“I’d spent a lot of energy to go on the attack, because it’s not easy for me to get away when they see me move. I managed to do it twice but I was slowed by punctures. It was a bit of an unlucky day for me but then I ran out of energy to be up front in the action.”
Sagan had the first puncture right when he formed a leading group with team-mate Maciej Bodnar, Daniel Oss, and Jasper Stuyven 77 kilometers away from the finish line. The second puncture slowed Sagan down 32 kilometers away from the finish line.
“It’s a hard day when you work hard to get a result, and you don’t have the best of luck,” sports director Patxi Vila said.
Sagan was second in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Milan-San Remo, won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, 108th in the E3 Harelbeke, third in Ghent-Wevelgem and 27th in the Tour of Flanders. Not too bad, but definitely not enough for the world champ.
“An unlucky campaign? I lost Milan-San Remo. At the Tour of Flanders, I made a mistake and then today I was unlucky. I’m happy with my form, but not with the results. I can’t be happy with the results I got.”
Is it going to get better in the upcoming months?
“The season continues. I’ll take a bit of a break now and then I’ll get going again at the Tour of California. Then I’ll have important races like the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France,” Sagan said.
