Last Sunday, Slovakian Peter Sagan officially started his 2024 Olympic season. The athlete, who aims to compete in Mountain Bike at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, participated in his first official race of the year, the HERO Abu Dhabi XCO.
Sagan, former World Champion, made a modest debut, finishing in 24th place. He competed for the Specialized Factory Racing team, finishing more than five minutes behind the winner, New Zealander Ben Oliver.
Next competition in Spain
A few hours before the main race, Sagan had done better in the short track competition. The three-time road cycling world champion finished in 11th place. The race was won by Swiss Thomas Litscher, from the Lapierre Mavic Unity team.
Peter Sagan’s next appointment will be next Sunday in Chelva, Spain. There he will face some of cross-country mountain biking’s top stars, including Romanian Vlad Dascalu (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli), Spaniard David Valero (BH Coloma Team), New Zealander Samuel Gaze (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Frenchman Maxime Marotte (Decathlon Ford Racing Team).