Peter Sagan thanks his luck after pedal incident nearly cost him Tour de France stage win

World Champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) says that luck saved him in a bad moment as he tried to win the Tour de France's third stage to Longwy on Monday.

Sagan seemingly spun easily at the front of a world-class group as the finish of stage three approached. Looking back, or perhaps due to another reason, he unclipped his right foot from his pedal in the final metres.

>>> Peter Sagan storms to Tour de France stage three victory as Thomas keeps lead

"I was in the front and the best climbers in the world were in the front," Sagan said. "Richie Porte, Rafal Majka and Alberto Contador. Richie Porte attacked and it seemed like everyone was going to catch him. It was a pretty hard final.

"Afterwards, I don't remember. I just had my shoe come out of my pedal. I was lucky in a bad moment that I could find my pedal and I could start my sprint. The finish line was still far away, and after I won, nice feeling."

Sagan seemed to be waiting for his rivals to try something after he caught Porte on the short 1.6-kilometre finishing climb to Longwy on the French side of the border with Luxembourg.

His foot came out at a bad moment, but he still had enough power to drive away from Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) and Michael Matthews (Sunweb).

Sagan won his eighth stage in the Tour de France and began down the path for a record-tying sixth green jersey with Erik Zabel.

>>> Five talking points from stage three of the Tour de France

"Ah, it's not important. We'll see day by day. What changes in the world if I win the green jersey or not? Nothing," Sagan continued. "It's not important. There's more important things in life."

Mostly he looked down at the table and adjusted the foam on the microphone or put his long hair into place.

He appeared bored, but says that he finds motivation by having fun.

Watch: Highlights from stage three of the 2017 Tour de France

"I didn't win everything, even though almost everything [laughs]. I still have a lot of races that I didn't win," he continued.

"What is my motivation? I am trying to take cycling as a little bit of fun, not always serious, and maybe that's the best way to find motivation."

Several journalists then asked about his and his wife's friendship to Michael Matthews and his wife and about those ski goggles, or motocross goggles around his neck.

"Our relationship? Well we live in Monaco and had a few dinners together. Yeah, for sure, my wife knows her good. They also did some coffee together in Monaco, it was OK. Michael Matthews's wife is also from Slovakia, but I don't know why we are speaking about wives.

"The goggles? It's motocross, not skiing, everyone talks about skiing! Why? Because 100% start with motor-cross goggles. It's a nice style, it's something different."