With Oleg Tinkov withdrawing his sponsorship of the Tinkoff team at the end of the season, there has been a lot of speculation as to where Peter Sagan would ride in 2017. Amongst the teams linked with the Slovakian rider have been Etixx-Quick Step and Astana
According to Het Nieuwsblad, the World Champion now looks to be moving to the German Bora-Hansgrohe team with the news set to be officially announced on August 1st. The team currently races under the name of Bora-Argon 18.
Sagan looks set to take his brother Juraj, Polish champion Rafal Majka, and fellow Slovakians Michael Kolar and Erik Baska, in addition to a personal assistant. Juraj Sagan recently won the Slovakian Championships, whilst Peter is currently enjoying a very successful season in the rainbow stripes.
In addition to winning stages of the Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse, Sagan has also taken victory in Ghent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders.
It’s expected that it would cost up to €5 million to bring Sagan on board and this would be possible due to bike manufacturer Specialized becoming a supplier to the team.
In addition, Hansgrohe – a German bathroom company who specialise in shower heads would join as co-sponsor of the team providing extra capital to enable Bora to sign these riders. Hansgrohe have been involved in cyclocross races previously, sponsoring the Superprestige series in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Daniel King