Peter Sagan is ready to continue his love story with the Tour of California when he lines up as the Cannondale leader in America's biggest race. With 10 stage wins already on his palmares, he is the most successful rider in the history of the race and he hopes to add a few more on a route that should give him a few opportunities.

Cannondale Pro Cycling is looking forward to racing in the United States for the first time this season. After kicking off the season with their January team presentation, the Green Machine will return to California for the Amgen Tour of California, May 11 through May 18. Beginning in the state capitol, Sacramento, and wrapping up in Thousand Oaks, the race includes eight stages including an ITT in Folsom on May 12; two summit finishes at the incredibly challenging Mount Diablo as well as Mountain High on May 13; and five mixed routes throughout the rest of the race.

Cannondale Pro Cycling stands out as one of the best and most active teams during the Tour of California. Leading the team this year again is Peter Sagan. The Slovak is the most successful rider in Tour of California history. He has ten stage wins and four green jerseys (points classification jerseys) over four years of riding this race.

“Without doubts, Tour of California is one of the few races I have a lot of passion for,” said Sagan. “There’s not a special reason why I’m able to perform so well – routes, weather, the warmth of the people, this is a winning mix for me. Having said that, it’s never easy to win because the level of the competition is very high. I was able to achieve great results in the past because the entire team was motivated to play a leading role in the peloton. Of course, we’ll try to do the same also this year.”

Sagan will return to action after three hard months of races and ten days of rest. So far this season, Sagan has claimed four wins – one stage at Tour of Oman, Tirreno-Adriatico, Driadaagse De Panne, and E3 Harelbeke. During the Classics’ season, Sagan gave a gutsy performance during Paris-Roubaix placing sixth at the finish.

“I’m satisfied for what I did. People and media always expect more and more from me, and I know this will happen also at Tour of California. My approach is always the same. I needed to rest after strong efforts of the Classics. Now I feel ready for this new challenge in the US. I am also ready to start my road to the Tour de France,” added Sagan.

Team directors Alberto Volpi and Mario Scirea have selected seven riders to support Sagan manage the race during key moments. Ted King, Maciej Bodnar, Kristijan Koren and Fabio Sabatini who have followed the same race program as Peter will be the Green Machine focal points. Other able team members will include Cameron Wurf and Guilluame Boivin, who recently attended the Tour of Turkey, as well as climber George Bennett who will be the one to watch as the team tackles the mountains stages.

Cannondale Pro Cycling will make its way to the first stage after an eight-day training camp near Lake Tahoe to prepare for the race.