Peter Sagan’s victory in GP Quebec yesterday was the 100th of his professional career. Here’s a video round-up of six of his most memorable wins - plus the latest.
The 2012 edition of Gent-Wevelgem saw Sagan take his first Classic, and it’s a race in which he’s been remarkably consistent – he’d been runner-up the previous year, and has now been on the podium five times in six years, with a second victory coming last year. Here’s the behind-the-scenes video from his then team, Cannondale Pro Cycling.
In July that year, Sagan made his Tour de France debut and made an immediate impact on the race, taking Stage 1 in Seraing, Belgium from overall leader Fabian Cancellara, winner of the previous day’s prologue, and Edvald Boasson Hagen. He would win the green jersey that year and for the next four editions, a sequence only broken when he was disqualified after the fourth stage of this year’s race.
September 2015 saw Sagan become road world champion for the first time, launching an attack on the final cobbled climb in Richmond, Virginia with 2.5 kilometres remaining and soloing his way to victory with an impressive display of power.
In April 2016 the Slovak clinched his first Monument, Sagan distancing his rivals with a blistering attack on the Paterberg. It had only been a matter of time, in truth – in the previous four seasons, he had taken a second place and two other top-five finishes both there and at Milan-San Remo.
In July of the same year, Sagan pulled off one of the more memorable of his eight Tour de France stage wins when he and Tinkoff team mate got away with Team Sky’s Chris Froome – in the yellow jersey of race leader – and Geraint Thomas with a little more than 10 kilometres remaining of Stage 11 from Carcassonne to Montpellier. The quartet worked well to keep the chasing pack at bay ahead of Sagan clinching the stage, and Froome gaining valuable bonus seconds as he followed the Slovak over the line.
Three months later in Qatar, Sagan became the first rider to successfully defend the rainbow jersey since Italy’s Paolo Bettini in 2007, beating former champions Mark Cavendish of Great Britain and Belgium’s Tom Boonen in the sprint to the line in Doha.
Sagan will be going for an unprecedented third road world championship in a row later this month.
Which is your favourite Peter Sagan winning moment? One of those highlighted above, or something else altogether? Let us know in the comments.
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3 comments
1-2% finish you have no chance against him.
He showed some proper character in the latter stages when dogged with bad luck. He went up massively in my estimations.
I remember being on the edge of my seat as Sagan caught up to Cunego on the hairy descent into Grindelwald, stage 3 of the 2011 Tour de Suisse, and then out-powered and out-maneuvered Damiano for the win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgGcSXf4x04