Peter Sagan likely to miss Roubaix as manager reports reaction "to make big efforts"

One of the season's most talked transfers this past winter was that of Peter Sagan to TotalEnergies. The Slovakian national champion came with ambitions to the French team, however his first half of the season has been anything but good as a bout of Covid-19 impacted his form which he hasn't been able to recover properly.

Sagan told Gazzetta dello Sport that "I don't feel well, I often feel tired and I’ve got to find out why." It had been rumoured that Sagan may be the feeling the effects of long Covid, after a second infection this past January. His start to the season at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var saw him go through big difficulties in the climbs - where he used to be quited talented at.

His agent Gabriele Ubaldi told Tuttobiciweb that "Peter hasn’t been well recently. His legs hurt far more than normally and he finds it difficult to make big efforts. He sometimes feels light-headed and is often really tired."

"I have been working with him for nine years and I have never seen him retire from a race except for some bad falls. At the moment we do not know how his season will continue, he has the Paris-Roubaix scheduled but personally I think it is difficult that he can be at the start in good condition, even if clearly he will make the decision together with the team also based on the outcome of the exams he is taking," he added.

Despite glimpses of form at Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Torino where he was present in a couple of sprints, anytime there was climbing involved Sagan has struggled. He's attempted to go for the cobbled classics after Milano-Sanremo, but in neither did he manage to perform - although in Italy that was partly due to a mistimed puncture.

"The priority for everyone is obviously his health, so it is important to identify the cause of his discomfort. We are not worried that there may be something serious but we clearly need to resolve the situation," Ubaldi added.

Sagan was at the start of this week's Circuit Cycliste Sarthe but abandoned during the second stage. It was a last attempt to gather form towards Roubaix, but the plan has been all but successful: "The team is very close to him and is helping him to try to get out of this bad situation as soon as possible."