The road world champion is currently on a bit of downtime after a successful Classics campaign that saw him take victory in the Ghent-Wevelgem and Tour of Flanders, but will have a go at a couple of off-road racing in events in Austria and the Czech Republic before focussing back on the road.
Sagan, who has shown off his pretty decent bike handling skills in road races in the past, won a junior mountain bike world championship title in 2008 as an 18-year-old and will be hoping to recapture some of that old talent in the upcoming events.
“It’s going to be good fun returning to my roots, racing mountain bikes again and I look forward to seeing what shape I will be in at those races,” Sagan said.
“I’m pleased with how my season has gone so far. My victories at Ghent-Wevelgem and Ronde van Vlaanderen take the pressure off now, so I hope that I can go off-road and be able to compete at the front, like I do on the road. I'd like to thank the team and our sponsors for helping me make this opportunity possible.”
The Slovakian will be racing on a Specialized S-Works Epic for the races, and while Tinkoff have said they look forward to an opportunity to show of their colours in a different discipline, they'll surely just be hoping one of they're most prized assets will come out of the whole thing unscathed.
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Richard is digital editor of Cycling Weekly. Joining the team in 2013, Richard became editor of the website in 2014 and coordinates site content and strategy, leading the news team in coverage of the world's biggest races and working with the tech editor to deliver comprehensive buying guides, reviews, and the latest product news.
An occasional racer, Richard spends most of his time preparing for long-distance touring rides these days, or getting out to the Surrey Hills on the weekend on his Specialized Tarmac SL6 (with an obligatory pub stop of course).
