Peter Sagan to ride for Bora-Hansgrohe in 2017, report
Het Nieuwsblad is reporting that the world champion and Raphal Majka will announce they have signed for the German team on August 1
When Oleg Tinkov announced that he would stop sponsoring the Tinkoff WorldTour cycling team, speculation immediately began on where Slovak Peter Sagan would ride in 2017. As one of the most marketable riders in pro cycling the 26-year-old world champion would demand a top salary, especially after winning the first monument of his career at the Tour of Flanders in 2016. Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad is reporting that on August 1 when the WorldTour transfer window opens, the winner of four consecutive green jerseys at the Tour de France will make it known that he has signed with pro-continental team Bora-Hansgrohe which currently rides under the name Bora-Argon 18.
Along with Sagan, his brother Juraj, Polish champion Raphal Majka, Slovakians Michael Kolar and Erik Baska, and some of his personal staff are set to move to the German registered pro-continental team which will very likely now seek a birth to ride in the WorldTour in 2017. At te beginning of the season speculation was that Sagan would ride with either Etixx-Quickstep or Astana because of the Specialized connection to those two WorldTour teams.
The move was made possible by bike manufacturer Specialized who are reportedly paying a large part of Sagans contract. In 2017 the Tour de France starts in Düsseldorf, Germany which explains the German teams interest in securing the services of the world champion. Hansgrohe is a German bathroom and kitchen company will step in as co-name sponsor along with Bora, also a German company, make cooktop ventilation systems.
