Peter Sagan now has a stronger Bora-Hansgrohe squad behind him but it appears he’s taking no chances with his upcoming 2018 plans.
According to a story in cyclingweekly, the three time World Champion will visit with Pope Francis, ask him to baptize his three-month old son Marlon and request a few high-powered, God-Galvanized prayers for victory. (Marlon was also signed at birth to a development contract with Team Sky.)
Sagan will head to the Vatican with his wife Katarina, his sister and mother and Marlon. They get a private tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Pope gets a custom Specialized Venge. Not a bad deal for the Pope, although his riding days are long past over. Still, he can stick the bike somewhere behind the altar — it is an inspiring piece of machinery. All this actually sounds very April Fools’s but since it’s January we’re going to roll with it.
No word yet on the specifics as far as what blessings Sagan will ask for. Will he attempt to get Francis to boost his chances of winning Flanders or Paris-Roubaix? Will he discuss divine intervention and four or five sprint wins in the Tour de France? Will he make an appeal to the higher power for an astonishing fourth World Championship Road Race victory, a veritable rainbow extravaganza?
Difficult to say, really. Sagan is a wild card and free spirit who defies predictable behavior. How many watts could God possibly add to his power output? Who is the patron saint of sprinters, the guardian of fastmen attempting to squeeze into a tiny gap or burst through a non-existent hole along the barriers? What would Jesus do if he was wearing lycra and riding a Venge to win?
Should Sagan win Paris-Roubaix, we predict he’ll do a wheelie while making the sign of the cross. Amen.
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