Star of the peloton, triple world champion, Slovak Peter Sagan is today in the French team TotalEnergies. This is the most unexpected transfer of the 2022 season, to a ProTeam formation, the second tier of world cycling.
During the first stage of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var on February 18, La Seyne-sur-Mer was waiting for Peter Sagan and it had Caleb Ewan. The Slovak was making his comeback, but out of form. In mid-January, he had contracted Covid-19. The triple Slovak world champion, flagship rookie of the Vendée formation in the off-season, finished more than five minutes from the first peloton, curtly dropped in the Côte de Mai, a 3rd category embankment located 12 kilometers from the finish. His first day of racing in the colors of TotalEnergies will not go down in history.
Always accompanied by his brother Juraj
Regardless, the arrival of the star in training remains a major event for the image of French cycling. And a little thanks to him, TotalEnergies obtained an invitation to the next Tour de France. “ It’s a logical choice “, explained Christian Prudhomme, insisting on Sagan, “ an emblematic character as there are few in cycling “.
Like other thirty-somethings before him, Sagan let himself be seduced by France, like the Colombian Nairo Quinatana. He was at the end of his contract with German outfit Bora-Hansgrohe. By the way, Sagan did not come alone. He set conditions upon his arrival in France.
” We chose TotalEnergies because they really wanted me on the team, tells Peter Sagan on France 3and above all they accepted many things, in particular the fact that all my clan accompanies me, my healer, my mechanic, my sports director “. His brother, Juraj is also there as a runner. He systematically followed him everywhere.
The classics in sight
On Saturday February 26, Peter Sagan kicked off his Flanders Classics campaign at Circuit Het Nieuwsblad, “ while waiting for great Peter on Milan-San Remo in March “, as his new boss Jean-René Bernaudeau asserts. Sagan, who revealed himself by winning two stages of Paris-Nice at the age of 20, finished in 98th place, more than five minutes behind winner Wout Van Aert.
” We are going to have a very strong team for the classics, then the other big objective will be the Tour de France as always.explains Peter Sagan, the stake will be very important for my team “. The one who started with cyclo-cross and mountain biking, has 123 professional victories, including 12 in the Tour de France.
In his prime, he also won two monuments: the Tour of Flanders in 2016 and Paris-Roubaix two years later.
Over the past two years, Peter Sagan has only won 6 races, a figure far from his standards. For example, in 2016, in addition to the Tour of Flanders, he offered himself: the world championship, the European championship, Ghent-Wevelgem, two stages of the tour of Switzerland and Califonia, three stages of the Tour de France with the jersey of Best Sprinter and the Combativeness Prize. And the Quebec Cycling Grand Prix. Today in a French second division team, the man born in Žilina wants to prove that he is not finished.