The worst adjective that can accompany him, the worst comment that can be made to a cyclist like him is to be anonymous. He has never been in his entire career, glitz and glam racer. But Peter Sagan (Zilina, 26 / I / 1990) is going unnoticed in what will be his last Tour de France.
He, who spent half his life dressed in the green jersey and has the record of seven regularity classifications on the Tour. He, who has shared a team with Nibali, Basso or Contador, and had always outshone his stars. He, who seemed to be playing in Eddy Merckx’s league, the only one who has been able to win three consecutive World Cups. He, who aroused so much fascination because he combed his hair like a rockstar, long hair and beard. He, who arrived at the age of 22 as a breath of fresh air, always running on the attack, free, father of the style of Van der Poel, Van Aert and even a bit of Pogacar or Evenepoel, has now grown tired. Too soon.
In a Tour where Pello Bilbao and Kwiatkowski, two cyclists born in the same year, and even more over 33 years old, like Poels or Woods, have won, the best classification of the Slovak Total Energies is eighth place at the finish line in Moulins, in the eleventh stage. It was the 92nd time that he had made a top-10 in the Tour, a statistic typical of the type of cyclist he was in his rosy days, capable of getting into a sprint, winning at a hill, causing fans or splitting the peloton in a high mountain stage just to look for points in an intermediate sprint… or for fun, what does it matter. He never needed a clear motive.
The gradual decline in its performance had been announced. The glow was fading. It will be, if he does not remedy it in Paris – he has never won the sprint on the Champs Elysées -, his fourth consecutive Tour in which he does not taste victory. He stayed stuck at 12 and not out of superstition.
In January, at the Vuelta de San Juan (Argentina), Sagan announced that it will be his last year. In 2024 he will dedicate himself to mountain biking and will finish his career in the event of the Paris Games (he already competed in the modality in Rio 2016).
His time at French Total Energies has been quite disappointing. And yet he has given them a stage in the Giro, one in the Volta a Catalunya, another in the Tour de Romandie and a fourth in the Tour of Switzerland, as well as two national championships. It wouldn’t be bad for anyone else not named Peter Sagan.
But the Slovak no longer enjoys. This is his twelfth Tour, all in a row, without fail, since 2012. “No one enjoys after having run ten,” he says. He passes the stages in the middle of the peloton, without being the protagonist, sunk in the classification, racing almost by obligation, more news for a penalty of 500 Swiss francs for an American relay to Burgaudeau (track action prohibited on the road) than for some flash.
And yet, this Friday, with 157.1 kilometers to go for Poligny, the surprise jumps out. The stage was drawn for the Sagan of its fullness. It goes up and down constantly, with steep slopes through the Jura Massif. A classic that he loves. And Sagan, number 211, goes only a few meters. With his unmistakable thighs and powerful calves. Is he. It is a mirage, a swan song. He doesn’t take long to be swallowed. It ends at more than 16 minutes… third from last. A gray epilogue for a great one.
