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'I'm so glad it's the last one!' – Peter Sagan on Tour de France swansong

Peter Sagan signed off his Tour de France career on Sunday and told Eurosport he was "so glad" it was all over. Stream the 2023 Tour de France Femmes live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk

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Photo finish on Tour de France stage 1

As always, the first stage of  Le Tour de France  is hectic. There was an early break of four riders and our guys worked to keep them under control. In a critical point a few km before the intermediate sprint,  BORA-hansgrohe  put the hammer down as we entered the pavé section, split the peloton and caught the break, giving me the opportunity to take the full 20 points there. We then kept a strong pace with the final kilometers being nervous with some crashes in the group. I was  well positioned for the bunch sprint and in good form. It was a bit unusual as it seemed 300m to the finish everybody was stopped. I accelerated, gave my best but was edged out in a photo finish, by a few centimeters. That’s part of the race and the sprints, you can win or lose by a very small margin. The Tour de France has just started, we have three long weeks ahead of us and we will fight in every stage.

Tak ako vždy, prvá etapa Tour de France bola veľmi hektická. V predu sa zo začiatku vytvoril únik štyroch jazdcov a naši chalani sa snažili udržať to pod kontrolou. V kritickom bode niekoľko kilometrov pred špurtérskou prémiou, keď sme vstúpili na dlažobnú sekciu BORA-hansgrohe vzala všetko do vlastných rúk, rozdelili sme pelotón a dostihli sme únik. To mi dalo možnosť vziať tam plných 20 bodov. Potom sme držali tvrdé tempo v posledných kilometroch, ktoré boli veľmi nervózne a sprevádzané niekoľkými pádmi. Pred špurtom som bol v dobrej pozícii a rovnako dobre som sa aj cítil. Bol to však trochu nezvyčajný špurt, pretože 300 m od cieľa, všetci výrazne spomalili. Ja som sa vtedy snažil zrýchliť a dal som do toho všetko, ale nakoniec som prehral len o pár centimetrov. Je to, ale bežná súčasť pretekov a špurtov. Môžete vyhrať alebo prehrať len s veľmi malým rozdielom. Tour de France práve začala, máme pred sebou tri dlhé týždne a budeme bojovať v každej etape.

(Photos  BettiniPhoto )

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Tour de France

Peter sagan, the fading star that once lit up the tour de france: ‘it’s sad people forget what he did’, after years of dominance, sagan flames out in a race he helped reconfigure..

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Few riders get as loud a cheer in a pre-stage start village as Peter Sagan .

All through this Tour de France , the retiring Slovak has been greeted with hype equal to the riders he helped mold. Only new-era aces like Wout van Aert , Tom Pidcock , and Tadej Pogačar  see similar celebration.

But whereas Sagan might once have popped a wheelie for the crowd or pulled a pose for some kids, he now only goes through the motions.

After 12 starts, seven green jerseys, and 12 stage-wins, the 33-year-old has been out of the Tour’s winner’s circle since 2019 and is gladly calling time on a race he helped reinvent.

“I’m grateful for what I have achieved, and I feel that I’ve gained some incredible results,” Sagan said from the Tour last week. “But I’ve sacrificed a lot for this. To keep sacrificing myself year after year, I can’t do that any more. It’s time to turn the page.”

• How Peter Sagan rewrote the script of modern pro cycling
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Sagan once ruled any part of the Tour de France that wasn’t the domain of Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish, or the Team Sky train.

Classics-style stages and tough-guy sprints were ripe for the taking by the so-called “Tourminator”.

And when he wasn’t winning on all terrain, Sagan’s racing verve and punky charisma made him the peloton’s own rock star, an early 2010s prototype for those that now leave him forgotten.

“Peter Sagan is sort of an idol of mine,” a still-raw Pidcock said in 2020. “I’m still a fan of his. Not just because he’s a three-time world champion, but because he’s Peter Sagan.”

Early last decade, Sagan helped redefine modern cycling’s rule book. But fast forward to the present, and the new age of racing has left him behind.

‘It’s sad that people forget so quickly what he did’

Sagan hasn’t won a Tour de France stage since he beat Wout van Aert and Matteo Trentin in 2019. And nobody’s tipping him to score a lucky 13th before he ends his time at the Tour de France this Sunday.

It’s a sad swansong, but one Sagan was maybe destined for after he won only five WorldTour races in the last four years.

“For 10 years or more, Peter was one of the best riders in the peloton with a lot of records,” Sagan’s longtime wingman and confidante Daniel Oss told Velo . “It’s sad that people forget so quickly what he did. It’s easy to say something bad when things aren’t going the right way.”

Oss is most certainly right.

In his prime, Sagan was hyped as “best in class” for almost anything outside of GC racing.

Sagan’s 2012 Tour de France debut paints the picture.

Then only 22, the sharp and shaven-headed Slovak landed into his first Tour like a whirlwind with three stage wins in the first week.

He won a classics-style ride out of Liège ahead of Fabian Cancellara and Philippe Gilbert on stage 1, a tough-guy sprint on stage 3, and capped it off in a big bunch finish on stage 6.

And he didn’t stop for some time.

Sagan won the green jersey at every Tour he finished until 2019 and took nine more stages along the way. And of course, while he wasn’t doing that, he was winning world titles, cobbled monuments, and puncheur classics like GPs Québec and Montréal.

Remind you of anyone?

Riders who won an uphill finish Tour de France stage as point classification leader and wearing the green jersey in the 21st century 👇 2012 (Boulogne sur Mer) 🇸🇰 Peter Sagan 2018 (Quimper) 🇸🇰 Peter Sagan 2022 (Lausanne) 🇧🇪 Wout van Aert #cycling #tdf2022 #vanaert pic.twitter.com/umSzzMFpGP — Fuoriclasse (@DataCycling) July 9, 2022

“The Van Aerts and Pidcocks of today are the Peter of yesterday – he opened that style of racing,” Sagan’s former coach Patxi Vila told Velo .

“He was the first to race aggressively, not just thinking about the regular way of doing things. He opened that philosophy of winning on different terrain and in different ways.

“But now it’s time for others. Time has taken its toll.”

Like Vila says, at this year’s Tour, some of the racers that reap the most headlines are those of Sagan’s mold: Van Aert, Pidcock, and even Pogačar with his on- and off-bike joie de vivre .

“So many of the guys here [at the Tour], they do what Peter did. Since the start, he was the first to come with something different. He showed one rider can win mountains, sprints and can enjoy different races in the season,” Sagan’s longtime DS Ján Valach told Velo .

‘Peter made a step forward. With him, contemporary cycling started’

Sagan didn’t only influence modern racing with his format-bending skillset.

He influenced what it is to be a modern racer.

“In 2012, 2013, whatever, he was also the first rider in many years that was funny, that had something more than just the sport. He made everything around cycling more enjoyable for the people,” Valach said. “He changed cycling to be more fun.”

Sagan was a showman, and he swaggered around the Tour de France circus like it was his stage.

He dyed his beard green, wore ski goggles for sponsor stunts, and trolled rivals on Twitter. For him, cycling was sport, but also entertainment.

The catalog of wild celebrations and “Why so serious” strapline says it all.

doing a Forrest Gump celebration over the line as everyone labours to finish behind him. Peter Sagan is blowing my mind pic.twitter.com/UsDcltMA — Joe Bone (@josefbone) July 3, 2012

Sure, sometimes Sagan got it very wrong – pinching the derrière of a podium girl at De Ronde or trying to straighten his bars by bashing Jelle Wallays’ wheel at Paris Roubaix – but potential sponsors saw the opportunity.

Sagan was the pro peloton’s first punk rock champion, and big bucks brands like Specialized, Sportful, and 100% Sunglasses lapped it up.

“Peter made a step forward. With him, contemporary cycling started,” Oss said. “He got so many results, but also made new steps with other aspects. Sponsors, social media, and the image of a cyclist – he changed it all.”

Just last week on the Tour’s rest day, Pogačar was posting videos of himself bounding around with a baguette, Van der Poel was sharing videos promoting his Canyon bike backers, and every WorldTour team was scrambling to produce the best parody meme.

‘He had 10 or 11 good years, now he’s paying the bill’

A lot has changed since Sagan barnstormed into the 2012 Belgian grand départ.

The WorldTour has increasingly become a 24/7 occupation. If riders aren’t training or racing, they’re tracking recovery metrics, weighing food, and finessing their social media feed.

Vila, who worked with Sagan through his Bora-Hansgrohe years, told Velo he believes the demands of modern cycling burns riders out far too fast.

And he pointed to Sagan as the perfect example.

“We’ll see what happens with other guys that have Peter’s mentality, but I think we’re facing shorter careers. The career of a rider is like a bowl of water. You take it in small doses or pour it over your head,” Vila said during the Tour’s opening week.

“Peter maybe poured his out too fast. He had 10 or 11 good years, now, sadly, he’s paying the bill.”

📊🇸🇰Sagan’s 8th place in 🇫🇷TdF’23 s11 was his 92nd top-10 in a 🇫🇷Tour de France stage …. 98 | 🇳🇱Janssen (8) 95 | 🇫🇷Garrigou (8) 93 | 🇳🇱Karstens (11) 92 | 🇫🇷Darrigade (14), 🇸🇰Sagan (12) 89 | 🇫🇷Poulidor (14) ↕️ …next active pro in the list… 59 | 🇬🇧Cavendish (14) #TDF2023 — Cycling Statistics 📊 (@StatsOnCycling) July 14, 2023

Sagan’s best finish at this Tour so far is eighth, and some saw even that top-10 result as a surprise. At this race, Sagan has been left as forgotten man behind riders like Van Aert, Jasper Philipsen, and Mads Pedersen.

And now that Sagan can’t win with ease, cycling has lost its luster.

“I know, from experience and with my past, that it’s a lot of fun to win and achieve something. But ask anyone who has ridden the Tour more than ten times if they still like it and the answer will be ‘no’,” Sagan told Het Laatste Nieuws .

“It’s the biggest cycling race in the world, there’s a lot of pressure. It’s much more about focus and trying to do everything right than having fun. The Tour is no fun.”

It wasn’t only the Tour that became less fun in recent years for Sagan.

He admitted he was ready to retire from pro cycling in 2020 but was lured into continuing by his still-good legs.

In the time since then, Sagan’s patience for such a grueling sport has run as dry as his results. Rumors of booze-binges, a high-profile drunken spat with Monaco police, and his recent charge for a drink-drive offense put a sour aftertaste on a beautifully sweet career.

‘I’m happy when I see riders in Peter’s style’

Sagan’s not likely to light any fires in the final stages of this Tour de France, and it seems he’ll be happy to wave goodbye to the Champs-Élysées on Sunday.

But the Tour de France, and its whole peloton, will be sad to see him go. After all, he helped make the Tour, and those that race it, what they are now.

“I’m happy when I see riders in Peter’s style, riders like Van der Poel or Van Aert. Every day on TV, something crazy can happen with guys like them, and the people love them,” Valach said. “They do something different, just like Peter did before.”

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Peter Sagan makes time cut on stage 19 of 2018 Tour de France after suffering through mountains

Points leader survives after tough mountain stage

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Peter Sagan suffers after being dropped on the Col d'Aspin on stage 19 of the 2018 Tour de France

Peter Sagan has survived the final mountain stage of the 2018 Tour de France as he made the time cut after suffering over four major mountain passes.

Sagan crashed heavily on the descent from the Col de Val Louron-Azet on stage 17, crossing the line at the end of the day with large tears to his jersey and shorts and blood running down his left arm and leg.

The world champion, who already had an unassailable lead in the points classification, looked in good shape on Thursday's flat stage but was dropped early on the Col d'Aspin well before the halfway point of stage 19.

With team-mates Maciej Bodnar and Daniel Oss for company, Sagan looked inconsiderable discomfort as he made his way up the first category climb, constantly shifting in and out of the saddle while pouring entire bottles of water over his head in an attempt to cool down.

>>> Geraint Thomas survives final 2018 Tour de France mountain stage and extends lead as Roglic takes victory

Sagan crossed the top of the Aspin more than eight minutes down on the front of the race and four minutes behind the peloton, but was able to regain contact with a larger gruppetto on the descent that followed where he remained for the rest of the stage.

As Primož Roglič (LottoNL-Jumbo) won the stage in a time of 5-28-17, the time limit was set at just under 46 minutes, which Sagan's group comfortably made as they came home 38-23 down with Sagan sitting alongside the long-suffering Lawson Craddock (EF Education-First Drapac).

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Last place on the stage went to Craddock's team-mate Taylor Phinney, who finished alone two minutes later with a large bandage across his face and blood running down his chin and onto his jersey.

Getting through the final mountain stage means that Sagan is now almost certain to claim a record-equalling sixth green jersey, needing only to stay upright through the final two stages to match Erik Zabel's record.

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Henry Robertshaw began his time at Cycling Weekly working with the tech team, writing reviews, buying guides and appearing in videos advising on how to dress for the seasons. He later moved over to the news team, where his work focused on the professional peloton as well as legislation and provision for cycling. He's since moved his career in a new direction, with a role at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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Peter Sagan has knee surgery following Tour de France departure

Former World champion treated for an infection

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) has undergone successful surgery near his home in Monaco after the rider's knee became infected following his Tour de France abandon. 

The three-time world champion crashed on stage 3 and left the race ahead of stage 12 to Nîmes. His knee was injured after it was hit by a chainring during the crash. "First of all, I'd like to thank the Bora-Hansgrohe management, the team's doctors, and in particular our Head Doctor, Christopher Edler, for their support and guidance since my crash on stage 3," Sagan said in a statement released by his team on Monday's second rest day at the Tour de France. "Secondly, I'm so grateful for all the get-well messages that I received from my teammates, friends, and fans from all over the world. They are greatly appreciated. On stage 3, the chainring hit my knee and entered the skin above the patella, leaving a deep wound.

Tour de France: Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan among crash victims on stage 3 Sagan a signature away from joining TotalEnergies, report suggests Peter Sagan abandons the Tour de France

"We cleaned the wound as much as possible to prevent infection because of the dirt from the chain oil. However, after a few days, an inflammation developed in the bursa on top of the patella, and, unfortunately, I had to abandon the Tour.

"Also, I'd like to thank the doctors and medical staff at IM2S clinic in Monaco for performing an excellent surgery on such short notice and for their great cooperation with the team's medical staff. I already feel a lot better and everything looks good so far."

Sagan came into the Tour de France hunting a thirteenth stage win and eight green jersey but he was never able to achieve other of those ambitions following his crash involving Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) on stage 3. The pair collided with the finish line in sight and while Sagan was able to finish the stage Ewan was forced to lean in an ambulance.

 Sagan would go on to finish fifth the next day into Fougères and pick up another top-five on stage 6 to Châteauroux, but following an eighth-placed finish on stage 10 to Valence, it was clear that the Bora-hansgrohe rider was below his very best following his stage victory and points classification at the Giro d’Italia in May. It was expected that the 31-year-old simply needed time on the sidelines in order to recover for the second half of the season, but the team’s head of medical, Christopher Edler, explained why action was required and surgery became a necessity. 

"We did everything possible on site at the Tour but even antibiotic treatment couldn’t prevent an infection,” Edler said.

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"The only option was to stop racing and get the bursa surgically removed. Luckily it was only superficial infection, and the knee joint is not involved in this at all. The surgery went well, and I think Peter will be able to start with light training again in a couple of days."

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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.

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