"An eighth green jersey is not impossible" says Peter Sagan as he prepares for final Tour de France

Peter Sagan is all set for his twelfth and final Tour de France. A winner of the points classification a record seven times, Sagan is still holding out hope of finishing his road career on a high.

Having had vast success at the Tour de France in the past, the race is synonymous with the career of Peter Sagan. Despite that, he admits he has not always enjoyed it. "I'm definitely not going to miss it next year. It's the biggest race in the world, but I actually only enjoyed it the first two times," he tells Het Nieuwsblad. "Back then it was still new and I achieved great results. Once you experience it more often, you realize that it actually only causes stress. My best memory is my first Tour, my first win, my first green jersey. I had had enough of it then."

Now riding for TotalEnergies, Sagan's success has waned over the last few years and few realistically believe he will finish his Tour de France career the way he started, winning stages and taking the Green Jersey. As Sagan says himself however, it's not impossible.

"I don't have to be the best to win, but I need luck and I need to be able to stay out of trouble," he explains. “Maybe I can still force something in the points classification. An eighth green jersey is not impossible, but with that new generation of riders it will certainly not be easy. I look at it day by day and after a dozen rides I'll see if it's worth fighting for."