Peter Sagan celebrates his 26th birthday with a recon of the Olympics road race

Tinkoff's Peter Sagan turns 26 and goes on a little spin around Rio de Janeiro ahead of August's Olympic road race

Roderik Asconeguy and Peter Sagan looking relaxed during Stage 5 of the 2016 Tour de San Luis

(Image credit: Watson)

It's official: Peter Sagan can no longer wear the white jersey at the Tour de France. He's done it a few times in recent years, leaving some observers to wonder 'is he not older than 25?'

The world champion turned 26 on Tuesday and celebrated with a ride in Rio de Janeiro with a few teammates and some guests from bike sponsor Specialized.

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It's fair to say, Tinkoff were pretty excited about their star rider's birthday - tweeting him birthday wishes twice in the space of an hour and then retweeting ones from the UCI and nutrition partner Secret Training doing the same.

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Sagan travelled from San Luis, Argentina, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to check out the Olympics road race course, where he could become the first rider to win Olympic road race gold while world champion.

The course is said to favour true climbers, with Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde all expressing their desire to win, so whether Sagan can compete with them in the hills will likely become clear on his birthday training ride.

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Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.