Peter Sagan opened cycling season with a victory in the People’s Choice Classic, a 50.6 kilometre long race, in Australian Adelaide on January 14.
The race was a classical “starter” before the initial event of the WorldTour series in the new season, the Tour Down Under (January 16-21), the Sme daily wrote.
Sagan had a time of 1:04:25, beating André Greipel and Caleb Ewans. His victory, however, was decided by photo-finish. The Slovak racer is the first foreign cyclist to win this event since 2015; last year, he finished third.
Cyclists complete 22 legs, 2.3 km in length, starting and finishing on Wakefield Road.
What will Sagan do next?
“I am very happy,” said Sagan said, as quoted by the cyclingnews.com website. “I was in a good position but some guys came from the back and closed on me a little bit. But in the end, it went very well. I am very happy and didn’t expect to win today.”
Soon, Sagan will lead the Bora-Hansgrohe team during the Tour Down Under and will also take part in the support team for Sam Bennett and Australian Jay McCarthy in the finishing legs.