Peter Sagan on Sunday turned around an annus horribilis in style, celebrating his third straight road race world title less than three months after being kicked off the Tour de France.
The Slovakian outsprinted local favorite Alexander Kristoff and Australian Michael Matthews, who were second and third respectively, after staying quiet all day in the peloton.
“Every time something bad happens, it is for something good. You have to see it the optimistic way,” the 27-year-old Sagan told a news conference.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Sagan was disqualified from the Tour on July 4 after he sent Briton Mark Cavendish crashing in the final sprint of the fourth stage.
Sagan, one of the most colorful characters in the peloton, took time off, resuming at the Tour of Poland in late July, but skipping the Vuelta a Espana, often regarded as an excellent warm-up for the world championships.
“I had a lot of fun, I had a lot of time to spend time with my family, it was good,” Sagan said.
He came into the 267.5km race with fresh legs and a fresh mind, admitting he had “no strategy.”
“You have the feeling he has no interest in the race, he’s joking, screaming around and acting the fool at the back of the bunch and, in the end, he wins,” France’s Anthony Roux said.
On the final climb of Salmon Hill, 10km from the finish, the Slovakian thought he had no chance to win.
France’s Julian Alaphilippe and Italy’s Gianni Moscon were 10 seconds ahead and seemed set for a two-man sprint.
“I was watching the race from the back and said: ‘OK, we go for third, fourth, fifth place.’ I was not thinking about the title then,” Sagan said.
However, Alaphilippe, whose brutal attack on Salmon Hill blew apart the peloton, and Moscon were reined in.
“We caught them in the last kilometer and then we came together for a sprint,” Sagan said.
He timed his effort to perfection, riding in Kristoff’s slipstream and pipping the Norwegian to the line.
He is now one of five riders with three road race world titles, along with Italian Alfredo Binda, Belgians Rik van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx, and Spain’s Oscar Freire, and the first to win three in a row.
Can he go for a fourth?
It is unlikely as the course for next year’s world championships in Innsbruck, Austria, is likely to be more suited to the pure climbers.
“Then it means that I can take longer holidays, good for me,” Sagan said.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was