Ralph Denk shows off his Peter Sagan tattoo (via Bora-Hansgrohe).PNG
Ralph Denk, Bora-Hansgrohe team manager, won’t forget Peter Sagan’s third consecutive world championship victory in a hurry.
In fact, he has a permanent reminder of the Slovakian rider’s unique hat-trick after losing a bet with the team’s star rider.
Former pro cyclist Denk had bet Sagan that he couldn’t follow up his victories in Richmond, Virginia and Doha, Qatar with an unprecedented third win on the spin in Bergen, Norway, in September.
His forfeit if he lost? To get a tattoo with Sagan’s brand logo.
After the live TV feed disappeared in the closing kilometres of the race, leaving only the finish line camera working, it was Sagan who powered through to outsprint Norway’s Alexander Kristoff to secure his historic treble.
At Bora-Hansgrohe’s team presentation this week in Schiltach, Germany, Sagan was asked whether instead of answering the usual questions put to him, he might have a question of his own for someone else on the stage.
Sagan, in on the joke, asked whether rumours that the team manager now sported a tattoo were true – leading to Denk lifting his trouser leg to reveal the Peter Sagan logo in all its inky glory.
Sagan also spoke about the effect on him of becoming a father.
"Becoming a father is a natural and important part of a man's life and there is no doubt that the birth of Marlon was one of the happiest moments in my life,” he said.
“Both, Kate and him are doing great and I'm sure I will cherish every moment I spend with them,” he added.
Former British champion Peter Kennaugh, who has moved to Bora-Hangrohe from Team Sky, also spoke at the presentation.
He said: “My decision to change team was not only based on the aspect to get more freedom. After spending several years at Team Sky, I felt it was time to change scenery, work with new people, finding new inspiration.
“But for sure it is also great being able to target races like the Dauphiné, where I am normally in good shape."
The Manxman, who won the queen stage of this year's edition of the French race on the Alpe d'Huez, added: "Besides that, Paris-Nice, or the Ardennes are races I want to perform well in.”
Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.