Peter Sagan: 'There's more to life than winning or second places'
The world champion played it cool despite a long awaited first win in the rainbow jersey, which came at the 2016 Ghent-Wevelgem
Peter Sagan only takes big wins lately it seems. After winning the world championships in Richmond, Virginia, in September, he won his first in the rainbow jersey today in Belgium’s Ghent-Wevelgem.
The Slovakian of team Tinkoff attacked on the Kemmelberg, rode clear with three others and sprinted ahead for victory. He took his second Ghent-Wevelgem title after 2013.
"Why would I panic?" Sagan said of his many second places. "In life there's more important things thing victories or second places. I'm riding for passion, not for ambition."
Sagan dedicated the win to his father-in-law, who he said "had a hard time yesterday" without wanting to add anymore information.
With his win, Sagan became the first world champion to win Ghent-Wevelgem since Rick Van Looy in 1962.
"Cycling's like that," added Sagan. "The jersey or not, I'm happy to win this race."
The race appeared to be slipping out of Sagan's hands when it split early into the 242km race.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
He rode alone in a big group of favourites. LottoNL-Jumbo pulled for Sep Vanmarcke and worked with Tinkoff to bring the groups together. On the second climb up the Kemmelberg, Sagan attacked and pulled away Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo). Vanmarcke joined them and they caught lone leader Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Katusha).
Watch: Sagan 'bluffed' his way to Ghent-Wevelgem win
Sagan said that his team erred in the first part of the race, but corrected itself for the win. He added that today he made sure he rode intelligently so that he would not lose out as he did on Friday in the E3 Harelbeke. Two days ago, he escaped with Team Sky's Michal Kwiatkowski and lost in the final sprint.
"It was a little bit different today. What do you want to hear? I think everyone knows I was tired. Yeah. I worked a lot Friday and then in the final, I was like how I was. There's not too much story about it," Sagan explained.
"Today, Vanmarcke was pulling, but he stopped, but cycling is like that. I said I won't make the same mistake as before and pull to the finish. We had a good gap to the group. The guy from Katusha began early and I said, 'I have to go behind him,' and he pulled me a very good sprint."
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
Parlee Cycles' all-new Ouray review: a bike that goes zoom but doesn’t fit like a race bike and is made in the USA
The first new model since dealing with bankruptcy, the Ouray is a comfortable, big-tyre road bike from the storied American brand
By Tyler Boucher Published
-
Forget distance covered, these are the key stats to note in your Strava Year in Sport
We asked a coach how to best analyse our end of year Strava data
By Tom Davidson Published
-
‘There's no point to race for 50th place’: Peter Sagan explains why he’s a cycling esports ambassador but won’t compete
As a MyWhoosh ambassador, Sagan admires the sport’s evolution, but does he have the watts to compete with today’s virtual cycling stars?
By Christopher Schwenker Published
-
Peter Sagan given suspended prison sentence for drink driving offence
Three-time road world champion also banned from driving for three months, on eve of Tour de France
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Eyeing the Olympic mountain bike race in Paris, Peter Sagan will retire from WorldTour racing at season's end
Finishing how he started, the former road world champion will race one last mountain bike-focused year in 2024
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
Peter Sagan rescued stranded cycling tourist in Gran Canaria who thought group of pros were a 'bunch of kids'
Along with three other pros, Sagan helped fix a 63-year-old's puncture in Gran Canaria
By Ryan Dabbs Published
-
Peter Sagan tests positive for Covid for a second time
Three-time world champion and his brother, Juraj, have had their plans disrupted by virus
By Adam Becket Published
-
Peter Sagan expresses regret at incident with Monaco police: 'I wish to take this opportunity to convey my most sincere apologies'
Sagan was fined €5,000 for resisting arrest and injuring a police officer
By Ryan Dabbs Published
-
Peter Sagan fined after incident with Monaco police when breaking Covid-19 curfew
The Slovakian star's representative said that he feared he would be "forced to be vaccinated" against Covid
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published
-
Peter Sagan to make Team TotalEnergies debut at 2022 Vuelta a San Juan
He will race the seven-stage Argentinian race from January 30-February 6
By Ryan Dabbs Published