Three week fight sees Sagan secure green

Peter Sagan has been named one of the best riders of the 2015 Tour de France after his 'never give up' attitude and high pain threshold saw him win the green sprinters’ jersey for the fourth year in a row.

Peter Sagan shares on the final podium with overall winner Chris Froome and best young rider, and second overall, Nairo Quintana (Getty Images) Source: AFP

The Slovak's latest victory is all the more impressive because he did it on top of the dual workload of looking after his Tinkoff-Saxo captain, and overall contendor, Alberto Contador.

Sagan wasn't able to acheive a stage win in this year’s Tour but he notched up 11 top five finishes, which demonstrated his consistency across a variety of terrain.

While Sagan's split workload meant he carried extra fatigue through each successive stage, he was still able to overcome a tight battle with Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) who won four of the Tour's five 'pure' sprint stages.

The green jersey swapped back and forth between the shoulders of Greipel and Sagan during the first half of the Tour, but it was Sagan's ability take extra points on the hillier stages that saw him gain the edge over his German competitor.

“I am very happy because this year was a very hard fight from the first stages,” said Sagan. “My role in the team was different from previous years.

“I’m very happy that I haven’t crashed and that I can make it here in the green jersey - it’s a special feeling for me," said Sagan.

Peter Sagan was decked out in green as the Tour made its way through the streets of Paris (Getty Images) Source: Getty Images Europe

Greipel won the final stage on the Champs-Elysess, but a seventh place finish for Sagan, alongside a healthy buffer in the points classification, saw him win his fourth consecutive sprinters' title by 76 points.

“It has been a different Tour for me but also a very big experience to ride with Alberto Contador, he is a big champion and I’ve also had a lot of fun in this year’s Tour on the road and together with my team-mates,” said Sagan.

Contador concluded his Tour with a fifth place finish in the overall classification. He started the event wanting to win the Giro-Tour double but was unable to shake residual fatigue from the first of the two events and has changed his plan of attack for 2016.

“For sure it was a very big fight from the start and I knew that it wasn’t easy," said Sagan.

"There was less pressure on me to create individual results but I also had a different role. I’ve tried to win stages, but it was not easy.

"I think I can be satisfied, I have been very aggressive and I have the green jersey."