Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Monday July 1, 2024 at 10:21 a.m.
After crossing the finish line of the Tour of Slovakia on Sunday, Peter Sagan, almost already nostalgic, had a hard time believing that he had just bowed out of the professional peloton. The three-time world champion nevertheless relished being able to say goodbye to his homeland.
This time, it’s really over for Peter Sagan (34 years old). The Slovakian legend said goodbye to professional cycling on Sunday evening at the end of the Tour of Slovakia, in the colours of the local team Pierre Baguette. Caught between several emotions, the triple world champion who had to give up his last goal of competing in the mountain bike event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games already seemed nostalgic, having just officially retired. “After so many years on the road, I find it hard to believe that my professional road career is coming to an end. Crossing the finish line of the Tour of Slovakia was a moment filled with mixed emotions: sadness, nostalgia, but also pride and joy. It’s a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye to this chapter of my professional career,” confided the former superstar leader of the Total Energies team for one season. The sprinter who arrived in Paris seven times with the green jersey on his back was nevertheless delighted to have been able to bow out at home, in front of his supporters and on the occasion of an event which is particularly important to him.
Sagan: “I never imagined I would have such a long and successful career”
“I couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect place to do it than here, in my home country and my home race (…) Finishing my road racing career at the Tour of Slovakia, surrounded by the support and love of my fellow Slovaks, is a memory I will cherish forever.” A winner of twelve stages of the Tour de Slovakia in twelve participations, Sagan will now be able to quietly reflect on the fourteen years he spent in the peloton. He has also attempted a first flashback on his Instagram account. “I still remember my first stage of the Tour Down Under on January 19, 2010. I was just a young kid, not yet twenty years old, and I would never have imagined at the time that I would have such a long and successful career in this sport. It has been a long road, with its ups and downs.”
