The green jersey competition has been somewhat overshadowed by the fight for yellow (understandably) and the other jerseys in the Tour de France. This has primarily been the consequence of the superiority and consistency displayed by Peter Sagan (Cannondale) throughout the three week race.

When the dust settled late last night in Paris, the Slovak had assembled 97 points more than second-placed Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) to claim the green tunic to Paris for the second successive season, and he explained that the experience gained last year had come in handy this year.

"I was certainly better prepared because I knew the secrets of the Tour de France after my first experience of the race," Sagan told L’Èquipe.

Always a showman, Sagan sported a green goatie during the final stage.

The Tour got off to a less than perfect start for Sagan when he was among the riders crashing on a chaotic  opening day in Corsica and although he was quick to re-establish himself as a consistent candidate for stage victories, he said that the effects of the crash had an impact on his performance.

"The crash meant that I didn't enjoy it as much," Sagan elaborated. "It handicapped me through the first week and that explains my many second and third places on stages where I hoped to win."

Eventually Sagan would hit the mark on stage 7 to Albi, after his Cannondale team had worked tirelessly to drop Cavendish, André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) midway through the stage. At the end of the race it was to be Sagan's sole stage victory of the race, however, as he was unable to repeat his haul of three wins from his Tour debut last year.

However, Sagan proved to be head and shoulders above his rivals when it came to consistency, finishing in the top four on no fewer than nine occasions. In addition his ability to score intermediate points on all sorts of terrains also proved a priceless advantage.

"You can't repeat the same identical scenario every year," Sagan said. "In the end, I can only be satisfied as I had announced that my objective was the green jersey and I’ve won it. I was able to rely on the help of my team, especially on the stage I won to Albi."