Photo by Jean Parker
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“Uphill, downhill, I like that.” – Peter Sagan
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I hope I never meet Peter Sagan. He cannot possibly live up to his legendary status – he is, incomparable.
“I don't want to be compared to other riders. I want to be Peter Sagan."
It is July and there are 3.5 million people wandering around France hoping to catch a 30-second glimpse of men riding bicycles in the Tour de France. One rider, Peter Sagan (Sa-GON), is a Slovak and like Yogi Berra, understands English better than most.
“You 'mustn't' nothing in your life. I don't 'must' nothing in the life, just die.”
He won the World Junior Mountain Bike Championship in 2008 (at age 18) and is a two time World Road Bike Champion. He can also ride his bike up the hood of the car and into the roof rack.
The Tour de France is famous for its agonizing mountain climbs. Most climbs are categorized from 1to 4 (1 - the toughest). Some are “hors categorie” – beyond categorization. One such climb is the legendary Alpe d'Huez, and in 2013, Peter wheelied a portion… with no hands!
“I don’t mean to show disrespect to my competitors, I only want to bring some thrill into the sport.”
In the Tour, the rider that earns the most points wears the “Green Jersey.” Peter has won the Green Jersey the last 5 years. He will not win this year - he was disqualified from the Tour for “seriously endangered some of his colleagues.” Asked if he apologized:
“For sure, because it’s not nice to crash like that.”
Selene Yeager in Bicycling Magazine summed up Peter best:
“When it comes to fans, he’s a softie who once said,
‘If somebody disturbs me about a selfie, it’s no problem. The most important thing is making other people happy. Because it’s a bad world, no?’
No, it’s not. Not a world with Peter Sagan.
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