Peter Sagan (Cannondale) reiterated his ambition to lay his hands on the green jersey at the forthcoming Tour de France when he spoke to Cyclingquotes today before beginning his warm-up for the prologue at the Tour de Suisse.

“As I stated back in January, the green jersey at the Tour de France is my objective this year,” Sagan said.

Asked about his long-term ambitions, however, Sagan was more evasive, preferring instead to elaborate on the Tour.

“Right now I’m focusing on the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France. Obviously the Swiss Tour is a preparation for the French Grand Tour but I’m hoping to pick up a stage or two in the process. At the Tour de France I’m going for the green jersey, and that will be a difficult three week contest. If the opportunity presents itself during the first week, of course I’ll aim for the yellow jersey as well.”

But surely the 5 Monuments of Cycling and the World Championship alluring objectives, the Slovak champion acknowledged. “They would be nice races to win,” he added smilingly. “But I haven’t really given my post-Tour [de France] itinerary any serious consideration yet.”

Sagan has chosen a different approach in his build-up for the Tour compared to Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) and André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) who will all ride in the Ster ZLM Toer, a race which offers plenty of opportunities for full-blooded sprinters. In contrast Sagan has chosen to take a break after his successful Classics campaign and then ride the Tour of California as well as the Tour de Suisse.  When asked about his preparations for the Tour de France in contrast to his supposed rivals for the green jersey at the Tour, Sagan explained the rationale behind his strategy.

“We are riders with different characteristics and therefore it’s not unusual that we should decide upon different approaches prior to the Tour de France. All three of them are thoroughbred sprinters whereas I’m more of an all-rounder. I’ve done these races [Tour of California and Tour de Suisse] before and it worked out nicely. Riding mountain stages in both California and Switzerland will provide me with stamina for the Tour. Besides, I took a break from competitive racing while Cavendish was riding in a very gruelling Giro.”

Being one of the hotly tipped favourites to win the points competition at the Tour this year adds pressure on Sagan. Quizzed about the amount of expectations and the endless attention, Sagan said there were two sides to the coin.

“It’s a double edged sword. Of course it is nice with all the attention from the fans, the public and the media because it means that they appreciate my performances. On the other hand it does create a lot of stress and tensions and it shortens the time available for recovery and recuperation, which may of course be a problem.”

Part of the added attention, naturally, comes from Sagan’s home country, Slovakia.

“The interest in cycling in Slovakia is booming at the moment,” Sagan explained. “And if I may be so immodest, I may be partly to blame for that,” Sagan continued with another smile. “The Slovak state TV channel has purchased the rights to broadcast the Tour de France this year and cycling clubs are mushrooming in Slovakia, but because the sport was rather small for so many years a lot of things still need to improve at an organizational level. Many clubs, for instance, are only just establishing youth departments so it may last a while before we the results of the efforts being made and the interest being generated at present.”