Peter Sagan ready to step into 'different world' of mountain biking as Paris 2024 Olympics dream looms

Updated 10/05/2023 at 09:53 GMT

Speaking at Warner Bros. Discovery's start-of-season cycling launch event, Slovakian superstar Peter Sagan talks about his final elite season on the road and his return to mountain biking. Sagan is hoping to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics later this summer at the World Championships in Glasgow. Sagan competed in the mountain bike event at Rio 2016.

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Peter Sagan has opened up about his mountain bike aspirations as he prepares to step into a "different world" at the end of an incredible career.

The Slovakian will step away from WorldTour road racing at the end of the season before attempting to sign off from professional riding on the mountain bike at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Sagan, a former junior world and European champion in the mountain bike, competed in the discipline at the Rio 2016 Olympics, finishing 35th.

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Speaking at Warner Bros. Discovery's start of season cycling launch event to promote the new UCI Mountain Bike World Series, Sagan looked ahead to an action-packed summer as he prepares to say farewell to the Tour de France and secure a mountain bike spot for Slovakia at the 2024 Games.

“I really wanted to turn back to mountain bike because it's a different world,” said Sagan.

“It's a very nice atmosphere… when you're going for mountain bike races and you're in a mountain bike village with downhill riders, with motocross country riders, with another group of people. It’s very beautiful. It’s a totally different atmosphere than professional cycling on the road.

“That is why this idea started to turn back to mountain biking. You need to set some goals. For the Olympic Games, it’s a very difficult thing, but because Slovakia has no [qualified] rider, I first have to qualify and maybe I can then go for the Games in Paris.

“This year, we have the Tour de France, two weeks later, we have the World Championships on the road. One week later, we have mountain bikes in the same place because all the World Championships races this year are in the same place in Glasgow. Then I should be there and I should be the first rider from the countries that are not qualified for the Olympic Games."

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 20: Peter Sagan of Slovakia practices on the Mountain Bike course on Day 15 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Mountain Bike Centre on August 20, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Image credit: Getty Images

Sagan, one of the finest cyclists of his generation, boasts 12 stage wins at the Tour de France, where he has won the points classification a record seven times.

But it is in one-day racing where he has arguably enjoyed his biggest success. The Slovak won the world road race title three years on the spin between 2015 and 2017, while he also counts wins at the Tour of Flanders (2016) and Paris-Roubaix (2018) on a bulging palmarès.

And Sagan says he is relishing his final season at WorldTour level on the road.

"This season, every race is the last one," he said.

"That is a very good emotion. Maybe next year is going to be different with mountain bike because that was my idea that I always wanted to do to finish with cycling because I started with mountain bike and also had some achievements and some medals from World Championships in the past when I was a junior.

"But at that time, mountain bike was totally different and it's just changed fast, as with road racing. That’s why it’s a big challenge to do next year in mountain bikes and try to do my best in that kind of sport. It is totally different than it was 15 years ago."