Stefano Zanatta, the man who discovered Peter Sagan at the junior mountain bike W orlds in 2008 and convinced him t sign for Liquigas, where he was a sports director, has spoke about the Slovak’s Rainbow Jersey, saying it was time Sagan took a big win.

“It was time that he won a race like that, he had the numbers to do it, the desire to win, but he never was able to hit the target,” Stefano Zanatta told Cycling Weekly.

“It was not secure, but it was almost expected that he’d win big like this.”

Zanatta signed Sagan in 2008, allowed him ride a year at amateur level in 2009 before he went pro in 2010, and says that almost instantly, they could see he was a star.

“He did well in the Tour Down Under so we took him to Paris-Nice. He won his first stage of two like [the one at the Worlds], on a small climb three kilometres from the finish in Aurillac. Ahead of Joaquím Rodríguez and after 200 kilometres. That was his first win,” Zanatta said.

“The Worlds win was not a surprise, it was time that he did it. He has the quality to win such a race."