Peter Sagan's world championship win commemorated on a stamp

Peter Sagan will be appearing on envelopes all over his native Slovakia after his world championships win has been commemorated by a postage stamp.

The €1 stamp depicts Sagan in his rainbow jersey and holding up his gold medal from the 2015 Richmond Road World Championships. The stamp is officially issued today, Thursday April 21.

The smiling image of Sagan against a bright green and yellow background was created by Slovak cartoon artist Jozef Gertli Danglár. According to Postove Znamky, the stamp has been printed in a limited run of 300,000.

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The statement accompanying the release of the stamp says: "Peter Sagan is not only a great athlete, but also a fair guy with a big heart and a big smile, who did not hesitate to help and have fun, because he knows that is not only victories that are important.

"He became a great role model and inspiration for children and adults, a prime fighter, which shows that you have to be consistent to work through obstacles, but always fairly."

Sagan was a big star in Slovakia even before his world championship win and this year's victories in the Tour of Flanders and Ghent-Wevelgem.

Sagan told Cycling Weekly last year that his "private life is almost nonexistent because everyone knows me there."

Now that Sagan's spring classics campaign has drawn to a successful conclusion, he will turn his attention towards defending his Tour of California victory from last year over May 15-22. Then it will be on to the Tour de France in July and contesting the Olympic Games road race in Rio in August.