Sagan plots return to mountain biking at Les Gets world championships
... but don't look for him on the XCO start line
Peter Sagan will make his return to mountain biking at world championships this August in Les Gets, France. Unlike his late decision to race the Olympic mountain bike in Rio in 2016, though, the 32-year-old Slovak isn’t challenging the elites this time. Instead, TotalEnergies sprinter will plug in and race the eMTB XCO event.
Sagan’s sponsors, TotalEnergies and Specialized, both have connections to 2022 mountain bike worlds making it an easy detour to tack onto his race calendar.
TotalEnergies is a French team, and will likely be happy to have a connection when mountain bike worlds land in its home country.
Specialized, the Slovak’s long-running sponsor, have made a point of being at the top of eMTB racing since the format started in 2019. Alan Hathlerly won the first eMTB worlds on a Specialized Levo. Tom Pidcock won for the brand in 2020, part of a big week for the Brit. Even Canada’s cyclocross star Maghalie Rochette earned an eMTB world’s medal for the brand.
Sagan isn’t sure he’ll be adding to that tally. In revealing his participation, the three-time road world champion told Gazzetta dello Sport “It will be a party.”
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It’s far from the first time Sagan’s switched road slicks for mountain bike tires. After starting his career on dirt as a junior, quite successfully, Sagan famously stepped back off-road for the 2016 Olympics after deciding the road course didn’t suit his strengths. That didn’t pan out as planned, with two flat tires deflating his momentum while racing with the leaders.
While Sagan hasn’t followed through on his threat to quit road racing and return to high-level XC racing, he also hasn’t put the mountain bike away for good. He’s frequently spotted training on singletrack, even dropping in for a few bike park laps with downhill living-legend Greg Minnaar.
Electric mountain bike XC will be one of the first events when worlds land in Les Gets. Sagan hits the start line on Aug. 26.
