Following a break after a successful Spring Classics campaign, combined with a few mountain bike forays to test his off-road form, 13-time stage winner at the race Peter Sagan will return to road action at the Amgen Tour of California this May.

Sagan won the event in 2015 and will be looking to add to his tally of stage successes at this year’s edition.

Joining Sagan at the eight-day race in America will be many riders that also supported him in the classics. These riders include Erik Baška, Adam Blythe, Oscar Gatto, Michael Gogl, Michael Kolar and Nikolay Trusov.

The line-up is completed by Sagan’s brother Juraj who made strong progression during the spring, and will be starting his first Tour of California.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back this race – it’s a great event at which I have some really good memories,” Sagan said.

“The Amgen Tour of California means a lot to me, it’s a race I’ve liked competing at over the past years and it has now become a tradition in my program.”

“Previously, in California, I’ve been very successful and I believe that, after a little rest, I will be back again at a good performance level. I would be happy if I am again competing for some strong results here.”

“This year will be a very difficult edition, and not quite suited to my style but stage by stage we will see what we can do.”

Despite coming into the race as defending champion, the course doesn’t suit Sagan for another shot at the overall classification due to a punishing mountain finish on stage 3 to Santa Barbara County.

The 167.5km day ends in the 12km climb of Gibraltar Road, averaging 8%, and this will be a day for the climbers to stamp their authority on the race.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here