Everything about Peter Sagan

Who is Peter Sagan?

Peter Sagan is a former professional cyclist. Sagan, otherwise known as the 'Tourminator', is a 7-time points classification winner at the Tour de France and 3-time consecutive World Championships winner. He has taken other high-level win triumphs such as Paris-Roubaix, Tour des Flandres and stages in all Grand Tours alongside countless other high-level wins, but has struck equal success by becoming cycling's rockstar all throughout the 2010's. On October 1st 2023 he finished 9th in the last road race of his career in the Tour de Vendee.

Name: Peter Sagan
Birthday: 26 January 1990
Birthplace: Žilina, Slovakia
Turned Pro: 2009
Height: 1.82m

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Peter Sagan wins at the 2020 Giro d'Italia

Peter Sagan was born on the 26th of January 1990 in the town of Zilina, Slovakia (at the time Czechoslovakia). He has stood out as one of the most modern and popular riders of all time, and an absolute headliner throughout the entire 2010's decade, mostly due to his outgoing style, on-the-bike skills and style, and a tremendous amount of success that came in the form of important titles in the cobbled classics, hilly races, sprints and most importantly, the Tour de France - with Sagan earning the nickname "Tourminator" due to his seven points classification wins at the race - alongside a total of 12 wins.

Sagan at his peak was the highest-earning pro cyclist earning as much as €6 million per season , a big chunk of it is payed by Specialized of which he is and has been a prime ambassador for many years, frequently showing off bikes - such as the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7, Specialized Crux and other MTB's.

His net worth is estimated at €33 million euros. In his 2020 Giro win he rode 440watts in the final 20 minutes of racing, his FTP - not being a climber - should be between 410-420 watts. Sagan was married to Katarína Saganová from 2015 to 2018, with their child Marlon being born in 2017. He was also one of the few pro cyclists to ever personally meet Pope Francis, in 2018. His older brother Juraj Sagan has been a pro rider alongside him for large years, with the duo racing together since 2009, with Juraj retiring from pro racing in 2022. 

Sagan has, until the end of the 2022 season, won 3 consecutive World Championships, 12 Tour de France stages, 4 at the Vuelta a Espana and 2 at the Giro d'Italia, alongside 7 points classifications at the Tour and 1 in the Giro. His palmarés has over 120 wins, many of them at World Tour level, including aswell triumphs at Paris-Roubaix, Tour des Flandres, European Championships, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Saxo Bank Classic, GP de Montréal, GP de Québec, 8 national road race titles and dozens of other wins at World Tour level throughout many different races.

In 2007 and 2008, before racing as a pro rider, Sagan had already hinted at the success he was to have, riding in his final junior season in the latter to several wins at the Trofeo Karlsberg, Po Stajerski, Kroz Istru and Giro della Lunigiana. He was however a massive talent off the road aswell, having won the Mountain Bike World Championships and finished second at the Cyclocross World Championships.

Unlike modern cycling, the World Tour teams did not immediately grab on to the emerging talent, as his first pro season in 2009 was under the colours of local team Dukla Trencin - Merida, as an under-23 rider. Although it was a season only with two wins, it was enough to bring the attention of the main teams in the world, with Liquigas - Doimo signing him from 2010 onwards. The transfer was an immediate success, he was close to winning in his World Tour debut at the Tour Down Under, but soon at Paris-Nice he won two stages and the points classification having recently turned 20 years old - something that was unthinkable for the time. He backed that up with another World Tour-level win at the Tour de Romandie. He then went on to win two stages at the Tour of California, opening a tally that would go up to 17 over the years even as the race grew to World Tour level aswell.

He finished second at the GP de Montréal near the end of the season, and was a big rider to take into consideration for 2011, both in the sprints and hilly stages, where he specialized - in a field that was mostly composed of pure sprinters. 2011 saw him win 3 stages and the GC at the now cancelled Giro di Sardegna, and rode his first classics campaign, modest but in anticipation of what was to come later. He later on won at the Tour of California, twice at the Tour de Suisse, the national championships and 2 stages at the Tour de Pologne, where he won the GC - his first World Tour stage-race victory. These performances were wildly successful and had him debut in a Grand Tour at the 2011 Vuelta, where he won on three occasions, all in different circumstances.

2012 would be the start of a legacy for Sagan however. He's won stages early in the year at the Tour of Oman, Tirreno-Adriatico and Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde. In the classics he finished 4th at Milano-Sanremo, 2nd at Gent-Wevelgem, 5th at the Tour des Flandres and 3rd at Amstel Gold Race, and then went on to win 5 stages at the Tour of California and 4 at the Tour de Suisse including the early prologue, before another national title. Sagan was due to a Tour de France debut, where he won the points classification and three stages, creating aswell a rivalry with Fabian Cancellara who he beat on the first road stage to Seraing.

In 2013 Sagan came out as a classics man to fear. He won stages at the Tour of Oman and Tirreno-Adriatico once again, but in the classics his tally was even more impressive, winning Gent-Wevelgem and De Brabantse Pijl, and finishing second at Strade Bianche, E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Milano-Sanremo and Tour des Flandres. Sagan followed the exact same run-up to the Tour, collecting 2 stage wins in California and Suisse, the nationals, and at the Tour he only won 1 stage but his incomparable consistency saw him take the green jersey in Paris. He won 4 stages at the USA Pro Challenge, 3 at the Tour of Alberta and the GP de Montréal, cementing his love and wild success with racing in North America, which saw him increasingly more popular.

Peter Sagan during the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

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For the third season in a row, in 2014 he took his early wins at the Tour of Oman and Tirreno-Adriatico. 2nd at Strade Bianche, 3rd at Gent-Wevelgem and 6th at Paris-Roubaix saw him close to big wins, but he did win the E3 Saxo Bank Classic this time around. "If it works don't change it" applies to his run-up to the Tour, taking 1 more win in California and Suisse, alongside nationals, before a 3rd green jersey at the Tour which saw no win this time around. Sagan looked to ride the Vuelta aswell but could not take a win before abandoning in the second week, it wasn't his final race but it was a goodbye to the Italian team in the race where he broke through at the very top.

In 2015 Sagan signed with Tinkoff - Saxo, joining Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso, in the team ran by billionaire Russian oligarch Oleg Tinkoff. He was easily the most popular rider in the peloton and had the team behind him, taking his first win at Tirreno-Adriatico. 4th at Milano-Sanremo and Tour des Flandres followed. His winning ways were unblocked later however as he won two stages and the overall classification at the Tour of California, an impressive feat for a sprinter/classics rider in a race that included high mountains. 2 stage wins in Suisse and the national championships followed, with a 4th green jersey at the Tour added to the palmarès, with a frustrating 5 2nd places and no win in the race.

The end of the season was different however, as he raced the opening week of the Vuelta to take a stage win before abandoning with injuries from a crash with a motorbike, and in the 2015 Richmond World Championships Sagan soared to an incredibly popular win, attacking in the final cobbled sectors instead of relying on his sprint, and taking an excruciating solo win to take the rainbow jersey. His 2016 season was now different with the cameras even more on him if possible. With it however came more success, as he took his first monument win finally at the Tour des Flandres. 2nd at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, and the win at Gent-Wevelgem had anticipated the triumph.

Sagan then won 2 stages in California and Suisse, and returning to his winning ways at the Tour, winning on three different occasions and taking home the points classification, which many called his. It was Sagan's best-ever season finale, winning the GP de Québec, the first edition of the European Championships in Plumelec, France and taking two stage wins at the Eneco Tour before the World Championships. In mid-October in Qatar, on a race that was pan-flat and ideal for the sprinters, Sagan won his second consecutive World Championship by winning a reduced bunch sprint out of an echelons-struck race, beating Mark Cavendish and Tom Boonen.

He left the Tinkoff team on a high note, moving to BORA - hansgrohe in 2017. He won Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne early on in the year, and two stages at Tirreno-Adriatico. 3rd at Gent-Wevelgem and 2nd at both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Milano-Sanremo were his highlights of a disappointing spring where it seemed as if he was to finally win the Italian monument. He won 1 stage in California and 2 in Suisse soon after, and won the 3rd stage of the Tour before being disqualified in the 4th, ending his streak of green jerseys due to a change of line in a bunch sprint that led Mark Cavendish to crash into the barriers. Sagan did not stop his success however, winning a stage in the Tour of Poland, two at the BinkBank Tour and the GP de Québec before his title defense at the World Championships.

It was in Bergen, Norway, that Sagan won his third consecutive World title and made history, something never before achieved. He won a reduced bunch sprint after a hilly race, beating Alexander Kristoff to the line in a dramatic finale. 2018 began with a win at the Tour Down Under, and in the spring saw Sagan achieve his most desired title remaining - Paris-Roubaix. It was after an aggressive performance that Sagan beat Silvan Dillier in a sprint to win his second monument. He's also won Gent-Wevelgem, finished 4th at Amstel Gold Race, and 6th at Milano-Sanremo and the Tour des Flandres that year.

Peter Sagan

Sagan won a stage at the Tour de Suisse and the nationals before a return to the Tour de France, where he won three stages and a sixth points jersey. He raced a full Vuelta a Espana right after, however without any stage wins to add to his name, and the mountainous World Championships course saw him back to a normal equipment with BORA. 2019 saw him win at the Tour Down Under, but have a more modest sprint, with Top5 places at Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix but little more to show for. He's won 1 stage in both California and Suisse, before his 7th and final points jersey victory, with a stage win in the mix, making Tour de France history as he currently holds the record for the most titles in the classification.

He's finished second in the GP de Québec and 5th at the Yorkshire World Championships that year. It was time for change, with Sagan struggling to achieve the same results as a new generation emerged and personal problems - further enhanced by the pandemic - had him under pressure. 2020 saw his streak at the Tour end, as Sam Bennett dominated the bunch sprints and Sagan could only finish 2nd in the points classification. He made up for it at the Giro d'Italia soon after, where he also could not win the classification, but took a solo stage win from a breakaway on a hilly day.

In 2021 Sagan finished 4th at Milano-Sanremo and won stages at the Volta a Catalunya and Tour de Romandie as he eyed another Giro-Tour double. This time he succeeded at his goal at the Giro, conquering the points classification and a sprint stage. He abandoned the Tour however in the second week following a knee injury. He raced his home Tour de Slovaquie where he couldn't win a stage but won the overall classification due to his bonifications. Sagan was no longer an absolute leader at BORA, and so he moved away from the World Tour into TotalEnergies alongside his main block and the Specialized bikes, to remain a true leader.

His season was very complicated however, testing positive for Covid-19 in January and not having form throughout the spring, eventually not even participating in the cobbled monuments. He returned to racing at the Tour de Suisse where he took his first win with the French outfit but caught Covid once again. He returned at the national championships with another win, but at the Tour he lacked the climbing capacity of the past, and in the bunch sprints he only managed minor places. Towards the end of the season he showed glimpses of good form, ending his season with a 7th place in the hilly Wollongong World Championships. 

In August 2021, Sagan signed a two-year contract with Team TotalEnergies, a UCI ProTeam, from the 2022 season onwards. He was joined at the team by his Bora–Hansgrohe teammates Maciej Bodnar, Daniel Oss and his brother Juraj Sagan. He was due to make his first start with the team at the Vuelta a San Juan in late January, but the international event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina. Sagan took his first win for the team at the Tour de Suisse in June, winning the third stage into Grenchen. He later had to withdraw from the race, following a positive test (his third) for COVID-19. He won his eighth Slovak National Road Race Championships the following week, finishing nearly two minutes clear of his closest competitor, Lukáš Kubiš. At the Tour de France, Sagan failed to record any top-three stage finishes for the second year in a row, and he finished the season with a seventh-place finish in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Australia.

On 27 January 2023, while racing at the Vuelta a San Juan, Sagan announced that at the end of the 2023 season he will retire from road cycling and will aim to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in cross-country cycling. He finished second to Matúš Štoček at the Slovak National Road Race Championships, despite crashing in the final sprint. On October 1st 2023 he rode his last road race in France at the Tour of Vendée. He didn't manage to take a victory throughout the season, however he had the opportunity to say goodbye to the Tour de France, before focusing on Mountain Biking into 2024.

Peter Sagan during the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

In 2024 Peter Sagan focused entirely on mountain biking, following his retirement from road cycling in 2023. His goal was to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Despite his efforts and participation in several races to collect points, he failed to qualify for the Games. Slovakia did not collect enough points to secure a starting spot, which ultimately prevented his participation in the Olympics.

Farewell to Cycling

Sagan concluded his impressive career in 2024, not only as a road cyclist but also as a mountain biker. He chose to end his career the way he began: on mountain bike. This marked the end of an era for one of the most iconic and versatile riders of recent decades.

Sagan's focus this year was on ending his career with style, despite the disappointment of the missed Olympic opportunity. He remains a legend in cycling, with numerous victories and titles that will continue his legacy.