21/09/2022

"Perhaps I'll win the world title and then quit" - Peter Sagan teases shock retirement

The former 3 time World Champion, Peter Sagan has been speaking to Cyclingnews and gave a potentially bombshell revelation, “Perhaps I’ll win the world title and then quit the road…” Now this being Peter Sagan, the man with a tattoo of The Joker, you can probably assume that statement was made with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

Nevertheless, Sagan is definitely coming towards the autumn of his career, 32-years-old now it's been 7 years since his first rainbow jersey win. Subsequent wins in 2016 and 2017 saw him join an elite list of 3 time Road Race World Champions alongside Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen, Óscar Freire and the great Eddy Merckx.

Preview: Men's Elite World Championships Road Race. Alaphilippe fights for third world title, up against best in the world

Now as he once again aims to make history, Sagan sounds quietly confident of a 4th title "It suits a lot of riders and could go lots of ways, so it’ll be a finely balanced race. The important thing is to feel good and be up there. If you’re there on the last lap when the race is decided, anything can happen.”

A quiet 2022 season by his own lofty standards has seen the usually mischievous, Slovakian in a more reflective mood, “It hasn’t been my best season for sure, but it’s not been my worst and I’m not sure if I need to ‘save’ it. That’s not the way I look at my seasons or my career." He went on to add, “Cycling has changed, that’s for sure. The way we race has changed, the riders have changed and so the way we train has evolved too. These days, if you’re not at your very best, you can’t win. Nobody can."

Preliminary startlist men's Elite World Championships with Evenepoel, Pogacar, van Aert, van der Poel, Alaphilippe and Matthews

Still under contract at TotalEnergies for one more season, Sagan expressed his desire to return to the off road roots of his junior career once Wollongong is in the rear view mirror, “I want to focus on the road worlds and then possibly think about riding the Gravel World Championships, “It’s a cool event and in Italy, where I started my pro career, but there’s also a lot to pull together, including my other obligations, a travel plan and the bikes. I’m going to take it one World Championship at a time.”