Tinkoff-Saxo have announced the signing of the Slovakian rider Peter Sagan, one of the biggest names available on cycling’s transfer market this year.
Sagan, who has won the points leaders’ green jersey in the Tour de France for the last three years, moves from Cannondale on a three-year contract.
The 24-year-old, a sprinter, puncheur and classics specialist, had been linked with the Ferrari Formula One driver Fernando Alonso’s planned new cycling team but the Tinkoff-Saxo owner, Oleg Tinkov, made him a primary target.
Tinkoff-Saxo won three stages at this year’s Tour de France – which started in Yorkshire and ultimately ended with Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali claiming the yellow jersey – while Poland’s Rafal Majka claimed the mountain classification after Alberto Contador crashed out.
In a statement, the team’s sporting director Bjarne Riis said: “Peter is without doubt one of the biggest talents in cycling and one of the biggest names already. He has a winning mentality, he’s visible and active in the finales and he, without doubt, has the ability to bring home victories.
“He has a huge talent and he’s already very strong but I believe he has even more potential than what we’ve seen so far.”
He added: “He still has a lot to learn about the tactical aspects of cycling to fully optimise his power but I believe that we are fully able to help him improve even more. Next year, we’ll have a very strong team to support him and to aim for big wins throughout the season. It will be exciting to work with Peter also for me personally.”
Tinkoff-Saxo will have high ambitions in 2015, with Contador targeting the Tour de France yellow jersey and Sagan again going for the points classification.
The last time both titles were won by the same team was when Jan Ullrich won the 1997 Tour and Erik Zabel claimed the green jersey for T-Mobile. Riis and Zabel had achieved the same feat a year earlier.
Commenting on Tinkoff-Saxo’s successful pursuit of Sagan, Contador said: “Peter is a super talent that I believe will fit very well in the team. We are perfectly compatible and together we can ensure that Tinkoff-Saxo plays an important and noticeable role in most of the races on the calendar. We are all delighted to welcome him and to have him riding with us in the coming years, because he will adapt very quickly to the way we work.” Agencies