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When at his peak, Peter Sagan brought something special both on and off the bike.
Whether he’s crushing the world championship or popping the wheel, Sagan’s career packs a massive highlight reel that’s worth playing again and again.
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The 33-year-old confirmed this week that this season would be his last on the WorldTour.
in tribute, velo news Editors Andrew Hood, Sadh O’Shea, Will Tracy and Jim Cotton select their personal picks from Slovak’s greatest hits.
Will Tracy: Catching a nailbiter at the Tour of California
Throughout his career, Sagan has been no stranger to pointing out the jersey in stage races, having won sprint events in the Tour, the Giro and the Tour of California a record seven times, also a record. . They almost became regulars.
But it was in that latter race, the Slovakian’s favourite, that he pulled off an even rarer win than the overall GC win in 2015. The stage up Mount Baldy to stay within sight of leader Julian Alaphilippe’s time, and finally throwing a bike in the final stage to pip out Tyler Farrar for third place and a four-second time bonus with it, Sagan Won by the smallest margin of victory. Race history, just three seconds.
This is arguably the most nail-biting edition of the Tour of California’s 14-year run. It’s even more impressive considering that the race served as a breaking-out party for the sport’s next big GC specialists, such as Egan Bernal and Tadej Pogacar.
Sadh O’Shea: Superstition at Saltzburgering
My most memorable Sagan moment came away from a bike race at the Saltzburgring in Austria.
Sagan was having a media day with his brother Juraj and teammate Markus Burghardt for the car supplier of Bora-Hansgrohe, and somehow, I was the only media representative there. Perhaps the most surreal moment of my career came when I was sitting in the back seat of the car being driven around the track by Sagan. He drives the car like his bike without any fear.
Later, during a trackside interview, after the topic of the green jersey was brought up, Sagan walked away from me without explanation. It was only when he hopped over to tap a wooden canopy on a small building, before coming back to continue the interview, that I realized he was superstitious.
Andrew Hood: The setting of Hell in ‘The Hell of the North’
Sagan’s Paris-Roubaix victory in 2018 was incredible on many levels.
First of all, he pave For the “W”, only Peloton’s Merckx has done something.
Second, the way he drove away from the entire field to reach the attackers revealed Sagan at the peak of his powers.
And third, it was amazing to see it all in the front row.
I was tagging along with top shoot James Start that day as we rode across northern France, catching the action at Troisville, exiting Arenberg, and posting ahead of time to get him under -rated monsters can be seen attacking sectors. We caught one last glimpse at the entrance to Carrefour, and headed to the velodrome like banshees. A train had everyone hooked up and we thought we had our job cut out for us, but we blasted in time to sprint across the velodrome to catch the bell lap and Sagan’s winning sprint. Sublime.
Jim Cotton: Going full ‘Forrest’ at the 2012 Tour de France
Sagan’s “Forrest Gump” celebration at the 2012 Tour de France wasn’t the first of his wacky finish-line salutes, but it’s the one that sticks in my mind and somehow defines him as a rider in my imagination. .
The Slovak bossed the Tour’s uphill sprint in Boulogne-sur-Mer with a stinging acceleration that even his-prime Edvald Boasson Hagen could not match. Sagan had so much space on the Norwegian powerhouse that she was able to unleash her finest victory dance in the final 100 meters in a moment of character-defining fun.
That stage 3 win was Sagan’s second of three victories in the 2012 Tour de France.
It came at a moment when the then-22-year-old seemed to have the world at his feet after crushing the Swiss and Californian tournaments, and at a period when I really stamped my cards as a full 24-7. Was given , Bike Geek.
I was living in the center of London when the city was overtaken by the Olympics. Team Sky and British Cycling were on the rise. I was headfirst into the local race scene. And a prop that captured every inch of my imagination in all its fanfare.
I still remember that summer – and Sagan’s exploits – vividly.
