Giro d’Italia 2021 - 'I have a choice' - Peter Sagan plays down his next move ahead of Grand Tour

ByEurosport

Updated 07/05/2021 at 10:47 GMT

Peter Sagan plays down speculation over his future as his focus is on the 2021 Giro d’Italia which starts in Turin on Saturday. The Grand Tour concludes in Milan on May 30 after almost 3500 kilometres. The Giro is live and ad-free on the Eurosport App and eurosport.co.uk. Download the Eurosport app now for iOS and Android.

Three-time world champion Peter Sagan brushed off speculation about his future ahead of his second appearance at the Giro d'Italia, which gets underway on Saturday.

Sagan's contract with Bora-Hansgrohe is set to expire and the Slovakian has been linked to moves to Deceuninck-QuickStep, Israel Start-Up Nation and Movistar.

The 31-year-old refused to be drawn on where he will move next ahead of the Giro.

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“For me, the important thing is to be here to do the sprints, be consistent,” Sagan told Cyclingnews. "For my future, I’m not worried."

He added: "I have a choice, I still have to decide."

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Sagan was diagnosed with Covid-19 at the start of the year, but he returned to race at Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of Flanders.

He sealed his second win of the campaign at the opening stage of the Tour de Romandie last month and feels he is slowly getting back to his best.

"I have never gone away,” Sagan explained.

"I had prepared well in winter but then I was struck by this virus and I spent three extra weeks in Gran Canaria. By the time I got back on the bike, I had lost almost all the work I had done, because after two weeks off the bike, you lose everything.

"Starting from zero after having Covid-19 was a bit difficult. I think I only recovered 100 percent from it after a month and a half or two months.

"Once I got the negative tests, I went to Tirreno, San Remo, and Catalunya, which was almost – almost – like doing a Grand Tour. I did Flanders too, and then I had a moment to recover a bit.

"I hadn’t been home in about three months so I trained with my brother in Monaco. And then we went straight on to Romandie, where I felt good. I never went to the limit in any stage there."

2021 Giro d'Italia route in full - Details of every stage

Ahead of the Giro, he added: "I used to re-start after the Classics with a lower level race, which was always California, and I’d combine that with altitude training in Colorado or Utah to prepare for Switzerland and the Tour de France.

"Now when there isn’t California, and with Roubaix cancelled, I think it’s good that I’m doing the Giro."

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