Published July 25, 2018 08:54AM
Sagan OK after stage 17 crash: 'He's an animal'
World champion Peter Sagan crashes on stage 17, requiring attention from Tour de France medical staff
Peter Sagan finished stage 17 with scrapes and bruises, but no major injuries. Photo: Kei Tsuji/BettiniPhoto©2018
On the twisting, narrow road off the top of the barren Col de Val Louron-Azet, world champion Peter Sagan crashed, requiring attention from Tour de France medical staff, according to TV broadcasters.
The Slovak is one of the last men you’d expect to plummet off the side of a technical road on stage 17. Bora-Hansgrohe’s superstar is known as one the peloton’s best bike-handlers, a fearless descender.
“I did not see him crash,” said Sagan’s teammate Daniel Oss after the race. “I only saw him coming back onto the road. He must have made a mistake on one of the corners. he has some cuts, some scrapes, a torn jersey. he’s OK.”
Asked if Sagan could continue the Tour, Oss laughed and seemed unconcerned: “Yeah, he’s an animal.”
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Coming into Wednesday’s stage, he had an unassailable in the points classification.
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All he had to do to win the green jersey was finish in Paris on Sunday. That record-tying sixth Tour de France points classification title was in jeopardy.
After picking himself up off the side of the road in the Pyrenees and regaining his composure, he carried on.
A photo posted on Twitter by a roadside fan showed Sagan with torn jersey and shorts on his right side. The world champion was seen riding along with a couple of other riders.
At the base of the finish climb up Col du Portet, he was four minutes behind the GC group.
He made it to the finish at 2,215 meters above sea level 26:30 behind the day’s winner, Nairo Quintana (Movistar). His Bora-Hansgrohe team tweeted that he was inside of the time cut but that he will require medical examinations.
Bora-Hansgrohe’s press officer Ralph Scherzer confirmed that Sagan was being examined by Tour de France medical staff at the stage 17 finish.
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Scherzer said they didn’t know if anything was broken but wanted to be sure. He added that the initial check-up does not look too serious, just some abrasions and cuts.