GREEN MACHINE
STORMING TOWARDS SEVEN
Slovakia’s Peter Sagan matched Erik Zabel’s record of six straight wins in the points
classification when he rode into Paris in ‘le maillot vert’ last July. Now the three-time
world champion has a seventh green jersey firmly in his sights… B Y Q U E N T I N F I N N É
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50 | TO U R
D E F R A NC E 2019
special relationship between
Peter Sagan and the jersey
that designates the points
classification winner. For
Sagan and the green jersey,
it was a case of love at first
sight. Just 22 years old, and
riding his first-ever Tour de
France, the Slovakian won
the opening road stage of
the 2012 edition in Seraing,
Belgium. He took sixth place
in Tournai the next day – and
pulled on his very first green
jersey (he wore it all the way
to Paris and his first overall
victory in green).
Since then he’s worn ‘le
maillot vert’ on 106 stages
(out of a possible 130).
He overtook Erik Zabel’s
record of 89 days in green
early in the 2018 Tour, and
in Paris went on to equal
Zabel’s six wins in the points
classification competition.
If he wins for a seventh time
this year, he’ll become the
outright record-holder – a
true green giant.
“That would certainly be an
objective,” says the cycling
star, who believes his quest
for green has given him the
experience to become even
more effective as a racer.
“But once the race gets
under way, I always prefer
to take it day by day. People
sometimes think that when
I start the Tour de France
the green jersey is already
destined to come my way.
But it’s far from easy. I have
to fight and be consistent for
three weeks if I want to wear
it into Paris.” ●
Peter Sagan claims his
third stage win of the
2018 Tour in Valence.
eter Sagan
is pedalling
alongside the
almost never-
ending row of team buses
that are parked behind the
finish line of stage 19 of
the 2018 Tour de France
into Laruns. He looks
drained, his face set in a
rictus of suffering. “I’ve
just experienced what
was undoubtedly my most
testing and difficult day on
the bike for 10 years,” he
mutters.
The Slovak has managed
to cross the line 40
minutes after the stage
winner, Primoz Roglic,
having endured a personal
calvary on the slopes of
the Aspin, Aubisque and
Tourmalet passes. The Bora-
Hansgrohe rider sustained
a large bruise on his right
buttock after crashing two
days earlier on the descent
from Val Louron-Azet, and
over the subsequent 48
hours the injury has become
very painful. “Finishing this
stage is more than a victory
for me,” Sagan confesses.
“I’ve only managed to get
here thanks to the support
of my teammates Daniel
Oss, Maciej Bodnar and
Lukas Pöstlberger, who
stayed with me all day to
help me. If I’d been riding a
Classic, I would definitely
have abandoned. But here,
with the green jersey on my
shoulders and just two days
away from the finale on the
Champs-Élysées, there was
no question of that.”
It’s a mark of the very