Seventeen professional victories, many championships in points competitions, the yellow jersey at the Tour of California and finally the first world championship title.
Peter Sagan’s statistics from 2014 and 2015 are not to be thrown away, but nevertheless, the Ĺ˝ilina native considers this period to be the worst in his career.
After successfully flying into the world peloton, he had to deal not only with his rivals, but also with the pressure of the public, who expected more and more victories.
However, it did not always go smoothly, which the 35-year-old Sagan openly talks about today. In the mentioned period, he was not lucky enough to have coaches who understood his needs and instead of helping him progress, they made him dislike cycling.
“I didn’t enjoy it, I was still overtrained,” recalls the three-time world champion about the difficult period in an interview for Biker magazine.
He overheated and burned out
The 2014 season was the last he spent in the colors of the Cannondale team. He achieved only seven triumphs in it, including the one at the domestic championships.
Sagan was getting used to other numbers. He won only one stage at the Tour of Switzerland or California races, he was in the top 5 nine times at the Tour de France, but without a victory, so his greatest success was the triumph at the E3 Harelbeke classic.
One of the main reasons was the cooperation with the German coach Sebastian Weber, who, unlike Sagan, was a new name in the Italian team.
“He wanted to improve something that was already good. He was messing with my body and it ended up that I got totally burned out,” said the cyclist.
Weber’s philosophy was mainly based on data. According to the test results at the beginning of the season, he even said that Sagan is only an average driver.
His methods were clearly not suitable for the development of the future leader of the UCI ranking.
“It was a season full of frustration. I didn’t enjoy driving. I managed to win a few times, but it was a lot of trouble. That’s when I said to myself that I won’t trust any coach anymore,” admitted Sagan.
The American was getting on his nerves
The transfer from Cannondale to the team of Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov was supposed to be a new beginning for the Slovak, but the difficult period continued.
In addition to having problems with his right leg, Bobby Julich became his trainer. Although the American finished third at the Tour de France in 1998, his career is linked to doping, to which he admitted.
Not even the most famous Slovak cyclist has good memories of him. He also felt overtrained and it bothered him that Julich was constantly checking him.
“It got on my nerves. He used to annoy me, even in my free time. He called me how I felt, what I was doing, what I would do tomorrow, what and when I ate or when I went to the toilet,” Sagan told Biker.
VIDEO: Memorable victories in Peter Sagan’s career
The man from Ĺ˝ilina says that he had problems in the final stages of the race, where he “went out like a candle”. He finished 30th while defending his triumph from E3, he missed the podium at the Tour of Flanders (4th) and at Paris-Roubaix he finished only in 23rd position.
“After the classics, he didn’t take any responsibility and told Oleg that I was burnt out and needed to be replaced. Before the Tour of California, I told Giovanni Lombardi (manager, note) that I was sick of it and was done,” says Sagan.
Vila did not want to transform him
The turning point for the better was when Patxi Vila took over. The Cycling Weekly portal wrote that it was this Spanish coach who helped unlock the talent that the world cycling superstar had in her.
“I don’t want to reshape him because I know he can win. He knows what he needs, whether it’s training or rest. That makes my job easier,” he said in 2017 after winning the third rainbow jersey.
“He let me train as I needed and as I felt. He respected my free time and didn’t bother me with nonsense, so I had much more freedom and, above all, overall mental well-being,” confirms Sagan.
The collaboration with Vila already brought success at the WC in Richmond and was carried over into the 2016 season, which after a long struggle can be called the most successful.
Sagan won the Okolo Flämsk monument, three stages of the Tour de France (he also wore the yellow jersey, note), the GP Québec classic, the first European elite championship and finally defended his world champion title in Doha.
“I may seem old school compared to how scientific the training is today, but it worked,” added the 121-win owner.
