Sagan came, saw and won Around Slovakia: Fans gave me a lot of energy – Športky.sk

TRNAVA – He came, he saw, he won. Peter Sagan kept his promise and fans could finally see him at the biggest domestic bike races. He owed nothing to his reputation as a champion and won the most valuable jersey at the premiere at Around Slovakia. Although he did not win any of the five stages, in each of them he fought for the leading places and especially the bonus seconds, thanks to which he became the overall winner. He put on the yellow jersey after the 3rd stage and defended it without any problems in the final one.

On the 159.2 km route from Trenčianske Teplice to Trnava, Bora-Hansgorhe chose active tactics and in the wind stage tried to tear the peloton from the beginning. It was achieved after about 50 km, when a 25-member escape was created. Bora was four times more represented in it. In addition to Sagan, it also included Maciej Bodnar, Daniel Oss and Frederik Wandahl. From the team of Deceuninck-QuickStep, the biggest opponent of Sagan, only the defender of the first place, Jannik Steimle, escaped. Until then, the second man in the overall standings, Alvaro Jose Hodeg, who lost only two seconds to Sagan before the stage, remained in the peloton.

The three-time world champion won another second in prizes and finished just second in the finish behind the victorious Israeli Itamar Einhorn (Israel Start-Up Nation). However, he left Steimle behind and confirmed the overall triumph. “Bol it was a special day, from the beginning there were challenging races. We wanted to make it as difficult as possible for the Deceuninck team, we had to put a lot of energy into it. We went full speed with the whole team, our tactics were – the best defense is attack. So we tried to tear it from the beginning. From Deceuninck, only Jannik stayed with us, which was good. I sprinted to all the bonuses so as not to lose seconds, and in the end I managed to be second. My rivals saved more energy during the stage than I did during the stage. I tried to be active, especially to rip out Alvar Jose Hodeg and it worked out, ” said a satisfied Sagan at the finish.

The thirty-one-year-old competitor finished 10th in the introductory prologue, but always finished on the podium in the next four stages. Three times a second and once a third. Although he narrowly missed the stage championship four times, winning the yellow jersey made up for it: “I am very happy that I won my first participation in Around Slovakia, although I did not win any stage. The overall ranking is more important, I was among the best from start to finish. I have to evaluate the race only well. I thank the whole team for the performance that I throughout the event, and in the end it is an overall victory. “

Sagan has long promised the organizers that he will present himself at the largest cycling event in Slovakia. His team Bora said it would happen before he wore his jersey. Even though he ends up in the German stable after the season and replaces him with the French TotalEnergies, he and Bora kept their word. “It’s great. We have to say that in the two years that Covid is, I haven’t seen so many people before, just at the Tour de France. It’s quite encouraging in Slovakia and they gave me a lot of energy. Thank you for coming to see,“he said.

Sagan will now move to Belgium, where he will have a mass start at the World Championships next Sunday. The organizers have prepared a classic track, which will run from Antwerp to Leuven and measures 268.3 km. “I think the master will be about something completely different, but there is definitely a better victory over less. It will be a difficult and long race and you will have to be patient.” he said.

This year, the organizers around Slovakia met two big goals, which they set a few years ago. The first was to catch up with Petr Sagan’s races and the second was to get them on Eurosport television. It offered an hourly live broadcast every day, as did RTVS. “It was a really jubilee 65th year. Just the participation that was here. In the first place it was Peťo Sagan, but other stars came. For the first time we had a live broadcast on world sports television. The best gift to the whole organizational team that we Pete Sagan’s victory was something amazing, we had a great atmosphere, people were on the road in every village, every bend, on every hill, I can’t guess exactly, but Around Slovakia saw several hundred thousand people, ” said the president of the Slovak Cycling Association and the general director of the race Peter Privara.

Next year’s edition is already gaining contour, which according to the organizers’ plans should start in Bratislava or its surroundings and finish in Košice.

• The author: © List
• Source: TASR