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.
Birthday boy @petosagan, @maciejbodnar and @pawelpoljanski in Rio, with @iamspecialized guests for @Olympics recon pic.twitter.com/KwXKFe6ZtD
— Tinkoff (@tinkoff_team) January 26, 2016
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.
Please join us in wishing @petosagan happy birthday!!! pic.twitter.com/u3h7Dss80W
— Tinkoff (@tinkoff_team) January 26, 2016
Happy birthday @petosagan !! We look forward to a great year! pic.twitter.com/7DUIZusrs7
— Tinkoff (@tinkoff_team) January 26, 2016
Happy Birthday to our current UCI Road World Champion @petosagan ! pic.twitter.com/ZUuDuZWXgy
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) January 26, 2016
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.
