Seven times green jersey of the Tour de France, the Slovakian Peter Sagan will join the French team TotalEnergies for the next two seasons, the training announced on Tuesday.
In addition, the riders will now be equipped by the American firm Specialized, already associated with Peter Sagan.
The Slovak sprinter Peter Sagan, 31, will play the next two seasons in the TotalEnergies team, announced Tuesday the French formation which evolves at the continental pro level (2nd division).
Seven times green jersey of the Tour de France and triple world champion between 2015 and 2017, Sagan has been racing in recent seasons for the German team Bora.
He will be accompanied in his new team by two other riders of his current formation, the Italian Daniel Oss (34 years old) and the Pole Maciej Bodnar (36 years old).
"He is arguably the most popular runner in the world"
This shock recruitment is coupled with a change of cycles for Jean-René Bernaudeau's team, which will now be equipped by the American firm Specialized, a long-time partner in Slovakia. "Recruiting Peter is obviously an incredible source of pride. He is undoubtedly the most popular rider in the world, he is an exceptional talent, he makes us change dimension," said Jean-René Bernaudeau, whose team remains on two very discreet Tours de France.
"Peter is a huge competitor, everyone knows it, and he will above all bring us victories: we are counting on him for that", added Bernaudeau for whom the arrival of Sagan is "above all the marker of an ambition athletic".
"Jean-René is a manager who wants to change the lines in the world of cycling, I hope to be able to help this team to achieve it, and to win many races under these new colors", commented Sagan.
The Slovakian has already won 118 victories, including four this year.