Giving Back: Peter Sagan's VIP Charity Ride
What could be cooler than getting a new Specialized bike from Peter Sagan? Not much, 50 kids from the American Boys and Girls Club had a ride of a lifetime and Xmas come early in West Lake, California
VIP Cyclists spent 2 days with Peter and his wife Katarina. They rode through the gorgeous Malibu Hills on his Gran Fondo, attended a kids event and a charity auction, with proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Thanks to The Peter Sagan VIP Participants and Specialized together we were able to donate 50 bikes and 50 kids helmets to children of the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Peter Sagan commented "Sometimes its small things that make a big difference. Today my wife and I had the pleasure to hand 50 bikes and helmets, donated by Specialized Bicycles, to 50 fantastic kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. There is nothing more heartening than seeing all these smiling faces when they received their precious new bikes. This act concluded three amazing days in California of riding, meeting great people and helping children in need."
Charity Auction
The event included a charity auction and rumour has it the whole event raised over $20,000 on top of the donations made by sponsors.
Top VIP Swag
Some of the top VIP's got the full swag bag treatment supplied by Specialized, Sportful and other sponsors.
More Wheelies
This time it wasn’t only Sagan pulling Wheelies. Top motorcycle stuntman Jason Britton was invited to do some incredible stunts outside Westlake Village.
Gran Fondo
The Gran Fondo was a chance for riders to spend time with Peter. Peter happily posed for selfies all day.
The route made for the Santa Monica Mountains, heading towards the California coast and the famous Pacific Coast Highway. The 200 strong peloton turned back into the Malibu Hills experiencing the epic roads used by many pro cycling teams and cycling enthusiasts. The longer route continued on through lush farmlands winding thru the mountains and returning to the coastline returning to Westlake Village via stunning canyon roads. The ride ended at the world class Stonehaus for food, drinks and celebrations.
Mavic provided neutral mechanical course support.
King and Queen of the Mountains
It wasn’t all selfies and sunshine, there was some work to do. There was KOM/QOM strava section (Mulholland?).
Incredible Season for Sagan - What's Next?
Peter Sagan’s dream season included wins at the Tour of Flanders, three stages and the green jersey at the Tour de France, the European Championship, and the World Championship. He finished the season ranked number one in the world.
Sagan made time to sit down with the press over the weekend to discuss the season, what’s ahead and his ambitions for 2017.
Peter’s highlight’s for 2017: “My favorite win for sure is world championships. That and Flanders.”
Peter commented on the pressure of being famous: “Its part of the job. With the world championship, maybe it looks like easy, but it's not easy. If someone asks me for a selfie, no problem. If I can make somebody happy, it's good. The most important thing is making other people happy“
Peter is confident his move to Bora-hansgrohe will be success and says he enjoyed his first meeting with the team and their staff.
"I'm excited. From a small team a big team has grown. I think we can help them to improve, for sure. Bora were very good with me. They took a lot of people from Tinkoff to the team for me and that’s helped make a good team and a good ambience. It’s been a good transition."
Sagan will start his season at the Tour Down Under, but his big goals are the Classics and Tour de France.
He will be the defending champion in Flanders but has never finished on the old course, which the race will revert to in 2017. He also spoke about Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix.
"Milan-San Remo is special, but it’s a lottery," he said. "Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. Flanders is very nice, and it’s the old course next year and that could be good. It’s a special race, but when I raced it I broke my bike and didn’t finish. I’ve never finished on the old course. Then Paris-Roubaix is also a special race. I was 11th last year, and once I was sixth.”
Sagan also stated that he was looking to looking to equal Erik Zabel’s record of six Tour de France green jerseys.
Click here for hundreds pictures and video's of Peter Sagan’s VIP Charity Ride: #petersaganvip
For more details on Peter's charity work and Gran Fondo, please visit: petersaganvip.com
Stage 2 to Les Marécottes
