Peter Sagan’s Dominance at the World Championships Before Facing Heart Conditions

When Peter Sagan Ruled the World Championships

From 2015 to 2017, the UCI World Championships Road Race was dominated by one cyclist: Slovakia’s Peter Sagan.

Sagan’s Three-Year Reign at the World Championships

In 2015, Peter Sagan’s early-season performances, including fourth-place finishes at Milan-San Remo and the Ronde van Vlaanderen, led team owner Oleg Tinkov to publicly question his star rider’s hefty salary. However, Sagan quickly silenced the doubters by claiming overall victory at the Tour of California, winning stages at the Tour de Suisse, and taking both the time trial and road race titles at the Slovakian Championships.

Though stage wins eluded him at the Tour de France that year, he secured his fourth consecutive green jersey by winning the points classification. Sagan also claimed a stage victory at the Vuelta a España, though he was forced to withdraw from the race after a crash involving a race motorbike.

Just two weeks later, Sagan lined up as a favorite for the 2015 World Championships men’s road race in Richmond, USA. Competing against a star-studded Belgian team featuring Tom Boonen, Greg Van Avermaet, and Philippe Gilbert, as well as Germany’s John Degenkolb, Sagan’s challenge was steep.

The race was held on a 16.2km circuit with three short climbs and cobbled segments, creating a course reminiscent of the classics in Flanders. In the final 3 kilometers, Sagan launched a decisive attack on the cobbled ascent of 23rd Street and pulled away using a supertuck on the downhill. Though Van Avermaet and Edvald Boasson Hagen gave chase, they couldn’t close the gap, and Sagan timed his move perfectly to win his first World Championship title.

In 2016, the race in Doha, Qatar, was marked by crosswinds that shattered the peloton over the 257.3km course. Despite strong opposition from riders like Mark Cavendish, Tom Boonen, and Alexander Kristoff, Sagan became the first cyclist since Paolo Bettini in 2007 to successfully defend his World Championship title.

Sagan’s third and final World Championship triumph came in 2017 in Bergen, Norway. The 276.5km course included multiple circuits with 12 climbs up the Salmon Hill. Although Julian Alaphilippe made a bold attack, it came down to a sprint finish, where Sagan narrowly beat Kristoff by a margin of millimeters, securing his third consecutive world title. Sagan became the only cyclist in history to win three consecutive World Championships, joining legends like Alfredo Binda, Óscar Freire, and Eddy Merckx in the ranks of three-time champions.

During those three years, while riding primarily for the Tinkoff team, Sagan wore the rainbow jersey with pride, capturing victories at races like Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Vlaanderen, and Paris-Roubaix. He also added stage wins at the Tour de Suisse, Tirreno-Adriatico, and the Tour de France, alongside several more green jerseys.

The “curse of the rainbow jersey” seemingly had no impact on Sagan, save for his controversial disqualification from the 2017 Tour de France.

In 2022, Sagan left his team and joined ProTeam TotalEnergies, before stepping away from road racing to focus on mountain biking for the Olympics. However, his Olympic dream was cut short after being diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia.

Sagan made a brief return to the road with the Pierre Baguette Cycling team, ultimately concluding his road racing career at his home race, the Tour of Slovakia, in 2023.