Today in Abu Dhabi the Slovakian begins the hunt for Olympic qualification in mountain biking: “Now I’m having fun. And who said I’ll stop afterwards”
This is a story that talks about a rediscovered passion, a return to the origins, a circle that closes. This is the story of Peter Sagan who at 34 years old, and after a world-class road career, re-embraced mountain biking full time, his first love. He is chasing a (complicated) qualification for the Paris 2024 Games: the jersey is that of the Specialized Factory Racing Team, the first weekend of competition starts today at Hero Abu Dhabi, on the artificial island of Al Hudayriat. Today the Slovakian, who comes from a long training period in Stellenbosch (South Africa), will participate in the short track, on Sunday in the cross country. The spirit of the biker has always been within him, from the beginning with the jr world championship gold through to the unfortunate participation in the Rio 2016 Games: 60″ was enough for him to move from the last row to the head of the group, before having a puncture against a stone and close 35°.