Peter Sagan fined after incident with Monaco police when breaking Covid-19 curfew

Peter Sagan has been fined over €5,000 after committing a series of offenses in April of this year, allegedly while drunk.

The Slovakian rider, who is about to join French UCI ProTeam Team TotalEnergies, had already started his racing season by this point and was soon setting off to ride the Giro d'Italia, where he won a stage and the points jersey.

Sagan and his brother were stopped by police at 12:30am on April 25. Sagan's representative in court said that when the police tried to get him out of the car he became agitated as he thought he would be "forced to be vaccinated" against Covid-19.

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Sagan contracted Covid in February of 2021, which set back his form, forcing him to miss multiple cobbled Classics, riding the Volta a Catalunya instead after opening his season at Tirreno-Adriatico. 

According to a report by Nice-Martin (opens in new tab), Sagan injured the officers in a struggle as they tried to escort him to the Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco. At the time, the curfew was 10pm-6am.

Monaco was one of the hardest areas on the Mediterranean with over three and a half thousand cases recorded and 36 deaths in the principality that has a total population of 39,244.

The incident saw Sagan fined €5,000 by a judge in Monaco's criminal court for resisting arrest and injuring a police officer. He was also handed an extra fine of €100 for breaking curfew. Along with this, Sagan will have to pay €1,500 in civil charges.

Sagan has since taken to Instagram to apologise for the incident though, claiming that he will "draw valuable lessons" after the "ugly experience." 

According to reports, Sagan had no memory of the incident after several hours in police custody. 

Sagan struggled for form in 2021 after having Covid and took just four wins on the road all season, also winning his native Tour of Slovakia overall. He abandoned the Tour de France after a crash on stage three with Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) led to an infection in his injured knee.

Sagan is expected to make his debut for his new team in 2022 at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina and is currently in South America after attending the race's presentation of the route.