Peter Sagan: The quiet retirement of a cycling legend

Just two years ago, Peter Sagan was a defining figure in the peloton – celebrated for his three world championship titles, captivating personality, and transformative impact on the sport.

Yet, the cycling star virtually disappeared from the sport without a word following his final race at the Tour de Vendée on October 1, 2023 – highlighting the sudden change in status Sagan had enjoyed just a couple of years prior.

How did such an iconic rider experience such a rapid decline in profile? Let's look back at the career of a runner who left his mark with his strong personality and his victories – each more impressive than the last.

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Born in 1990 in Žilina, Slovakia, Peter Sagan started cycling at the age of nine when he joined the local Cyklistický spolok Žilina club, like his older brother Juraj, to go mountain biking.

Unlike his opponents, Peter Sagan sported an absolutely unique look: tennis shoes, oversized t-shirts... He stood out in the field, for more than one reason.

His alternative style is coupled with extraordinary attitude and ability. Indeed, while he was competing as a junior, Sagan sold his bike and did not get a new one in time for a competition. Remarkably, in a round of the Slovak Mountain Bike Cup, he competes with his sister's supermarket bike... and wins!

In 2007, at the age of 17, he became Slovak cyclo-cross champion and competed in several stages of the world and European circuits. He also takes up road cycling. The following year, he finished second in Paris-Roubaix junior after leading the race, as reported by The Inner Ring.

European champion and world junior cross-country champion in 2008, Peter Sagan dominates in this discipline... but for one rival, the Pole Michał Kwiatkowski. In 2009, the Slovak decided to concentrate mainly on road cycling.

In 2010, after a failed trial with the Quick-Step team which almost discouraged him from pursuing further, he joined the Liquigas-Doimo team and impressed doctors and managers with his physical strength – earning him the nickname "Terminator".

Sagan's debut is absolutely breathtaking. At 19, he competed in Paris-Nice and won two stages ahead of riders like Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez.

Peter Sagan continues his momentum by winning stages on the Romandie and California tours, at the same time winning the points classifications. He finished his first professional season with five victories.

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The following season, he won the Tour of Poland, a stage on the Tour de Suisse and three on the Vuelta, his first victories on a Grand Tour. He finished the season with fifteen victories but with disappointments in the classics.

After gaining confidence in 2011, Peter Sagan is approaching 2012 with enormous ambitions. He began by crushing the Tour of California with five stage victories (a new record) before doing the same at the Tour of Switzerland, with four victories.

He lined up for his first Tour de France and was an instant success, winning the 1st stage, then the 3rd, then the 6th. That year he won his first green jersey, that of the points classification, The Inner Ring recounted.

In 2013, he did it again at the Tour with a stage and the green jersey, but was frustrated in the classics with four second places at the Strade Bianche, on Milan-San Remo, at the E3 Grand Prix and on the Tour of Flanders. He still won Ghent-Wevelgem and the Flèche Brabançonne.

The year 2014 was quite disappointing for the Slovak who won "only" seven races, his lowest total since 2010. However, he won a third green jersey in three participations and the E3 Grand Prix.

In 2015, he joined Tinkoff-Saxo and changed his fortunes by winning his first rainbow jersey, ahead of Australian Michael Matthews during the world championships. He once again won the green jersey and a stage in the Vuelta.

In 2016 and 2017, Sagan would crush everything in his path. The Slovak marches into the Worlds by winning three consecutive world championships, in three different scenarios.

Untouchable, Sagan doesn't mind showing off a little swagger; an exceptional competitor, who does not mince his words and has immense self-confidence.

In 2018, Peter Sagan won Paris-Roubaix and became the first reigning world champion rider to win at the Roubaix Vélodrome since Bernard Hinault in 1981. He showed everyone he was the strongest in the Hell of the North.

From 2019, the Slovakian will gradually begin to fade into the background. He can no longer follow the attacks from Julian Alaphilippe and Wout Van Aert and is outclassed by the best sprinters. He won a seventh green jersey... his last.

In 2020, he finished the season with a single victory in the Giro d'Italia. The following season, he won the sprinters' jersey with a stage, but he was no longer really competing with the best in the classics.

In 2022, he joined the French team TotalEnergies. In two years, the Slovak won a stage in the Tour de Suisse, his 18th (a record).

Sagan finally announced the end of his road career in 2023. A discreet announcement for a cyclist who was often larger than life. Since 2019, Sagan had lost the spotlight to a new generation with Julian Alaphilippe, Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Van Der Poel, Tom Pidcock and Tadej Pogacar.

He competed in his last race in the Tour de Vendée on October 1, 2023, with the intention of focusing on mountain biking for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

However, he was forced to retire from mountain biking as well after suffering a small heart arrhythmia, as reported by Inside The Games, that prevented him from qualifying for the Olympics, putting a full stop on any kind of competitive career.

As he told Cyclingnews in October 2024: "I ride with people, and now in this period, I don't really want to race. I don't see myself, anymore, wanting to compete in cycling. I can say my stories and my experience, what I have in cycling, I already raced enough."

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