Men’s pro cycling appears to be entering into a golden age, with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert crossing over from cyclocross to compete head-to-head with the likes of Julian Alaphilippe, Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic – not to mention other up-and-coming talents like Marc Hirschi, Filippo Ganna and other more specialists riders in the sprint and general classifications.

Cycling’s current talent pool is undoubtedly in a rich vein, making for spectacular competition. Already this season, some of the racing on show at Tirreno-Adriatico and Strade Bianche in particular was incredible, with van der Poel, van Aert and Pogacar all going at it hammer and tongs.

Straight away, the fact that a Tour de France winner like Pogacar is even racing with a burgeoning classics maestro like van der Poel is itself eye-catching, but to see another XC convert in van Aert beating the sprinters in a sprint stage, climbing with the climbers, then out-muscling the Time Trial specialists in a TT speaks volumes for his cross-the-board potential.

Watching races which feature three, four or five of these characters almost guarantees a spectacle to remember. Thinking back a year or so, Alaphilippe’s dashing style and panache made him an instantly lovable character; his time in yellow during the 2019 Tour de France was incapsulating and his attempt to hold the jersey was more than just a romantic ideal; when he won the time trial in Pau, it seemed like he genuinely could go all the way to Paris and break the long-standing drought for French riders in the Tour.

To draw a parallel with another sport, cycling seems to be at the start of a period similar to that still being enjoyed by tennis, where the giants of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic (and Andy Murray) have shared and dominated the headlines for nigh on twenty years.

However, to continue that reference, before Federer became the world’s preeminent Grand Slam collector, the tennis scene was dominated by Pete Sampras and, to a lesser extent, Andre Agassi, with their rivalry and contrast making for fascinating viewing at times.

Cycling has it’s own Sampras & Agassi – the men who shone for a while and are now in danger of being forgotten in the shadow of the current behemoths: Peter Sagan and Greg van Avermaet.

In the case of Sagan in particular, it seems incredible to be thinking of him almost as being yesterday’s man, but the numbers don’t lie – the man who won three consecutive world championships in 2015, 16 and 17 has won just one race since 2019 – a stage of the Giro d’Italia – and while there are mitigating circumstances, such as injuries and his recent run-in with Covid, he has been conspicuous by his absence from race podiums.

There’s no doubt that Sagan will always have star quality and races do certainly miss his attacking flair and sheer strength of character at the sharp end of proceedings. At the peak of his powers, Sagan is a formidable foe, which may well be one of the reasons his win rate has slumped.

At the heigh of his form, if the Slovakian was on a race start list, it almost felt like it was him versus the peloton. Often you might see a break go up the road followed by a frustrated Sagan attempting to organise the chase, only to be greeted by reluctant opponents, many of whom knowing that helping him bridge a gap would only result in his victory and their defeat. When at his best, Sagan has that versatile strength which makes him almost as good as the best sprinters and right up there with the strongest puncheurs. When given the opportunity, he is a tough man to beat.

In that spell between 2015 and 2018, Sagan was almost untouchable; his approach to races changed the way other teams and riders raced, forcing pre-made plans to be thrown out of the window. While others relied on structured team tactics and lead-outs, he would ride completely off-script, surfing from wheel to wheel in search of the best position in a sprint or attacking at will with an almost playful attitude.

Beyond just his racing style, Sagan once threatened to be cycling’s breakout, cross-sport superstar – the finish line celebrations, the video of him and his wife miming to Grease, the slightly bizarre post-race interviews – in general, his Sagan-ness, which made him a hugely likeable character in a sport mainly dominated by efficient and slightly predictable robots. He was different, eye-catching and vivacious.

Sagan’s nearest rival at the time was undoubtedly van Avermaet, the reigning Olympic road race champion who now seems to have been wearing that golden helmet since the mid-70s. A true Flandrien tough guy, van Avermaet is always there-or-thereabouts in the big races, but definitely lacks the palmares that his ability deserves. True, that Olympic Gold is backed up by a Roubaix cobble, two Omloop wins and success at E3-Harelbeke but without Sagan, van Avermaet would most likely have many more wins to show for his efforts.

Without a win to his name since 2019, van Avermaet is now 35 and the emergence of cycling’s new superstars makes any further major victories unlikely, but he is a steely character who always shows willing to dig in and make a fight of a race.

Occasionally the victim of unfortunate accidents and injuries, such as the 2016 Tour of Flanders where a crash in the final 15kms saw him break a collarbone, van Avermaet always comes back when you think he might be beaten. He’s tough to shake off and refuses to give in.

Having moved to join the AG2R Citroen team this winter, he has a contract that takes him up to the end of the 2023 season, so there’s still time for him to add to his haul. In particular, it would be fitting to see him win on the home roads of Flanders, going beyond his two second places and one third.

With each passing week it seems like another star is born in the men’s peloton, while the likes of van Aert and van der Poel also appear to grow stronger – even Alaphilippe appears to be losing ground to the two XC titans. That makes it increasingly unlikely that we’ll see Sagan or van Avermaet add to their medal collections, but the prospect of seeing even more potential winners in any given race is a tantalising one.

Races right now seem more unpredictable than for years, especially with van der Poel’s penchant for long range or even whimsical attacks. The addition of an on-song Sagan or an unshakable van Avermaet would add an extra dimension to an already complicated race equation, which would only further increase the excitement and action for us as spectators.

Hopefully cycling’s growing golden era still has time and space for two of the sport’s finest recent champions as the whole picture would undoubtedly be richer for their presence.