119 Facts About Peter Sagan

Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Team TotalEnergies.

Peter Sagan 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.

Peter Sagan's older brother Juraj Sagan is a professional cyclist, and is a member of the TotalEnergies team.

Peter Sagan started to ride bikes at the age of nine when he joined Cyklisticky spolok Zilina, a small local club in his home town.

Peter Sagan drew a significant amount of attention when he appeared at the Slovak Cup with a bicycle borrowed from his sister.

Peter Sagan had mistakenly sold his own and had not received a spare from the Velosprint sponsor in time.

Peter Sagan won the race despite riding a supermarket bike with poor brakes and limited gearing.

Peter Sagan was focused on continuing his career as a mountain bike rider, but his management company Optimus Agency approached several professional road cycling teams.

The first three-day test was performed in Quick-Step but Peter Sagan failed to secure a contract.

Peter Sagan was involved in a crash during the second stage but kept riding with 17 stitches in his arm and left thigh.

Alongside his two stage wins, Peter Sagan finished second in stage two into Limoges and third in stage six into Tourrettes-sur-Loup.

The combination of high stage placings and intermediate sprint points meant Peter Sagan won the points classification, and he finished 17th overall, three minutes and twenty one seconds behind race winner Alberto Contador, who praised him and predicted he would be a rival to watch in future races.

Peter Sagan finished fourth in the opening prologue of the Tour de Suisse, only three seconds behind Fabian Cancellara, but finished almost 11 minutes down in the second stage and did not take the start the following day alleging severe fatigue.

Peter Sagan rode the World Championships in Geelong, Australia for Slovakia, but failed to make an impact in the race.

Peter Sagan then won the third stage, a mountain stage, showing his versatility when he caught Damiano Cunego on the descent of the Grosse Scheidegg and then outsprinted him in the dash to the finish line.

Peter Sagan managed two other podium placings in the flat stages with an uphill sprint finish before winning stage 8 in another bunch sprint; he won the points classification at the race as well.

Peter Sagan rode the Tour de Pologne as a preparation for the Vuelta a Espana, his first Grand Tour appearance.

Peter Sagan took the leader's jersey after winning stage 4 and then he won stage 5.

Peter Sagan then won three stages at the Vuelta a Espana; on stage 6, he caused a split in the small lead group by leading them down the final descent crouched on his bike to increase speed.

Only three teammates and Pablo Lastras were able to keep up, and Peter Sagan went on to win the sprint.

Peter Sagan began the season in good form, winning a stage and the points classification in the Tour of Oman.

Peter Sagan worked his way back to the bunch and avoided a crash that occurred with 3 kilometres left.

On Stage 2, Peter Sagan crashed on the Empire Grade climb, but he was able to return to the peloton for the sprint finish; he was first out of the final corner and accelerated to the finish, taking his second victory in a row.

Peter Sagan took his fifth stage win on the final day in Los Angeles, to win the sprints classification.

Peter Sagan demonstrated good form in the World Tour classified Tour de Suisse by winning four stages and the points classification.

Peter Sagan kicked things off with a win in the opening prologue, besting local favourite and time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara by 4 seconds over the 7.3-kilometre course.

Peter Sagan jumped out of his teammate's wheel to get into Burghardt's slipstream and sailed past him to take the win.

Peter Sagan thanked his team for their efforts afterward, especially Moreno Moser.

The final kilometres in Bischofszell were filled with urban obstacles such as roundabouts and sharp bends, and Peter Sagan stayed towards the head of the bunch.

Peter Sagan started the Tour de France by finishing in 53rd place on the prologue after losing some time in the corners.

Peter Sagan 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 and out sprinting him and Edvald Boasson Hagen.

Peter Sagan finished the Tour with three stage wins and as winner of the points classification, earning the "most combative" rider award on the mountainous Stage 14.

Peter Sagan won a Porsche since he made a bet with the Liquigas management that he could win two stages and the points classification.

In 2013, Peter Sagan's team changed its name to Cannondale, since Liquigas ended its cycling sponsorship after eight years.

Peter Sagan started his season at the Tour de San Luis, finishing second to Mattia Gavazzi on the final stage.

Peter Sagan took his first victory of the season on the second stage of the Tour of Oman, as he broke away from a chasing group in the final kilometres, joined and dropped three escapees before soloing to the win.

Peter Sagan won again the following day, on the same parcours as the second stage of the 2012 Tour of Oman, which he had won.

Peter Sagan won his comeback race, the Gran Premio Citta di Camaiore, by out sprinting a group of twelve riders.

Peter Sagan finished second at Strade Bianche, behind his teammate Moreno Moser; Sagan covered the late break attempts to help Moser's bid for victory, then attacked himself to complete a one-two for Cannondale.

Peter Sagan broke away from a group of ten riders with 4 kilometres remaining and won solo, performing a series of wheelies after crossing the line.

Two days later, Peter Sagan carried his form to the Three Days of De Panne, where he won a close sprint on the first stage ahead of Arnaud Demare of FDJ.

Demare complained to the race officials that Peter Sagan had swerved slightly in the final metres, but the race result was not altered.

Peter Sagan finished second at the Tour of Flanders after breaking away with Fabian Cancellara and joining Jurgen Roelandts.

Cancellara attacked on the last climb, the Paterberg, dropped Peter Sagan and went on to win solo.

Peter Sagan caused some controversy on the podium by pinching the bottom of podium girl Maja Leye, and after a media backlash, he apologised the next day.

Peter Sagan then went on to win the race, where he chased an attack by Greg Van Avermaet in the final kilometres.

Only Philippe Gilbert could follow, and Peter Sagan was faster in the final sprint.

Peter Sagan concluded the race by winning the last stage in Santa Rosa, securing the sprints classification jersey for the fourth year in a row.

On stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse, Peter Sagan made the selection on the first-category Hasliberg climb along with Rui Costa, Roman Kreuziger and Mathias Frank, and took the stage victory from the quartet.

Peter Sagan cemented his victory in the points classification by taking the eighth stage, which was flatter and more suited to the sprinters, ahead of Daniele Bennati and Gilbert.

Peter Sagan then went on to win the Slovak National Road Race Championships for the third time, taking the national champion's jersey to the Tour de France.

At the Tour de France, Peter Sagan scored three second-place finishes before winning stage 7 to Albi, after his team worked to shed the pure sprinters on the Category 2 Col de la Croix de Mounis.

Peter Sagan outsprinted the select group he was part of, crossing the line before John Degenkolb.

Peter Sagan retained the green jersey as leader of the points classification to Paris and dyed his beard green to underline that victory.

Peter Sagan then went on to win the sprints classification and numerous stages in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and the Tour of Alberta.

Peter Sagan fell short of success in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec where he accelerated on one of the final climbs but faded in sight of the finishing line.

Peter Sagan started the 2014 season at the Tour de San Luis, where he finished second on the final stage.

Peter Sagan won the penultimate stage of the Tour of California, and won the sprints classification, for the fifth successive year.

The seventh of those results came in a sprint with Matteo Trentin, where Peter Sagan had to settle for second by a few millimetres in the photo finish.

Peter Sagan went on to compete in the Clasica de San Sebastian but withdrew.

Peter Sagan then headed to the Vuelta a Espana and had a difficult first week, his first notable result coming with a third place on Stage 8.

Peter Sagan later withdrew from the race on Stage 14.

Peter Sagan made his return at the Coppa Bernocchi, where he acted as a lead-out man for teammate Elia Viviani, who won.

In November 2014, Peter Sagan climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with his new team as a team-building experience.

Peter Sagan started his season at the Tour of Qatar, taking his first podium spots with second-place finishes on stages four, and five, and won the young rider classification.

Peter Sagan finished the race as winner of the points classification.

On stage 3, Peter Sagan led the peloton across the line behind breakaway winner Toms Skujins, maintaining his second-place overall standing.

Peter Sagan won the fourth stage ahead of Wouter Wippert and Cavendish; as he crossed the finish, Peter Sagan banged his front wheel twice on the tarmac and celebrated with a no-footed wheelie.

Third on stage five, Peter Sagan took the race lead with victory on the sixth stage, a 10.6-kilometre individual time trial starting and finishing at the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park.

Second the following day, Peter Sagan won the sixth stage in a bunch sprint for his eleventh stage victory at the race, equalling the record of Hugo Koblet and Ferdinand Kubler.

Peter Sagan then won both the Slovak National Time Trial Championships, and the Slovak National Road Race Championships in his hometown of Zilina.

Peter Sagan was third to Cavendish and Greipel on the seventh stage, and second to Greg Van Avermaet on the thirteenth stage.

On Stage 15, Peter Sagan featured again in the breakaway and took fourth position in the final sprint; he won the day's combativity award for his efforts.

On Stage 16, Ruben Plaza escaped the leading group on the Col de Manse, and Peter Sagan attempted to chase him down on the descent into Gap, but to no avail as Plaza soloed to victory.

Peter Sagan came in second and was awarded 'most combative' of the day again.

Peter Sagan amassed five second places during the Tour de France, and won the points classification by a margin of 66 points over Greipel.

Peter Sagan broke his Grand Tour victory drought at the Vuelta a Espana by outsprinting Nacer Bouhanni and John Degenkolb on the third stage.

Peter Sagan finished the season at the Abu Dhabi Tour, where he recorded two second-place finishes.

Peter Sagan started his season at the Tour de San Luis, taking his first podium place of the year on Stage 2 by finishing second.

Peter Sagan then came in fourth at the Strade Bianche, being part of the four-man decisive move, but was dropped on the final climb to Siena.

Peter Sagan claimed his eighth second-place finish following his World Championship win at E3 Harelbeke, before taking his first win as world champion at Gent-Wevelgem, becoming the first reigning world champion to win the race since Rik Van Looy in 1962.

Peter Sagan dedicated the win to Antoine Demoitie and Daan Myngheer, two cyclists that had died in the weeks prior to the race.

Peter Sagan clinched the sprints classification with another second-place finish on the final stage.

At the Tour de Suisse, Peter Sagan took his record twelfth stage victory with a win on the second stage around Baar.

Peter Sagan won the next day, joining the late breakaway after attacking the reduced peloton at the end of a climb, and outsprinted Michael Albasini and Silvan Dillier.

Peter Sagan then won the second stage, which featured a finish on a category 3 climb, to claim his first yellow jersey as leader of the general classification; he was unaware he had won upon reaching the finish line, thinking more riders from the breakaway had crossed the line before him.

Peter Sagan was part of the breakaway on stage 10; he finished second to Michael Matthews and won the most combative award for his efforts.

Peter Sagan claimed his third stage victory by winning stage 16 in Bern, beating Kristoff in the sprint by few centimetres.

Peter Sagan finished second to Greipel on the last stage, finishing on the Champs-Elysees, securing his green jersey.

At the Rio Olympics, Peter Sagan did not contest the road race, instead competing in the cross-country mountain biking event.

Peter Sagan suffered a puncture on the second lap while he was in third position on the trail, and finished a lapped 35th.

Peter Sagan came into the finish with the other 24 breakaway riders, and won the subsequent bunch sprint ahead of Great Britain's Mark Cavendish and Tom Boonen of Belgium, respectively.

Peter Sagan began the 2017 season at the Tour Down Under, where he finished in second place on stages 3,4 and 6.

Peter Sagan entered Strade Bianche as a race favourite, but following a crash roughly 75 kilometres into the race, he abandoned 20 kilometres later citing illness.

Peter 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.

Peter Sagan sprinted to another victory on the fifth stage, and ultimately won the points classification despite an incident during the final time trial stage of the race, when a woman and her dog abruptly crossed his path and he had to swerve in avoidance.

Kwiatkowski had the better of him in the end after a close sprint on the Via Roma, and Peter Sagan finished in second place.

Peter Sagan entered the Tour of Flanders in hopes of defending his title.

Peter Sagan won the third stage of the Tour de France from an uphill sprint in Vittel.

Opinions have been largely negative on whether Peter Sagan should be disqualified from the race.

Months after the Tour de France, Peter Sagan was officially exonerated by the UCI.

Peter Sagan stated he would skip the Vuelta a Espana, opting to train for an unprecedented third consecutive victory at the UCI Road World Championships in Norway.

Two weeks later, Peter Sagan won the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in a bunch sprint, ahead of Norway's Alexander Kristoff and Australia's Michael Matthews, to become the first male rider to win three consecutive world road race titles.

Peter Sagan kicked off the 2018 season by winning the Down Under Classic, the prelude criterium to the Tour Down Under.

Peter Sagan skipped the Belgian season openers to prepare at an altitude camp in the Sierra Nevada before starting his European campaign in Italy.

Only Silvan Dillier could keep up and Peter Sagan beat Dillier in a two-up sprint on the Roubaix Velodrome.

Peter Sagan closed his classics campaign with fourth place in the Amstel Gold Race.

In Stage 2, Peter Sagan won the stage and earned the green jersey and wore it for the rest of the tour.

Peter Sagan won Stages 5 and 13, before he crashed on a descent during stage 17, but ultimately won the points classification for a record-equalling sixth time.

Peter Sagan won stages at the Tour California and the Tour de Suisse, prior to the Tour de France.

Peter Sagan won the fifth stage at the Tour de France, and took eight other top-five stage finishes as he surpassed Erik Zabel with his seventh points classification victory.

In 2020, Peter Sagan started his season at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina, where he finished second to Fernando Gaviria on the final stage.

At the Tour de France, Peter Sagan failed to win a stage and finished second to Sam Bennett in the points classification.

Peter Sagan later had to withdraw from the race, following a positive test for COVID-19.

Peter Sagan won his eighth Slovak National Road Race Championships the following week, finishing nearly two minutes clear of his closest competitor, Lukas Kubis.

At the Tour de France, Peter 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, Peter 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.

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

The younger Peter Sagan "struggled like a madman" during the incident giving a policeman a minor injury.