Cycle road racing is so beguiling because it dramatises the theme of all our lives. The conflict between the ego and our social responsibilty. The best stage races revel in this theatrical double hander. The selfless giving and co-operative spirit of the peloton, taking turns to work at the front for the common good, nurturing the group ethic and the counter theme of the ego-driven prima-dona with their over-inflated ambition.

To be Peter Sagan you need to be both social and ruthlessly selfish. Playing your part in melding the peloton, driving a group effort and then trashing it with relentless destructive attacks to put yourself out front.

This is why the mudguard is such a potent symbol for all racers. It is the emblem of the schism that is road racing. Do you do the decent thing and take care not to splash your chums in the socially cohesive peloton by clipping on the guard of righteousness? Or do you hold to the vision of sacrifice, pain and speed, stick-it to the filthy weather, feed your ego with a machine to match, stripped down to the racing skeletal minimum, train like you race, mudguard free.