One look at this on-board footage of Peter Sagan sprinting to victory in California and you'll truly appreciate how bike handling is instrumental to winning races.
The on-board footage in the clip below was shot from the bike of Drapac Pro Cycling's Graeme Brown, who led out the finishing sprint of stage 4 of the Tour of California yesterday.
The run into Avila Beach was a fast one, with a number of bends before the incline to the finish line.
Anybody who wanted to win had to be on their toes in the closing kilometre. Step forward Mr Peter Sagan.
The Slovak star has been under real pressure since the season began; the eyes of the pro cycling world fixed on him to see if he could withstand the pressure of the multi million Euro deal that brought him to Tinkoff-Saxo.
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And with only one win - a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico - to his name before yesterday he was openly being pressured by team owner Oleg Tinkov.
The fact he had finished 2nd on the three opening stages in the US and was 2nd overall going into yesterday's stage simply compounded his slide from winner to nearly man in recent months.
But in the end he came through after some fantastic bike handling saw him hold his own and gain on the others on those final bends before powering up the finishing straight to take victory.
His bike handling at speed and under such pressure really is a joy to behold.
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Sagan wins #12Can you say bike handling? Peter Sagan shows his skills in the final 2 corners to earn his first California win with Tinkoff Saxo. View from Drapac Professional Cycling's Graeme Brown.
Posted by Amgen Tour of California on Thursday, 14 May 2015
So relieved to win was the under pressure Sagan that he did a stampy, bunny hop-wheelie thingy sailing over the line.
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