There were 151 kilometers to go before the finish in the Velodrome and this 2023 edition of Paris-Roubaix was only just beginning. But it was in Viesly, on the second cobbled sector, that Peter Sagan's story with the 'queen of the classics' came to an end.
On the left side of the road, the Slovakian rider crashed to the ground, leaving no doubt that he would be dropped. There would be no lap of honour for "Peto", the radiant winner in 2018, on the mythical velodrome after a mano a mano with Silvan Dillier.
At 33 years of age, the Zilina native is only a shadow of the impetuous champion who shook up the Tour de France in 2012, a sort of Zlatan Ibrahomovic of the peloton, author of colourful celebrations or a good word. A rock 'n' roll cyclist who shook things up and put on a show.
The epilogue does not live up to the character he embodied. Sagan was more than just a 'simple' champion - he gave back interest to cycling, with an extroverted and sympathetic image, at a time when Chris Froome's Sky was offering the general public a revival of Lance Armstrong's US Postal.
An outstanding rider, triple world champion in a row from 2016 to 2018, winner of two Monuments (the Ronde in 2016, Paris-Roubaix in 2018), capable of winning the points classification in the Tour and the Giro, Sagan has been on the decline for the last four seasons and his transfer to Jean-René Bernadeau's TotalEnergies in 2022 did not slow down the process. He returned to the ranks as quickly as he had emerged, overtaken, like many others, by the emergence of the hurricanes Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe.
This arrival in the Vendée marked the beginning of his twilight, which he had already glimpsed at Bora-Hansgrohe, who didn't insist on prolonging him. He was so flamboyant that he decided to join a Pro Continental, the second world division.
Sagan brought his professionalism, new staff members and a new piece of equipment. But he didn't get any results. His last classics campaign speaks for itself - three retirements (E3, Ronde, Roubaix), 44th in Milan-San Remo, 83rd in Gent-Wevelgem.
Contrary to Mark Cavendish, Froome or André Greipel, he didn't even get a recall in a World Tour team, as if everyone had given up on him.
His last Flandrienne, the race he won with the iridescent jersey, deserved a better ending. Cycling is a sport that is short on gifts. On Sunday afternoon, it was frankly unfair.