Peter Sagan: "I'm not twenty anymore. I look at things now with more experience"

Peter Sagan has had a rough season with several periods of illness, however he remains the face of TotalEnergies and into 2023 he's talked about his post-pro career, mindset differences and changes in the peloton since he's become a part of it.

“I support the Slovak team where I grew up and there are some strong guys there at the moment. But to now start a team like Alberto [Contador] did in Spain, that's not going to work with the sponsor model," Sagan said in an interview with Velonews, admitting that he has already been thinking of the years beyond his pro career.

Sagan has had two Covid-19 infections this year, the first saw him out of form in the spring where he failed to perform. Illnesses aside, the new batch of talents and his fading superiority means the Slovakian races differently, and has a different way of looking at racing as a whole aswell.

"I'm still the same, although it's true that I'm not twenty anymore. I look at things now with more experience and you get older. It doesn't get boring, but you can't do all the things you could when you were twenty," he admits.

"Then you're sick and you have to start all over again. But there is no time, because the race continues;" he continued. "Everything in your body suddenly works differently, so you have ups and downs and you feel depressed."

He has taken wins at the Tour de Suisse and National Championships this year, however it was still a negative for his first season away from World Tour since 2009. He's raced to seventh at the World Championships giving good signs of form, before calling it a season. In 2023 the French team has received wildcards for all World Tour races, and he is set to take advantage of that.

A return to the Tour de France is also imminent after the spring classics. "I was used to boys of 27 or 28 winning the Tour, but that's completely different. The level is improving every year and the young people are becoming more and more professional," Sagan concluded.