Peter Sagan claimed he was the strongest rider in Milan-San Remo but sportingly accepted defeat, shaking Michal Kwiatkowski's hand soon after crossing the finish line in Via Roma.
The Bora-Hansgrohe rider made the attack of the race with his powerful acceleration on the Poggio, dragging the Polish rider and Julian Alaphilippe away. Yet after being forced to do most of the work to ensure the move stayed clear, Sagan was not able to beat Kwiatkowski in the sprint.
Sagan is one of the most feared riders in the peloton, and for good reason. Over 558 races, he's been on the podium 204 times, has, 92 wins and 78 second places. It's put him in the unenviable position of being the one rider nobody wants to work with, because the only way to beat him is to wear him down. He could have been angry with the lack of cooperation, but true to character he accepted defeat sportingly.
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"I'm satisfied. The result is important but so is putting on a show for the fans. The strongest doesn't always win," Sagan said after the podium ceremony, clearly convinced he was the strongest despite not winning.
"The only thing missing today was a little bit of co-operation from some other riders. But it's okay. I did my bit and I'm happy with what I did. That's cycling. You race for 300km and you can win by a little or lose by a little. I did my best."
"I did a lot of work in the last five kilometres. They did one turn each but that's normal and it's clear that they recovered more than I did. I produced a lot of watts in the sprint but I didn't win."
An instinctive attack on the Poggio
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