page_title: Peter Sagan
section_title: 2013
hierarchical_section_title: Peter Sagan / Professional career / 2013
caption_attribution_description: Español: Peter Sagan ganó la 3ª etapa en Steamboat Springs por delante de Luka MezgecEnglish: Peter Sagan won stage 3 in Steamboat Springs
context_page_description: Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Bora–Hansgrohe. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior Mountain Bike World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing.
  Sagan is considered one of cycling's greatest talents, having earned many prestigious victories, including three consecutive World Championships, one European Championship, two Paris–Nice stages, seven Tirreno–Adriatico stages, one in the Tour de Romandie, three and the overall classification in the Tour de Pologne, a record seventeen stages and the overall in the Tour of California, and another fifteen in the Tour de Suisse. He has won a number of classics, including the Monument races Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders, three Gent–Wevelgem races and E3 Harelbeke, together with sixteen stages in Grand Tours: twelve at the Tour de France and four at the Vuelta a España. After having become the first rider to win the points classification of the Tour de France on his first five attempts, he went on to win it a record seven times, in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
context_section_description: In 2013, Sagan's team changed its name to Cannondale, since Liquigas ended its cycling sponsorship after eight years. Sagan started his season at the Tour de San Luis, coming close to success in the last stage by finishing second behind Mattia Gavazzi. He took his first victory of the season on the second stage of the Tour of Oman. Sagan broke away from a group of chasers in the final kilometres, joined three escapees but continued his effort to bank a solo win. He won again the very next day on a stage that featured the same course as stage 2 of the 2012 edition, which he had won as well. Before the start of stage 5, Sagan announced his withdrawal due to bronchitis. He scored a victory in his very first comeback race, the Gran Premio Città di Camaiore by out sprinting a group of twelve riders. He finished second at Strade Bianche, while his teammate Moreno Moser won the event. Sagan covered the late break attempts to help Moser's bid for victory, then attacked himself to complete a one-two for Cannondale. He went on to win stages 3 and 6 of Tirreno–Adriatico. On stage 3, he out sprinted Mark Cavendish and André Greipel in pouring rain after his team accelerated the race's speed on a small climb nearing the finish. On stage 6, Sagan survived a climb featuring a section at a slated 30% incline, and formed a breakaway with former teammate Vincenzo Nibali and Joaquim Rodríguez. He beat both to the sprint.
  Sagan's excellent form meant he entered Milan–San Remo as the hot favourite for victory, however, he was beaten into second place in the sprint by MTN–Qhubeka's Gerald Ciolek. He won the Gent–Wevelgem race, which had been shortened by 90 kilometres (56 mi) due to extreme cold. Sagan broke away from a group of 10 riders with 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) remaining and won solo, performing a series of wheelies after crossing the line. Two days later, Sagan carried his good form to the Three Days of De Panne, where he won a close sprint ahead of Arnaud Démare of FDJ. Démare complained to the race officials that Sagan had swerved slightly in the final metres, but to no avail as they maintained Sagan's victory. Sagan finished second at the Tour of Flanders after breaking away with Fabian Cancellara and joining Jürgen Roelandts. Cancellara attacked on the last climb, the Paterberg, dropped Sagan and went on to win solo. Sagan caused some controversy on the podium by pinching the bottom of a podium girl, and after a media backlash, he apologized the next day. At the sign-up ceremony before the Brabantse Pijl, Sagan presented his apologies in person to the podium girl (Maja Leye) and gave her a flower bouquet. He then went on to win the race, where he chased an attack by Greg Van Avermaet in the final kilometers. Only Philippe Gilbert could follow, and Sagan was faster in the final dash for the line. His next win came in May on stage 3 of the Tour of California. In the somewhat hectic massive sprint, Sagan came from a long way to beat Michael Matthews, finding a passage on the right side of the road at the last moment. He concluded the Tour by winning the last stage in Santa Rosa, securing the points classification jersey for the fourth year in a row.
  On stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse, Sagan showed that he still has the ability to climb with the best in the sport. After making the selection on the category one climb, Sagan was able to distance himself along with Rui Costa, Roman Kreuziger and Mathias Frank on the final wet and narrow descent. The four held off the rest of the field and Sagan took the stage victory. Sagan cemented his victory in the points classification by taking the eighth stage, which was flatter and more suited to the sprinters. He got the best of Daniele Bennati and Philippe Gilbert. He then went on to win the Slovak Road Race Championships for the third time, stating that he would be happy to harbor the national emblem on his jersey for the Tour de France. At the Tour, Sagan scored numerous second positions before winning stage 7 to Albi, after his team worked to shed the pure sprinters on the Category 2 Col de la Cro
caption: Sagan performs a victory salute on the third stage of the 2013 USA Pro Cycling Challenge
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