The world champion Peter Sagan has signed a three-year deal to join the German team Bora-Hansgrohe from Russia’s Tinkoff, starting in 2017.
According to Cycling Weekly, Sagan, who earned a reported €4m over his three-year contract with Tinkoff, was asking for €6m (£5.07m), which would make him one of the sport’s highest-paid athletes.
The 26-year-old Slovak, who has been with Tinkoff since 2015, won the points leader’s green jersey for a fifth straight year in last month’s Tour de France.
Sagan’s Tinkoff team-mates Maciej Bodnar, Michael Kolar and Erik Baska, and his elder brother, Juraj Sagan, are also moving to the German team.
Cycling Weekly says say the Pole Rafal Majka, winner of three stages in the Tour de France, will also join from Tinkoff.
“It is a great honour to welcome one of the most popular cyclists of our time in our team,” Bora-Hansgrohe team manager, Ralph Denk, said in a statement. “That’s why we tried to provide familiar surroundings as far as possible.
“I think Peter’s trust in us proves that we have done a good job [in recent] years and have a solid reputation in the peloton.“
The American bicycle manufacturer Specialized is following Sagan from Tinkoff to become Bora’s bike supplier through 2019, while the German kitchen company Bora and bathroom company Hansgrohe are contracted for the next three years.
Sagan currently leads the WorldTour rankings and will look to defend his World Road Race Championship in Doha after winning the title in Virginia last year.
The Russian owner Oleg Tinkov is to withdraw his financial backing of the Tinkoff team at the end of the 2016 season.
