Peter Sagan of Tinkoff (L) and Belgian Sep Vanmarcke of Team LottoNL-Jumbo compete on the Paterberg during the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders
Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Tinkoff celebrates winning the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders
Peter Sagan of Tinkoff (L) and Belgian Sep Vanmarcke of Team LottoNL-Jumbo compete on the Paterberg during the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders
2016 UCI Gala in Abu Dhabi - Peter Sagan accepts his award for winning the WorldTour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
2016 World Championships podium (l-r): Mark Cavendish (Great Britain), Peter Sagan (Slovakia) and Tom Boonen (Belgium)
Peter Sagan is confident that Bora-Hansgrohe will have a positive ambience in 2017, with the two-time world champion set to make the switch to the German team after three years at Tinkoff.
Sagan was signed earlier in the summer with title sponsors Bora, Hansgrohe and bike manufacturer Specialized stumping up a reported €6 million Euros to bring Sagan and several other riders and support staff over from Tinkoff. The team are on course to move up from Pro Continental to WorldTour status in 2017.
"I'm excited. From a small team a big team has grown. I think we can help them to improve, for sure," Sagan told Cyclingnews recently.
Sagan and his new team held their first official gathering at the end of October with their first organised training camp on the horizon. Sagan signed a three-year deal with the team, with Juraj Sagan, Maciej Bodnar, Michael Kolar and Erik Baška Rafal Majka, Pawel Poljanski, and Jay McCarthy all making the switch from Tinkoff.
"We've had our first meeting with the staff and the directors and that went well," Sagan said. "Now we’ll see how things go in the first camp. I’m happy to be there. Bora were very good with me. They took a lot of people from Tinkoff to the team for me and that’s helped make a good team and a good ambience. It’s been a good transition."
Sagan will open his 2017 season at the Santos Tour Down Under before his gaze turns towards the Spring Classics. As the World Champion he will undoubtedly be a marked man. However, the aim remains the same, with the 26-year-old targeting a number of races.
"Next year from the start of the season, the Classics are very important for me," he said. "If I can do well there it’s good, and then it’s the Tour de France and then we’ll see."
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Sagan was understandably coy when it came to whether there was one race that stood out above all others, instead choosing to highlight all the early-season Monuments.
"Milan-San Remo is special, but it’s a lottery," he said. "Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. Flanders is very nice, and it’s the old parcours now next year and that could be good. It’s a special race, but when I raced it I broke my bike and didn’t finish. I’ve never finished on the old course. Then Paris-Roubaix is also a special race. I was 11th last year, and once I was sixth.
"We can talk about results now, but it’s difficult to predict and every year is different."
