Having had a rather anonymous race until now, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) finally decided to give it  a go in the uphill sprint on the final stage of the Tour de San Luis. The Slovakian could only manage 2nd behind Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) but he was satisfied with his performance, claiming that he is not in condition yet.

Last year Peter Sagan made a very low-key season debut in the Tour de San Luis when he was unable to compete with the best in the sprints. He placed 5th twice before being beaten into 2nd by Mattia Gavazzi (Androni) on the final day.

This year he has been even more anonymous in his first race of the season which again is taking place in San Luis. He chose not to contest the first two sprints of the race but used the time trial as a test, placing a solid 10th in a discipline that doesn't belongs to his favourites.

Sagan has attributed his low-key performance to a plan that should see him keep his condition a bit longer during the classics season. Hence, his condition is not as good as it was 12 months ago but he decided to give it a go in yesterday's tough uphill sprint that - at least on paper - suited him down to the ground.

His Cannondale team battled for position with Lampre-Merida in the final kilometres, with new teammate Oscar Gatto hitting the front inside the final kilometre. However, the Cannondale dup was overtaken by Maximilano Richeze and Sacha Modolo from Lampre-Merida and in the final sprint Sagan was unable to pass the latter.

Despite the defeat, Sagan remained satisfied with the result of the first sprint of his season.

"My team did very good work and I had the best position for the finale, but I'm not in condition now," he told Cyclingnews at the finish. "I'm happy for second place. The team worked and it was very good."

Sagan will next do the Dubai Tour as he continues his preparation for his first big targets of the year: Milan-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.