Peter Sagan rides off into the sunset with a legendary career with ninth at the Tour de Vendée. The 33-year-old now shifts his focus to a swan song on the mountain bike, aiming for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He bows out with 121 victories, including three consecutive World Championships from 2015 to 2017. He has 12 stage Tour de France wins, where he won the green jersey a record seven times, wins at the Tour of Flanders (2016) and Paris-Roubaix (2018).
To qualify and represent Slovakia, Sagan will need to accumulate enough points for his home nation. Currently they hold the 37th position in the UCI nations rankings, and only the top 19 nations are Paris bound.
“I always said I would like to finish my career on the mountain bike because I started my career on the mountain bike. It gives me some pleasure at the end of my career because I’m doing something I enjoy. And if I am going to be able to finish my career in Paris at the Olympic Games, that’s going to be something nice for me.
It’s not about the medal or something. It’s more about what I want to do. There’s no pressure anymore about whether I win or lose. It’s just something I always wanted: to finish my career on mountain bike, and next year is Olympic year. But I wanted to do it for me and not for anybody else.”
-Peter Sagan
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