38 Reasons To Go Ga-Ga For The Tour De France

Here's why this man alone is worth tuning in for as he guns for a record-tying sixth green sprinter’s jersey in July:

F Because, mad bikehandling skills. (He’s a former mountain-bike racer.) Ever see someone wheelie – no-handed – while climbing Alpe d’Huez? That’s exactly what Sagan did, in 2013! He also once put his road bike on the roof rack of a Citroën – by riding up and over the bonnet of the car.

F He shrugs off stuffy rules and convention, daring, for example, to show up for a stage of the 2016 Tour de San Luis with – gasp! – hairy legs.

F He can make anything look cool, even doublefisting gummy bears while totally cracked post-race. Google it.

F His race interviews are priceless. You never know what he’s going to say – only that at least part of it will be deadpan funny.

F There are no Tumblrs of this guy staring at his stem, racing by the watts. He is 100 per cent unpredictable. While best known for racking up W’s in bar-bumping sprints, he also holds his own up monstrous climbs like Mount Baldy to win the 2015 Tour of California; and on the cobbles, as he did when he won the 2016 Tour of Flanders. F His YouTube channel is a treasure trove of entertainment; like a video of Sagan and his wife, Katarina Smolkova, staging an elaborate lipsynching cover of ‘You’re the One That I Want’ from Grease, and instructional cooking shorts on exotic dishes (steamed sea bass with topinambur and goji berries, anyone?).

F When it comes to fans, he’s a softie who once said, “If somebody disturbs me about a selfie, it’s no problem. The most important thing is making other people happy. Because it’s a bad world, no?” No, it’s not. Not so long as you’re in it, Peter.