Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) made his final start as a pro road racer on Sunday at the Tour de Vendée in western France, closing the book on a road career that saw him claim three world championship titles, a record seven green jerseys at the Tour de France, and Monument wins at both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, among many other achievements.
At the peak of his powers, Sagan was one of cycling’s very biggest stars, a fixture on magazine covers and social media meme accounts alike. Sunday’s Tour de Vendée ride marks the end of a road racing career that began with the Dukla Trencin-Merida Continental team back in 2009 and then took Sagan from the Liquigas/Cannondale organization to Tinkoff-Saxo and then to Bora-Hansgrohe before his last two seasons with TotalEnergies.
Along the way, Sagan has sometimes focused his efforts on racing his mountain bike, and the 33-year-old Slovakian announced at the start of this year that it would be his last season as a pro road racer as he will next focus on racing MTB at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Ever the model of consistency in his race results, Sagan closed things out on Sunday with a top 10 finish at the Tour de Vendée, riding to ninth place on the day.
With Sagan’s colorful road career now in the books, riders, teams, and races across the pro peloton had messages for the star on social media on Sunday.
Congrats on a road career most of us can only dream of @petosagan ? Although I’m pretty sure you inspired this new generation that can do pretty much everything, so no thanks for that ? Enjoy your road retirement mate ? #legend pic.twitter.com/CY9lVw157H
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) October 1, 2023
?A record 7-time winner of the Green Jersey, 3-time Road World Champion, but @petosagan is so much more than statistics. To the rockstar of our peloton, we say goodbye. Thank you for the memories across these years,
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 1, 2023
? Ďakujem Peter
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?Recordman du nombre de maillots verts,… pic.twitter.com/BjfRQ1PZzF
Peter Sagan will be missed ?
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) October 1, 2023
The legendary three-time world champion ends his road career at Tour de Vendée – thanks for the memories! ❤️️? pic.twitter.com/u2B1KWvM5i
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