Colmar (AFP)

Sickness, privacy and green jersey ... Three things to know about the Slovak Peter Sagan, winner of the 5th stage of the Tour de France Wednesday in Colmar:

. It comes out of a near-white period

At 29, the Bora rider had the worst season of his pro career, with just three wins (but no classics) before arriving on the Tour. Blame it on a gastric disease that ruined its spring. "I had a lot of problems with my body in the last few months, sometimes one year is good and the next one is worse or worse, one day it was ok, the next day it was wrong," he said. after arrival in Colmar.

"My body does not always recover after Tirreno-Adriatico, it was really hard, I took a rest period after the classics, I was able to recover, I followed the same preparation as usual before Tour, and now I'm here, "added the one who now has 113 wins to his name. He has always won at least five wins per season since 2010.

. His private life is eventful

The triple road world champion lives a year all the more complicated that he divorced a few months ago. Asked about his entourage after his victory, the Slovak said he had approached his father, to the joy of demonstrative arrival in Colmar: "It is him that I see a lot, he often comes on races . "

Regarding his friendships in the pack, the green jersey, who speaks fluent Italian, said he had "very good relations with Elia Viviani", but also with the Colombian Fernando Gaviria and his teammates transalpine at Bora , Daniel Oss and Oscar Gatto.

. He stacks the days in green

Sagan, who hopes to bring to Paris the green jersey points ranking for the seventh time, an all-time record, will spend a 109th day in green on the Tour on Thursday.

A number that challenges because it is two units of the record number of yellow jerseys, held by Eddy Merckx. "But there is a big difference between the two," tempered Sagan.

"I do not care a bit about the jerseys I wear, they are just colors, I do not attach much importance," added the one who has yet worn the most beautiful jerseys of the pack in addition to green: the white , the yellow (in 2016 and 2018), the champion of Slovakia ... and especially the rainbow, that of the world champion, won successively in Richmond (USA, in 2015), Doha (Qatar ) and Bergen (Norway).

He also intends to keep this green jersey, even if he says "do not think about it" and take "day after day". "If I can maintain a gap with Viviani it's good but he is not the only rival, there is also Michael Matthews and Wout Van Aert".

? 2019 AFP