Peter Sagan says racing the Giro d’Italia is more fun when compared with the tension of the Tour de France.
The Bora-Hansgrohe superstar made his Giro debut in 2020, racking up numerous podium finishes before he finally took a long-awaited stage victory on day 10.
Sagan hadn’t been winning at his usual rate in 2020, having not raised his arms since the 2019 Tour de France.
But having ridden both the Tour de France and the Giro this season, Sagan seems to have found extra motivation.
In an interview with Italian cycling website (opens in new tab) Tuttobici (opens in new tab), the 30-year-old said: “This year was a very strange season but I am happy to be back, after many second places, to raise my arms to the sky. I am satisfied with what I managed to do, I have no regrets.
“[The Giro] was a very good race. In my opinion in a normal season, and not atypical like this one, it would have been even more beautiful.
“Compared to the Tour de France, where there is certainly much more tension, the Giro d'Italia is more fun and then when we went to Veneto, where I spent the first years of my career, the emotion was really great: it felt like home. Italy is truly a beautiful country.”
Sagan says he hopes to return to the Giro one day, but said racing two Grand Tours so close together was a tough ask.
The last two seasons have been unusual for Sagan, as his usual winning rate slowed.
After starting strong in 2019 with wins in the Tour Down Under, the Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse, Sagan was able to take a stage of the 2019 Tour and secured his seventh green jersey in Paris.
But Sagan didn’t hit the top step for more than a year after that Tour stage, in part due to the coronavirus break but also missing out during this year’s Tour.
Sagan also fell short of winning his eighth green jersey in 2020, as Deceuninck - Quick-Step’s Sam Bennett took his first.
The Slovakian then came away from the Giro d’Italia with four second-place finishes and his stage win, which secured the Grand Slam of Grand Tour stage victories.
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Sagan said he will spend the winter in Monaco, while his winter training camps with Bora have been cancelled due to the pandemic.
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