Sagan puts it clearly: "Starting row fuss? I only knew about it in the morning and didn't ask for it"

Van der Poel (top ten in UCI Road and Cyclocross Ranking) and Pidcock (top twenty in both rankings) may have had a leg to stand on, but in the chaos of the World Championship starting row fuss, eyes were also on Sagan: he seemed to have been given his place, although he was the first to find it strange.

"Did I care about the fuss around the starting row? Honestly, I only found out about it on the morning of the race," Sagan said after his race. "I didn't know what was going on, seriously. I suddenly saw that I was on the fifth starting row, and when I heard my name from the announcer, I just went to the front."

"I did nothing to be able to start more at the front, not at all," said Sagan, who himself sounded surprised after the questions about this subject. "It wouldn't have made any difference because things went poorly, and I ended up at the back. Oh well, it's always better to start from the front, but to be clear: it wasn't my decision, I didn't ask for it, and Pidcock was definitely the best," Sagan spoke candidly.

The rumor that the three-time world road champion was at the front due to "his contributions to the sport" was also dismissed by him as false. "Guys, I seriously don't know. I just did what I was told."

From next season, Sagan will focus entirely on the sport he practiced on Saturday. "I have to finish this year with TotalEnergies, so I will only focus on mountain biking from next season," the Slovakian said. "I will ride Plouay and some other races, and I will end my road career in Vendée, in France."