Peter Sagan will rock up for the Tour de France Grand Depart on Wednesday ready to race, just as he has every July since 2012.
He has dismissed the need for any stage reconnaissance, he probably doesn't yet know where most of the stages finish, and like most of us, he struggles to understand the complex points system for the green jersey. Yet he will no doubt be up there in the expected first sprint finish in Fontaney-Le-Comte next Saturday, chasing the first yellow jersey of the Tour and the haul of points that comes with every stage finish.
The three-time world champion is targeting a record-equalling sixth green points jersey at this year's Tour de France but it could be his toughest fight yet. Racing and winning seems to come easy for the Slovakian but this year he faces a serious threat from Fernando Gaviria. 2017 green jersey wearer Michael Matthews and possibly every other sprinter in the Tour de France peloton will all arrive in the Vendee on Wednesday convinced of their chances. True sprinters never risk their necks to finish second.
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Sagan is perhaps aware of the heightened competition and the expectation he will win a sixth green jersey but does not show it, sticking to his now familiar laissez-faire attitude in an exclusive interview with Cyclingnews.
"I love winning but sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That's life, that's sport. I just want to do my best, most of all I just want to have fun. That's it," Sagan says, often dropping in his deep raucous laugh during the interview.
"I'm not a pure sprinter to go up against Kittel, Cavendish or the others but I can win different kinds of stages as well as sprint stages and win in a different way. I think I can always be in the front, always be in the top five. I've done that every year..."
New sprints, new rivals but Sagan remains blue chip
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/peter-sagan-i-love-winning-but-most-of-all-i-just-want-to-have-fun
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