‘Peter Sagan was true entertainer – biking is weaker after his retirement’

I was there the day Peter Sagan won his first stage of the Tour de France.

Still in my formative years as a cycling fan, my family travelled to Liege to watch the Grand Depart of the 2012 Tour de France. I must confess, Sagan wasn’t a name I was familiar with – it wouldn’t take long for that to change.

On the first stage, a slog from Liege to near the French-Belgian border, Sagan took flight up the final rise to Seraing. The then 22-year-old became the youngest stage winner at La Grande Boucle since Lance Armstrong in 1993.

It was the first of 12 stage wins at the Tour in an epic career that would see him be crowned World Champion, three times on the spin, and conquer the classics in a way not seen since the golden age of cycling.

Sagan was an entertainer – he was my entertainer. And even as his powers wained before he hung up his cleats, I found myself rooting for the once invincible Slovakian.

This season, which closed with Tadej Pogacar romping to victory at Il Lombardia, has been Sagan’s swansong. However, it hadn’t come on the road.

“I was already thinking about this a lot,” Sagan told Daily Star Sport when he was asked why he decided to end his career on the mountain bike. “I wanted to try it this year because I started on the mountain bike as a kid.”

“And, obviously, mountain biking has also changed a lot. The competition on the mountain bike is just so much different than it was before.”

Sagan had been hoping to bid farewell at the Olympics – but that dream never came true: “After the injury and stuff, what I had at the start of the season – it was impossible to qualify for Olympics.”

Instead, Sagan watched at home as Tom Pidcock went back-to-back after an enthralling ride in Paris. “It’s very nice to see that the guys can compete in, you know, cyclocross mountain bike, road bike, but for sure it’s not easy because to combine all the disciplines,” Sagan said.

And Sagan should know, he’s the original trailblazer.

However, that wouldn’t be the way that Sagan would bow out.

Sagan would fall back to his road bike, signing for the UCI Continental team Pierre Baguette and 2024 Tour de Hongrie.

Next season the peloton will be without its great entertainer – and the sport will be so much weaker without his presence.

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