several key domestiques there weren’t that many riders under a huge weight of expectation in 2012. Timothy Duggan won the USA road race nationals in an otherwise barren year and will be riding for Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank in 2013. One the elders of the team, Sylwester Szmyd is off to Movistar and is one of several departures at the end of 2012. However with Sagan et al the spine is strong and the younger riders look like they can carry some of the team for a season or two but beyond that these underperforming riders may find themselves on the outer.
2013?: Firstly 2013 will look different with the announcement that the team will only be known by one of this year’s sponsors as Liquigas has withdrawn from the team with Cannondale becoming the primary sponsor name of the team. Sagan looks to dominate the 2013 season and will be the protected rider now that Nibali has moved on to Astana and Basso is past his prime. Moser and Viviani will need to continue their winning ways next year to be seen as the next stars of the team as they, for now, play second fiddle to the Slovakian. Sagan’s older brother Juraj is yet to record the calibre of wins his brother has but may begin to do so in 2013. With little inward transfer activity the team will rely on the squad to fill any gaps by those who are leaving. With no direct GC replacement brought in for Nibali, there may be a shift in focus to the one day Classics and one week stage races with overall classification wins at Grand Tours not a primary goal in the immediate future. The young talent on the team may be nurtured so that in two to three years they are posting top five GC results but in 2013 at least Cannondale seem unlikely to replicate Nibali’s podium at the Tour. Instead they look likely to be content wins at the Classics and Monuments that Sagan will soon be rolling in.
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