‘Cycling’s saviour’: Why Sagan’s ‘three-Pete’ was so significant

The margins were as thin as they come, but on Sunday Peter Sagan made history with .

Sagan is the first man to win three in a row, as well as being the youngest to achieve a hat-trick, and his photo-finish victory in Bergen was not just an achievement for the ages, but a reminder of why Sagan is such an important figure in cycling.

But after winning the rainbow jersey yet again, will an imminent change in the Slovakian’s personal circumstances dull his famously competitive instincts?

We dig into Sagan’s moment of glory…

After victories in Richmond, USA, in 2015 and Doha, Qatar, last year, Sagan made it a trio of triumphs in the UCI Worlds on the streets of Bergen, Norway. Indeed, he snatched victory away from home hero Alexander Kristoff in the narrowest of sprint finishes.

Sagan wasn’t a prominent figure for much of the race, lurking at the back of the peloton for much of the 267.5km course round the picturesque coastal landscape. It was Julian Alaphilippe (France) and Gianni Moscon (Italy) who went clear on the final ascent of Salmon Hill but the pair were caught inside the final 2km.

Kristoff went for glory inside the final 1km but with 50m to go, Sagan stormed through and took the title in dramatic circumstances with a perfectly timed bike throw. He joins a select group of three-time winners:

Although the crowds in Bergen might have preferred Kristoff to nick it, Sagan’s victory was almost universally popular. Coming after his disqualification from the Tour de France for , it was the perfect coda to another impressive season for Sagan.

Not only that, it cemented his status as cycling’s most popular character, entertainer and competitor. As former Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins put it on Twitter…

Writing in the Telegraph, Tom Cary compared Sagan to Usain Bolt, the sprinting great of athletics who bowed out this summer, having propped up his sport’s flagging reputation amid a number of doping scandals.

Cycling of course has had its own share of scandal, recently featuring the aforementioned Wiggins, whose TUE controversy had overshadowed the start of Team Sky’s historic year, which saw Chris Froome win the Tour de France and Vuelta double. Cary wrote:

Former Olympic champion Chris Boardman told the BBC:

Sagan just seemed to be enjoying the moment, toying with reporters as he joked: “I didn’t have a strategy”. He also played down the wider significance of his achievement, while revealing what it meant to him personally.

At 27, Sagan has plenty left in the tank but his life is about to be turned upside down. His wife, Katarina, is eight months pregnant and he will not race again this season as he prepares for imminent fatherhood.

He was asked after his victory in Bergen whether becoming a parent might erode his hunger for glory – and didn’t entirely dismiss the proposition…

His rivals in the peloton may secretly hope this is the case - otherwise Sagan's imperious dominance could continue.