\n<\/p>\n
Tour de France great and three-time world champion Peter Sagan will retire from cycling’s World Tour at the end of this season.<\/span><\/p>\n The 33-year-old Slovakian will continue to compete, and is aiming for mountain bike gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sagan won seven green points jerseys at the Tour de France between 2012 and 2019, and three rainbow jerseys for winning the Road World Championships. <\/span><\/p>\n “This is the last year you will see me in World Tour races,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n “I’ll do some minor road races to reach the Olympics and from there we’ll see.”<\/span><\/p>\n Known for his explosive speed and power in sprints and across one-day races, Sagan only missed out on the Tour’s green jersey in 2017 following a dramatic crash which saw him excluded from the race after Mark Cavendish was taken to hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n The announcement is a surprise for one of cycling’s most high-profile and highest paid riders, but Sagan has only won one stage in a major race across the past three seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n Sagan – who is also known for entertaining fans on the bike by pulling wheelies on mountain stages he was not expected to win – did attempt to win mountain bike Olympic gold in Rio in 2016, but finished 35th.<\/span><\/p>\n Britain’s Tom Pidcock won mountain bike gold in Tokyo in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n