"Evenepoel is created by Quick-Step" says Peter Sagan

Peter Sagan has talked about his evolution in the peloton, the long way he has come since his neo-pro days and his ambitions for the future now that he has joined up with TotalEnergies for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Being asked about his salary on an interview with Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, Sagan has had no problem in sharing his opinion: "It's good to have it. When I turned pro, I got the minimum wage. I could get a bigger contract after that and I said no. I said I wanted my brother Juraj in the team, and my soigneur. And then I rode again for a minimum contract. I had no big ambitions in terms of money," he said. He started his career at the Slovakian Dukla Banska Bystrica team, and soon got the attention of the World Tour field, and was hired by Liquigas in 2010 where he very quickly became a top presence in the peloton.

"With the years and with what I've achieved as a cyclist in the meantime, I wouldn't race for that minimum wage anymore. It's about the balance, that I get paid for what I mean in cycling," he added.

Regarding the Quick-Step topic, where he's claimed that the Belgian team never wanted him despite the amount of rumours that had surged last summer, he's commented: "There is a difference between Evenepoel and me. I was not created, I did it myself. The way I see it, Evenepoel is created by Quick-Step."

Regarding the ambitions he's still got on the final years of his career, he doesn't hide that he still dreams big despite being over the peak of his career in which he's won three World championships, seven green jerseys at the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix, Tour des Flandres and dozens of other high-level wins.

"I want to win Milan-San Remo; If I win Gent-Wevelgem one more time I might break a record. I'm not going to break the record in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, I think. I've won the green jersey seven times at the Tour, and I still need to take that record to the next level," he said.

With the classics season not going to plan, due to a delayed start to the season after a positive test for Covid-19, he is dreaming of the Tour de France already where he will be hoping to get an eighth green jersey: "If I ride the Tour, which is the plan, I'll go for green again."