Recently retired 2009 World Champion Cadel Evans has told La Gazzetta dello Sport he sees something of himself in the 25 year old Slovakian.

When asked by La Gazzetta dello Sport about 2015’s best performances, Evans said:”I’ll select two, Sagan at the Worlds and Nibali in Lombardia. Not because they are the last ones, and they are the freshest. They are what cycling’s about.”

“Behind the wins there’s much character. Take Sagan. Many speak against him, they say that he never wins. A little like me, before the Worlds and Tour…But the talent came out. It was simply inevitable that someone like him would win something important.”

Evans’s Worlds win was huge for his career, and he went on to win the 2011 Tour, 2010 Fleche Wallonne and many other big races. It remains to be seen if the win in Richmond will allow Sagan to finally win some Classics now that he has big win number one out of the way.