Peter Sagan

In 2020, Sagan started his season at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina. He finished second on the seventh and last stage, his best result of the event. He then went on to race Paris-Nice instead of Tirreno Adriatico when the latter race was cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. The springs classics were also cancelled or postponed.

Sagan kicked off the 2018 season by winning the People's Choice Classic, the prelude criterium to the Tour Down Under. Two days later, he took third place in the first stage of the 2018 Tour Down Under in a bunch sprint to Andre Greipel and Caleb Ewan. On Stage 4, Sagan maintained the pace of the lead group up Norton Summit, and was able to take his first World Tour win of the season following a descent to the finish. He skipped the Belgian season openers to prepare at altitude camp in the Sierra Nevada before starting his European campaign in Italy. He finished eighth in Strade Bianche, 43rd overall in Tirreno–Adriatico, and sixth in Milan–San Remo.

Sagan is a practising Catholic and met Pope Francis in Vatican City in January 2018.

Following his win at the 2017 UCI World Road Race Championships, Sagan wore the rainbow jersey for the duration of 2018 for an unprecedented third consecutive season. He currently represents the German team Bora-Hansgrohe, which he joined in 2017.

Sagan began the 2017 season at the Tour Down Under where he finished in second place on stages 3, 4 and 6. After training for the next few weeks, Sagan finished in second place at the 2017 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to Olympic Road Race Champion Greg Van Avermaet. The following day, Sagan attacked the breakaway in the final few hundred meters to take his first victory of the season at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. This also marked the first ever victory for the new Bora-Hansgrohe cycling team, and was Sagan's 90th win of his career. Sagan entered the 2017 Strade Bianche as a race favorite, but following a crash roughly 75 km into the race, he abandoned 20 km later citing illness. Sagan claimed he possibly needed stitches to his hand following that crash and would hope to be ready for the start of his next race later in the week. Sagan achieved his second victory of the season by sprinting to the line ahead of the pack in Stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico. Two days later, Sagan sprinted to another victory in Stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico following a steep climb against a number of general classification opponents. The next day, he took second place to Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria and secured the Red Jersey of the Points Classification. During the final time trial stage of the race, Sagan narrowly avoided injury by swerving out of the way when a woman and her dog abruptly crossed his path. He made light of the situation prior to the podium ceremony.

Following his disqualification from the Tour, the World Champion turned his focus to the 2017 Tour de Pologne, where he won Stage 1. He also stated he would skip the 2017 Vuelta a España, opting to train for an unprecedented third consecutive victory at the 2017 UCI Road World Championships in Norway.

On 8 September, Sagan sprinted to his 100th career victory at 2017 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. On 24 September, Sagan won the World Championship for the third consecutive year at the World Road Race Championships in Bergen, Norway. He began the final climb in 80th position and finished in a bunch sprint ahead of Norway's Alexander Kristoff and Australia's Michael Matthews.

Sagan at a press conference after winning his first yellow jersey at the 2016 Tour de France

After it was announced that his current team Tinkoff will be disbanding at the end of the 2016 season, Sagan's agent Lombardi negotiated a new contract with Bora–Hansgrohe. According to Oleg Tinkov, the owner of Tinkoff team, Sagan is expected to earn €6 million a year.

Sagan was married to Katarína Smolková. They married on 11 November 2015 in Slovakia and resided in Monaco. Their first child, Marlon, was born on 25 October 2017. On 18 July 2018 Peter Sagan announced their separation.

Sagan started the 2014 season at the Tour de San Luis, where he finished second on the final stage. Then he competed at Dubai Tour, where he took second and third place stage finishes; he lost out to Marcel Kittel on both occasions. He finished second at Strade Bianche again, this time he was defeated by Michał Kwiatkowski. The two riders attacked with 21 km (13.0 mi) to go, but Kwiatkowski was stronger on the final climb. At Tirreno–Adriatico Sagan won one stage and the points classification. Sagan finished tenth in Milan–San Remo, despite being considered one of pre-race favorites. Then he went on to win E3 Harelbeke and he finished 3rd in Gent–Wevelgem. Sagan's next attempt to win his first monument was at the Tour of Flanders, but he finished 16th. A week later Sagan competed at Paris–Roubaix, where he finished 6th. Sagan won the penultimate stage of the Tour of California, and also won the sprints classification, for the fifth successive year.

Sagan is considered one of cycling's greatest talents, having earned many prestigious victories, including three consecutive World Championships, one European Championship, two Paris–Nice stages, seven Tirreno–Adriatico stages, one in the Tour de Romandie, three and the overall classification in the Tour de Pologne, a record seventeen stages and the overall in the Tour of California, and another fifteen in the Tour de Suisse. He has won a number of classics, including the Monument races Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders, three Gent–Wevelgem races and E3 Harelbeke, together with sixteen stages in Grand Tours: twelve at the Tour de France and four at the Vuelta a España. After having become the first rider to win the points classification of the Tour de France on his first five attempts, he went on to win it a record seven times, in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Born in Žilina, Peter Sagan is the youngest child among three brothers and a sister. He was brought up by his sister as his parents spent most of the day taking care of a small grocery shop they own in his hometown. His older brother Juraj Sagan is also a professional cyclist, and is also a member of the Bora–Hansgrohe team.

Sagan's first professional cycling opportunity came along when he was hired by the Dukla Trenčín–Merida team, a Slovak outfit in the Continental (third) division. In 2008, he won the Mountain Bike Junior World Championship in Val di Sole. That same year he also finished second in the Cyclocross Junior World Championships in Treviso and the Junior Paris–Roubaix.

Sagan was focused on to continue his career as a mountain bike rider, but his management company Optimus Agency approached several professional road cycling teams. They received four answers to bring young Sagan for testing. The first three-day test was performed in Quick-Step but Sagan failed to secure a contract. His frustration was so deep that he decided to quit road cycling, however pressed by his family he gave it a try with Liquigas–Doimo and succeeded. In November 2009, Liquigas' Zanatta, Slongo and Zanardo offered Sagan, who was not able to speak a single word in Italian nor in English, a ten-month contract valued 10,000 EUR. His first ever professional salary was 1,000 EUR a month. The agreement was later replaced by a two-year contract (2010–2011) with an option to ride mountain bikes for Cannondale. In April 2010 the contract was extended to 2012. Liquigas doctors and managers were stunned by results of Sagan's medical tests, saying that they had never seen a 19-year-old rider as physically strong and capable. During the training camp Sagan destroyed more mountain bikes than any other rider due to his ability to put a bike through its paces. This earned him the nickname "Terminator".

After taking a break during July, he returned to form later in the season, securing high placings in a number of European races as well as second place in the inaugural Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. He rode the World Championships in Geelong, Australia for Slovakia, but failed to make an impact in the long race. He planned to ride several late season races including Paris–Tours and the Giro di Lombardia but an intestinal issue forced him out of the former and weakened him in the latter.

On the first stage of the Tour of California, Sagan had a puncture with 7 kilometres to go. He worked his way back to the bunch and avoided a crash that occurred with 3 kilometres left in the race. His teammate Daniel Oss piloted him in the last few kilometres, and Sagan out sprinted his rivals, taking the stage win. The very next day, he won again on stage 2, in Santa Cruz. After suffering a crash in the Empire Grade climb, he got back on and his team dragged him to the last corner of the race, a right bend with the finish line only a couple hundred metres away. Sagan was first out of the corner and accelerated to the finish, taking his second victory in a row. On the third stage, Sagan took his third consecutive victory by a very slim margin over Heinrich Haussler (Garmin–Barracuda) for the third time in a row. He would go on to win again on the fourth stage in a bunch finish. After the dust settled on the Tour, Sagan had five stage wins, including the eighth and final stage in Los Angeles and the points classification, shattering the previous record of Tour of California stage wins with a cumulative of eight stages, the previous mark attained by Levi Leipheimer of the Omega Pharma–Quick-Step squad with six. He was also awarded for his performance with the sprinter's jersey.

Sagan demonstrated good form once again in the World Tour classified Tour de Suisse by winning four stages and the points classification. He kicked things off with a somewhat surprising win in the opening prologue, besting local favorite and time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack–Nissan) by 4 seconds over the 7.3 km (4.5 mi) course. The second stage was not suited for him since it was a mountainous affair, but he did prevail on stage 3, in a thrilling finish where the bunch caught the final two escapees inside the final kilometer. The asphalt was wet with rain and Sagan's foot came out of his pedal in one of the last bend, but he managed to stay upright and pass Orica–GreenEDGE's Baden Cooke before the line, arms in the air and wearing the white jersey awarded to the best sprinter. The very next day, he took his third victory in four days, once again in rainy conditions. With about 350 metres to go, Marcus Burghardt of BMC Racing Team launched a sprint for the finish line. Sagan jumped out of his teammate's wheel to get into Burghardt's slipstream and sailed past him to take the win. He thanked his team for their efforts afterward, especially Moreno Moser, who "shut down every attack at the end of the race, letting me do the sprint I wanted; big thanks to Moreno and I hope I can return the favour soon." The next win came on stage 6, the last stage of the Tour which was suited to the sprinters. The final kilometres in Bischofszell were filled with urban obstacles such as roundabouts and sharp bends, and Sagan stayed with the head of the bunch. With 200 metres to go, Sagan took a left bend with a small patch of cobbles in it at full speed. He scraped the barriers as he came out of the corner with Orica–GreenEDGE's Michael Albasini on his left, and sprinted his way to victory. When asked about the seemingly close call he had in the aforementioned turn, the Slovak answered: "The finishes in the Tour de Suisse are never straight so you need to invent something to find some space [...]".

In 2013, Sagan's team changed its name to Cannondale, since Liquigas ended its cycling sponsorship after eight years. Sagan started his season at the Tour de San Luis, coming close to success in the last stage by finishing second behind Mattia Gavazzi. He took his first victory of the season on the second stage of the Tour of Oman. Sagan broke away from a group of chasers in the final kilometres, joined three escapees but continued his effort to bank a solo win. He won again the very next day on a stage that featured the same course as stage 2 of the 2012 edition, which he had won as well. Before the start of stage 5, Sagan announced his withdrawal due to bronchitis. He scored a victory in his very first comeback race, the Gran Premio Città di Camaiore by out sprinting a group of twelve riders. He finished second at Strade Bianche, while his teammate Moreno Moser won the event. Sagan covered the late break attempts to help Moser's bid for victory, then attacked himself to complete a one-two for Cannondale. He went on to win stages 3 and 6 of Tirreno–Adriatico. On stage 3, he out sprinted Mark Cavendish and André Greipel in pouring rain after his team accelerated the race's speed on a small climb nearing the finish. On stage 6, Sagan survived a climb featuring a section at a slated 30% incline, and formed a breakaway with former teammate Vincenzo Nibali and Joaquim Rodríguez. He beat both to the sprint.

Sagan's excellent form meant he entered Milan–San Remo as the hot favourite for victory, however, he was beaten into second place in the sprint by MTN–Qhubeka's Gerald Ciolek. He won the Gent–Wevelgem race, which had been shortened by 90 kilometres (56 mi) due to extreme cold. Sagan broke away from a group of 10 riders with 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) remaining and won solo, performing a series of wheelies after crossing the line. Two days later, Sagan carried his good form to the Three Days of De Panne, where he won a close sprint ahead of Arnaud Démare of FDJ. Démare complained to the race officials that Sagan had swerved slightly in the final metres, but to no avail as they maintained Sagan's victory. Sagan finished second at the Tour of Flanders after breaking away with Fabian Cancellara and joining Jürgen Roelandts. Cancellara attacked on the last climb, the Paterberg, dropped Sagan and went on to win solo. Sagan caused some controversy on the podium by pinching the bottom of a podium girl, and after a media backlash, he apologized the next day. At the sign-up ceremony before the Brabantse Pijl, Sagan presented his apologies in person to the podium girl (Maja Leye) and gave her a flower bouquet. He then went on to win the race, where he chased an attack by Greg Van Avermaet in the final kilometers. Only Philippe Gilbert could follow, and Sagan was faster in the final dash for the line. His next win came in May on stage 3 of the Tour of California. In the somewhat hectic massive sprint, Sagan came from a long way to beat Michael Matthews, finding a passage on the right side of the road at the last moment. He concluded the Tour by winning the last stage in Santa Rosa, securing the points classification jersey for the fourth year in a row.

The successful year of 2013 was also acknowledged in Slovakia, where he became the Athlete of the Year, for the first time in his career.

In early August, Sagan and his older brother Juraj Sagan signed a three-year contract with Tinkoff–Saxo starting in 2015. The team's owner Oleg Tinkov confirmed Sagan's salary reached €4.5 million a year.

Sagan started his season at the Tour of Qatar, taking his first podium spot of the season on Stage 4 by finishing second. He finished second again the next day. He concluded the race first in the youth classification to win the white jersey. He subsequently headed to the Tour of Oman, failing to get his first season victory. He then participated to Tirreno–Adriatico, finishing second of the first and second stage. On Stage 6, Sagan took his first victory under the Tinkoff-Saxo colors in a flat stage which featured a lot of rain and breaks in the peloton. He finished the stage race in first in the points classification to earn the red jersey. He went on to compete in the Monument race Milan–San Remo, where he sprinted to a fourth position. In E3 Harelbeke, Sagan got clear of the main group with Geraint Thomas and Zdenek Stybar on the Oude Kwaremont with 41 kilometers left, but faded badly as Thomas attacked with 4 kilometers to go and finished 30th. Two days later, he finished tenth of Gent–Wevelgem, as only 39 riders finished the race. In April, he awarded himself the fourth place of the Tour of Flanders. He was chasing the leading duet with Greg Van Avermaet, but cracked in the finale, just like he did in the E3 Harelbeke. At Paris-Roubaix, he was in a group chasing the leaders, but had a mechanical problem with his shifter and had to change his bike in the final 10 kilometers, costing him precious time. He finished 23rd.

Sagan started his season at the Tour de San Luis, taking his first podium place of the year on Stage 2 by finishing second. In February, after a three-week training camp in Spain's Sierra Nevada, he competed in the opening races of the Belgian classics season, finishing second in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and seventh in Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne. He then came in fourth at the Strade Bianche, being part of the four-man decisive move, but getting dropped on the final climb to Siena. He took part in Tirreno–Adriatico, where he finished second in the overall classification, a single second behind Greg Van Avermaet. This edition of the race was different in character from other recent editions since the only mountainous stage had been cancelled due to snow. Sagan also won the points classification. Sagan claimed his eighth second-place finish without a win since the World Championship at the Belgian road cycling classic E3 Harelbeke, before taking his first win as a world champion in Gent-Wevelgem, becoming the first reigning world champion to win the race since Rik Van Looy in 1962. Upon his win at Gent-Wevelgem Sagan became the World No.1 in the newly formed rankings.

His next race was the Mountain Bike race at the Olympics. He suffered a puncture on the second lap while he was in third position on the trail, and did not score a significant result as a consequence. After abandoning the GP de Plouay – Bretagne due to a virus, he went on to win the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, finished second in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and won the first ever Elite Men's European Road Championships.

Sagan came in second at Milan–San Remo after initiating a move near the finish on the slope of the Poggio, bringing with him Michał Kwiatkowski and Julian Alaphilippe. The Pole Kwiatkowski had the better of him in the end after a close sprint on the Via Roma, and he settled for second place. Sagan entered the 2017 Tour of Flanders in hopes of defending his title. With 55 km to go, Philippe Gilbert attacked the peloton in a solo breakaway. In an attempt to close that gap, Sagan began to chase with rival Greg Van Avermaet. With 16.9 km to go and 59 seconds down, Sagan's handlebar was caught on a jacket draped over the spectator barrier on the Oude Kwaremont causing him to crash, and ruining his chances of victory. Following the race, he stated, "Unfortunately, my crash at the Oude Kwaremont meant it was all over. I don't know how I crashed but these things are a part of cycling." In the 2017 Tour de Suisse, Sagan managed to achieve another two victories – in stages 5 and 8. He also dominated the points classification.

Moving on to the cobbled classics, he was 26th in E3 Harelbeke before winning his third and record-equalizing Gent–Wevelgem. One week later he finished sixth in the Tour of Flanders. On 8 April, Sagan won Paris–Roubaix with an attack at 55 km from the finish to join an earlier break. Only Silvan Dillier could keep up and Sagan beat the Swiss in a two-up sprint on the Roubaix Velodrome. He closed his classics campaign with fourth place in the Amstel Gold Race.

In the Tour de France, Sagan finished 2nd Stage 1 behind Fernando Gaviria. In Stage 2, Sagan won the stage and earned the green jersey and wore it for the rest of the tour. Sagan won Stage 5 and Stage 13. He crashed on a descent during stage 17, but finished and won the points classification.

Sagan started the 2012 Tour de France by finishing in 53rd place on the Prologue after losing some time in the corners. He won the first stage in Seraing atop a small climb after breaking away with a little more than a kilometre to go with Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack–Nissan) and out sprinting him and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky). According to Sagan's SRM file, in the final 1.5 km when Cancellara initiated the move, Sagan ramped up his cadence to over 120rpm to stay with him and averaged 493 watts of power in the last 2 minutes 20 seconds of the race. His power output surged to 1,236 watts in the finale, averaging 970 watts in the last 200 metres. On Stage 3, he came atop the final Category 4 climb in Boulogne-sur-Mer sprinting away and leaving the field behind. As he crossed the finish line, which was situated at the end of the 700-metre slope, he made a gesture imitating the run of Forrest Gump. He won again on Stage 6, which had a course suited for a bunch sprint and finished in Metz. He beat pure sprinters André Greipel of Lotto–Belisol and Matthew Goss of the Orica–GreenEDGE squad by a little more than a bike length. He finished the Tour with 3 stage wins and as winner of the points classification, also earning the "most combative" rider award on the mountainous Stage 14. He won a Porsche since he made a bet with the Liquigas management that he could win 2 stages and the points classification.

Sagan was set to continue in 2011 with the same team, now renamed Liquigas–Cannondale. At a team training camp in December 2010, Sagan said that his first goal for the 2011 season would be Milan–San Remo.

Liquigas selected Sagan for his first Pro Tour road race Tour Down Under in January 2010 at the age of 19. He was involved in a crash during the second stage but kept riding with 17 stitches in his arm and left thigh. In the queen stage to Willunga he joined an attack over the last climb with Cadel Evans, Alejandro Valverde and Luis León Sánchez. The four fought to hold off the sprinters' group over the next 20 kilometres, with Sánchez taking the win.

Sagan won his first and second Pro Tour stages during the 2010 Paris–Nice road race. Sagan was not initially nominated for the race, but joined the team after his teammate Maciej Bodnar broke his collarbone. His first stage win was gained on 10 March 2010, when Sagan joined a move initiated by Nicolas Roche on the final climb of the third stage into Aurillac and out-sprinted Roche and Joaquim Rodríguez for the stage win. This stage win also gave Sagan the lead in the points classification, giving him the green jersey. Sagan's second Pro Tour win came two days later from a solo attack in the fifth stage into Aix-en-Provence. Attacking three kilometres from the finish, on a steep climb, Sagan was able to hold off the Peloton to claim the win. Alongside his two-stage wins, Sagan also finished second in stage two at Limoges and third in stage six into Tourrettes-sur-Loup. The combination of high stage placings and intermediate sprint points won Sagan the points classification for 2010. He finished the race 17th, three minutes and twenty one seconds behind race winner Alberto Contador, who praised the young Slovak and predicted he would be a rival to watch in future races. He also finished eighth in the young rider classification.

At the 2010 Tour of California, Sagan won the 5th and the 6th stage, coming in with the GC contenders each time. After missing the move up Bonny Doon on stage 3, he was 17 seconds back. The two stage wins that he took not only moved him into the third place in the general classification but also put him into the jersey of the leader of the points classification. Going into the 7th Stage Time Trial through Los Angeles, he was only 9 seconds back. Even though he had prior success in Prologues, this Time Trial was slightly too long, and he lost 1 minute and 35 seconds on GC going into the final stage. Even though he was dropped out of the select GC group on the last lap of the 20.4 miles (32.8 km) circuit, he secured both the Youth Competition and the Points Classification. He ended up 8th in the overall, behind seasoned veterans like Levi Leipheimer, Michael Rogers, David Zabriskie, Chris Horner, and Jens Voigt. Sagan finished fourth in the opening prologue of the 2010 Tour de Suisse, only three seconds behind Fabian Cancellara, but finished almost 11 minutes down in the second stage and didn't take the start the following day alleging severe fatigue.

In the first stage of the Tour de France Sagan came in third. He then won the second stage, which featured a finish on a category 3 climb, to claim the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification for the first time in his career. He mentioned that he did not know he had won upon reaching the finish line, thinking more riders from the breakaway had crossed the line before him. Sagan was part of the breakaway on stage 10. He finished second to Michael Matthews and won the most combative award for his efforts. On the very next stage, Sagan broke away with yellow jersey wearer Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and his teammate Maciej Bodnar in the final kilometers. He outsprinted Froome to foil the sprinters' plans. After the stage, asked why he undertook such a daring move, he said: "We are artists". Sagan claimed his 3rd victory by winning stage 16 in Bern, beating Alexander Kristoff in a sprint by few centimetres. He finished second to Greipel on the last stage in the Champs Élysées, securing his green jersey. He also was elected "most combative" rider of the whole Tour.

Peter Sagan (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈpɛtɛr ˈsaɡan] ; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Bora–Hansgrohe. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior Mountain Bike World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing.

On 27 September, Sagan won the World Road Race Championships in Richmond, Virginia. He attacked on 23rd Street, a short cobbled climb situated a little more than two kilometers from the finish to win solo. He finished the season at the Abu Dhabi Tour, where he recorded two second-place finishes.

In the first week of the Tour de France, Sagan scored seven top-5 finishes in a row, without registering a victory, a feat that had not been recorded since Charles Pélissier did eight top-5 finishes in a row in 1914. The seventh of those result came as a very close photofinish sprint between Sagan and Matteo Trentin, where Sagan had to settle for second by a few millimeters.