“It’s always been the same Peter Sagan”: Three-time world champion talks retirement, pressure, the peloton’s “loss of respect”, and being cycling’s greatest showman in exclusive interview

At the end of June, one of the most successful, flamboyant, and iconic cycling figures of the 21st century crossed the finish line of a road race for the last time. Riding for the little-known but colourfully named Pierre Baguette team, Peter Sagan – one of the sport’s greatest winning machines – finished the fifth and final stage of the Tour of Slovakia, his home race, in 85th place.

A few weeks later, the 34-year-old definitively brought his momentous 14-year career to an end, this time off-road, racing and finishing second at the Slovakian national mountain bike championships, almost a year to the day since he sprinted to 11th on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where he admitted, in typically candid fashion, that he was glad to see the back of the Tour de France.

The Sagan era – the moniker affixed to the 2010s by awe-struck pundits as the Slovakian dominated the racing scene – is over.

(Michal Cerveny/SWpix.com)

And while Sagan’s later years at Bora-Hansgrohe and TotalEnergies proved an inevitable case of fading powers and diminishing returns, the Slovakian’s record since he burst onto the scene as a precocious and frighteningly talented 20-year-old at the 2010 Paris-Nice speaks for itself.

121 professional wins over 14 years. Three world road race titles between 2015 and 2017 (making him the joint record holder and the only male rider to win their three rainbow jerseys consecutively). Seven Tour de France green jerseys (another record). 12 Tour de France stage wins. Paris-Roubaix. The Tour of Flanders. A record 18 stages at the Tour de Suisse. Three editions of Gent-Wevelgem. Stage wins at all three grand tours.

But, as anyone who experienced Sagan in his glorious, freewheeling pomp will testify, the results sheet doesn’t tell the full story.

There was the swashbuckling, showboating style, the blistering uphill sprint, the long-range attacks, the staggering all-round ability that arguably played a pioneering role in ridding professional men’s cycling of its decades-long fixation with specialism, ushering in the current era of Flanders-winning grand tour riders.

There were the wheelies, the devil-may-care approach to sprinting, the personality that transcended cycling, the viral stunts, the mid-race autographs, the Grease parody videos, the controversies, the bad decisions, the oversized podium goggles, the iconic celebrations, the internal team pressures, the post-victory quips, the beer adverts, the stopping to fix a cyclo-tourist’s puncture, the unerring ability to draw the attention of every fan, pundit, and rival at every major race.

(Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)

In short, Peter Sagan was the defining rider of his era.

The Slovakian was the figurehead of a generation – including the likes of Michael Matthews, Tom Dumoulin, Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot, and Nairo Quintana (all born in 1990) – that left a lasting mark on most, if not all, of cycling’s biggest races in the 2010s, but which has slowly faded into the background in recent years as a new wave of audacious talent emerged.

And while Sagan set the benchmark for audacity that the Van der Poels, Van Aerts, and Pogačars of the peloton have strived to match and surpass in the 2020s, it’s clear that – unless you’re Mark Cavendish – even the greats aren’t guaranteed to go out at the top in a sport as tough and as cruel as cycling.

And so it proved for Sagan.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

An underwhelming final few years at an ill-fitting TotalEnergies team ushered in one last attempt for Olympic glory aboard his first love, the mountain bike. But serious health issues earlier this year, including a tachycardic episode and two separate heart procedures, as well as Slovakia’s inability to qualify for Paris, put paid to that final dream.

Not that Sagan’s final year as a pro hinged on the Olympics, the Slovakian makes clear while speaking to road.cc.

“First of all, I'd like to point out that qualifying for the Paris Olympics was almost impossible, and we were aware of that, so my goal was to enjoy the mountain biking experience as much as possible with my friends at Specialized,” the 34-year-old tells road.cc.

“Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned due to the health issues I faced. Despite this setback, my future plans in off-road racing remain unchanged. I will continue to enjoy myself on mountain bikes, without aiming for top-level competition.”

Sagan racing and finishing 37th at the 2023 mountain bike worlds in Peebles (Michal Cerveny/SWpix.com)

And enjoyment – like it’s been throughout his racing career – remained high on Sagan’s list of priorities for 2024, regardless of Olympic qualification, with a home farewell at the Tour of Slovakia the icing on the cake.

“It was fantastic to be surrounded by the support and love of my fellow Slovaks and I think I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect place,” he says. “It was an unforgettable and amazing experience for me. Now that this chapter of my career is closed, I’m looking ahead to my new goals.”

Before he rides off into the sunset in pursuit of those new goals, which include a partnership with online training and racing platform MyWhoosh (where the three-time world champion’s personal workouts will be available for all users), a reflective Sagan spoke to road.cc about his illustrious career on the road, his legacy as a rider, and why – despite his long-held status as the world’s greatest and most famous bike racer – he was still just the same Peter Sagan.

road.cc: What have you been up to since stepping away from racing?

Peter Sagan: In the few weeks since the end of the Tour of Slovakia, I have spent quality time with my family, especially my son Marlon, while maintaining a constant and regular training schedule both outdoors and indoors. Lately, I have been discovering the new world of indoor cycling on MyWhoosh, which I find fantastic to keep fit and entertained at the same time.

Looking back at your career – you burst on to the scene in 2010, at just 20-years-old, winning two stages at Paris-Nice, as well as stages at the Tour de Romandie and Tour of California. As a first-year professional, did you expect to be so successful so early? And how did you adapt to automatically becoming such an important rider at Liquigas so soon?

I had hoped to secure a win early in my first year as a professional rider, but there was no way to predict if, when, or how that would happen. My two stage victories at Paris-Nice were a dream come true. However, despite these early successes, I didn’t become a leader at Liquigas. At the time, the team already had two highly successful and important riders, Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali, and I was just a newcomer. 

(Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Pro cycling has witnessed a lot of change since you turned pro in 2010 – you even raced against Lance Armstrong in your first race for Liquigas at the Tour Down Under. What are the biggest changes you’ve noticed in the peloton over the last 14 years? And has the sport changed for the better?

Over the past 14 years, professional cycling has seen numerous changes, some positive and others negative. In my opinion, since 2010, we have lost a certain sense of respect within the peloton. However, I’ll leave it to you to decide whether these changes have been for the better or for the worse overall.

One of those changes is the increasingly youthful complexion of the peloton, a trend that arguably dates back to your early success. What advice would you give the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso when it comes to prolonging their careers and making the most of their potential?

It isn’t my place to offer advice to Remco and Juan, two exceptional young riders who, in any case, I don’t think need it. I’d like to point out that while my career was successful and I always gave my absolute best, it wasn’t very long. I had many enjoyable moments, even beyond the victories, but I don’t feel qualified to provide such guidance.

What do you rank as the highest points of your career, or the most memorable moments for you personally? Any regrets?

Excluding the birth of my son, which I consider the most beautiful moment of my life, both personally and professionally, my three world championship victories are undoubtedly the highlights of my career.

Sagan wins the second of his three rainbow jerseys in Qatar in 2016 (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

I have no regrets for two main reasons. First, in every race, regardless of its significance, I always give my absolute best. When I cross the finish line, I know I’ve achieved the best possible result for that day. Second, it’s futile to dwell on the past and things you can’t change. Instead, you should learn from each defeat and victory and apply the lessons.

At the end of your final Tour last year, you said you were ‘glad’ it was over. Why?

I had already announced that it would be my final season at the WorldTour level, and naturally, the Tour de France, the sport’s biggest and most beautiful race, was the perfect stage to close such an important chapter of my life. The Tour de France has given me so much, making that moment particularly special.

You were one of the best classics riders of your generation, but became synonymous with the Tour de France’s green jersey. Was it easy to remain motivated to be successful at the Tour, and what did winning green seven times, an all-time record, mean for your career?

Maintaining your motivation during the Tour de France is almost a given. Even when you are truly suffering, just the fact that you’re racing in the Tour de France pushes you to give it your all. The green jersey has always been a personal ambition and a goal for every team I’ve been a part of. Winning it seven times is truly an honour and a privilege.

At the start of your career, you were viewed by some as shy and introverted, but quickly developed into one of the sport’s great showmen, performing wheelies, doing funny videos, and generally being entertaining. What made you want to show off that side of your personality, and did it come naturally being in the public spotlight?

I’ve never sought to ‘show off’ any aspect of my personality, that was never my intention. I have always been true to myself, from the beginning to now. When people perceived me as ‘shy and introverted’, it was likely due to my limited language skills at the time. Over the years, I have dedicated time and effort to learning new languages to improve my communication.

(ASO/Pauline Ballet)

It makes me happy that the public sees me not only as a successful rider but also as a showman. However, I’ve always remained the same person and never felt the need to act differently from who I am. It has always been the same Peter Sagan.

Obviously, as arguably the biggest name in the sport throughout the 2010s, you also faced a lot of pressure to gain big results, both externally from the press and fans, but also from within your own team (most famously with Oleg Tinkov, while riding for Tinkoff-Saxo in 2015 and 2016). How did you cope with that pressure, and do you believe it had an impact, either positive or negative, on your results?

Oleg Tinkov has undoubtedly played a crucial role, positively influencing both my professional career and personal growth. Fortunately, I never considered pressure to be a big adversary of mine, while at the same time, I’ve had the chance of being supported by Giovanni Lombardi and Gabriele Uboldi [Sagan’s agent and press officer, respectively]. Together, they effectively alleviate much of the pressure that will otherwise negatively affect me. 

On a similar note, you were one of the few true all-rounders in the peloton, especially in your early years when you were infiltrating breaks in the mountains at the Tour and contesting bunch sprints a day later. Was there pressure placed on you to specialise as a cobbled classics rider and focus on the likes of Flanders and Roubaix?

No, there has never been any pressure; it has been a natural evolution, both physically and mentally.

It’s clear, however, that your all-round ability also placed a target on your back, and sometimes saw your rivals refuse to cooperate with you in breakaways or in the classics. Were you conscious of your status within the peloton and did it affect the way you raced?

Throughout my career, my goal has always been to give my all and try to win, in every race. When that wasn’t possible, I aimed to achieve the best result feasible and return home happy with my effort. I have always received total support from my teammates, while my rivals have also pursued their own strategies to achieve the same goals I had. In the peloton, all riders do what they consider to be their best to achieve to goals they and their team have.

In the last few years, there has been a wave of riders with similar characteristics to yourself, who can win on a variety of terrain, led by Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel. What do you make of this shift away from cycling’s previous focus on specialist sprinters, or climbers, or puncheurs, to riders who want to win all year round, at all sorts of races?

I’m really happy to witness this exciting era in the sport of cycling, where we have so many exceptional riders capable of winning on any given day, in any race or stage. Alongside Wout and Mathieu, we must also acknowledge Tadej, Jonas, and Remco, who collectively form an outstanding group of riders.

(ASO/Pauline Ballet)

Perhaps ironically, if you were breaking into the sport now, do you believe you might have had more chances to win at the likes of Flanders or Sanremo, or grand tour stages, without that target on your back of being the only rider, or one of the very few riders, with those all-round abilities that are now commonplace?

I don’t think I'm in a position to answer this question. I can only say I’m happy with what I achieved during my career. Speculating on how I might hypothetically perform in today’s peloton would be extraordinarily difficult.