‘A bittersweet feeling to say goodbye’ – Peter Sagan’s home road racing farewell

Peter Sagan walked away from Total Energies and, in theory, professional road racing last year but the retirement was not complete. The final chapter may have been written when he first waved goodbye at the Tour de Vendée in France in September last year, but there was still an epilogue to come, with the last line of that written on the final stage of the Tour de Slovakia on Sunday.

This time the 34-year-old, with the rainbow bands on his sleeve to remind fans of his three road race World Championships victories, made it a home nation farewell. He was wearing the colours of Pierre Baguette Cycling – a Continental team where Sagan’s brother Juraj is a DS – as he once again closed the doors on a road cycling career that has lasted more than 14 years. This time, seemingly, for good.

“I still remember my first stage at the Tour Down Under on January 19th, 2010,” said Sagan in an Instagram post.

“I was just a young kid, not even 20 yet, and I would never have imagined back then that I would have such a long and fruitful career in this sport.