News in brief: Peter Sagan is the 2016 road world champion. As the fifth professional ever and the first after Paolo Bettini in 2007, the Slovak managed to defend his title from the previous year. In the winner's interview immediately after the end of the race, the 26-year-old was sympathetic as usual.
Peter Sagan remains at the top of the cycling world: Not only did he become World Champion for the second time in a row today, but he also triumphed this year as the first Elite European Champion and sits enthroned at the top of the UCI rider rankings. Despite all the successes, the 26-year-old is always rather reserved and modest in his interviews - just like today. He couldn't believe it at all, he said right after the end of the race, "I am still shocked," he added with a grin.
Whether or not the expression was due to his much-improved but still quite limited English we'll probably never know, but he went on to emphasize several times how lucky he was that year. "When the winning group pulled away at the edge of the wind, I was the last driver who was able to catch up - I was very lucky there," so the new, old world champion. Luck also stayed with him in the sprint, which he speculated on over the entire distance: "Fortunately, Nizzolo didn't pull into the alley in front of me, because I wouldn't have been able to brake."
After thanking fans, family and teammates, Sagan finally left for the awards ceremony. In any case, we are already looking forward to the coming season - also because the world champion will then be at the start for the German team Bora-Hansgrohe.
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