Peter Sagan to make Team TotalEnergies debut at 2022 Vuelta a San Juan

Peter Sagan is expected to make his debut for Team TotalEnergies at the Vuelta a San Juan, an Argentinian stage race that will be contested between January 30-February 6. 

The 31-year-old rider will join his new French team for 2022, after spending four years with Bora-Hansgrohe. Organisers of the Vuelta a San Juan issued a statement confirming Sagan's involvement, with next year's edition the third time that Sagan will have competed at the event. 

The Slovakian's two previous appearances have heralded ten top-10s, but he is yet to win a stage at San Juan. With this event the first he'll race in Team TotalEnergies colours, Sagan could get off to a dream start with a win at the third time of asking in Argentina. 

Returning to the America Tour road calendar after a year's hiatus, due to the pandemic, the Vuelta a San Juan will likely mark the season debut for a number of high-profile riders. These riders are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, alongside the full details of the race route.

The postponement of Australia's Tour Down Under also means that the Vuelta a San Juan is the first race on the 2022 calendar. Consequently, it is expected that the majority of WorldTour teams will travel to South America to begin their seasons in January. 

WorldTour teams first started competing in the Vuelta a San Juan in 2017, after it became a UCI 2.1 race. However, the Vuelta a San Juan was then promoted to the UCI ProSeries in 2020, and was given a 2.Pro status. Remco Evenepoel won on that occasion for Deceuninck-Quick-Step.