Peter Sagan will be one of many big names present at the Rio Olympics this summer. The World Champion is likely to represent Slovakia on a tough course that includes four climbs of a mountain.

But the Tinkoff rider also start the cross-country mountain-bike race. The Slovak Cycling Federation has sent a request to the UCI in order to be allowed to select Sagan. "Today we received information from the SZC, that they are requesting from the UCI a wild card for the Olympic cross-country MTB race in Rio. The request of the SZC is to award the wildcard to Peter Sagan", Lubomir Soucek of the Slovak Olympic Committee told according to Cyclingnews.

"We will decide the spot according to our internal criteria. Within the next week we will give an opinion to the Slovak Olympic Committee", John Žilovec, chairman of the SZC, explained.

“We sent an application specifically for Peter Sagan. However, it depends on the terms of the UCI,” he continued. “Peter himself said that he was not feeling good about the road race, so he chose the option of returning to cross-country."